Tis proud of the players' effort in cruel loss to Wycombe
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale admitted he was proud of the players’ effort as they battled in vain at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.
The Grecians defended resolutely throughout the match and managed to nullify Wycombe’s attacking threat that had seen them put five goals past Crewe Alexandra in midweek.
However, City were undone in the 86th minute as Adebayo Akinfenwa controlled a looping ball on his chest before hitting a deflected shot past Bobby Olejnik.
The loss was hard for City players to accept as they also felt aggrieved at half-time that they were not a goal to the good.
Reuben Reid was denied two good goal scoring opportunities, with the first chance coming when he raced past Michael Harriman in the penalty area only to be tugged back by the Wycombe player - a decision that went unpunished.
The second opportunity came when he raced on to the end of a Ollie Watkins pass only to be stopped by a very questionable offside flag.
Watkins was then also denied a shot at goal by another dubious foul given against him by the referee.
However, Tis did not use either of those things as an excuse after the game but added that he couldn’t fault the players for the desire they showed.
“There was a lot of effort and a lot of commitment from the players,” he said. “We’ve come unstuck at the end with a late, late goal but we put a lot of effort in and I’m proud of the players.”
“Whichever way you look at it ‘fair’ isn’t how we judge things,” added Tis. “Fair is the points. Fair is the league table. Regardless of the sentiment, we lost the game 1-0 and we wanted to win it so we just have to look to next week and carry on.”
City host Grimsby Town at home next and, having not picked up a win in the league at St James Park so far this season, Tis admitted it was important they get a result on Saturday for the fans.
“It’s very important (for City to secure their first home league win),” he said. “I totally understand everybody’s frustration but there’s a lot of will in the squad, a lot of effort and people behind them, and we’ve just got to keep going with it.
“We know how difficult it’s been at St James Park, but we have to get down and do our job and when it comes it’ll be great to reward those supporters for sticking with us.”