Exeter City manager Matt Taylor was delighted with his side as they picked up an important three points against Cambridge United.
The Grecians turned out a positive performance with a number of chances created in both halves, with Jake Taylor striking the crossbar and Jonathan Forte sending his penalty against the woodwork.
Following the match, Matt said: “Another clean sheet, that’s three out of four. A bit has been made about our failure to score and threaten the opposition goal but we’re creating chances. It’s just that little bit of end product, a bit of composure and confidence in the last moment. You expect to win a game like that when you’re as dominant as we were for large periods.
Matt also commented on another missed penalty for the Grecians as Forte became the latest to fail to convert from 12-yards, and it’s a subject that Matt says he and his side will look at improving on.
He continued: “The penalty perhaps showed a lack of confidence but Jonno (Jonathan Forte) was off the back of scoring at Swindon. It’s been our achilles heel this season, I’m not sure there are many seasons gone where you miss so many penalties but it’s something we’ll look at and maybe someone else will step up or we’ll back Jonno.”
After a dominant display where the Grecians had the majority of the chances against United, Matt said he felt it was a well-deserved three points.
“We were delighted to get the goal,” explained Matt. “We deserved that little bit of luck with the deflection, but we had the disallowed one in the first half and it’s been building and building. You could sense a bit of anxiety and a touch of frustration from the fans but they have to stick with us, they have to be patient, and I plead with them to be patient because this team is doing everything they possibly can and I’ve just said to the group that the amount of times I’ve stood in front of them and said about cheap goals and conceding too many goals.
“It’s such a difficult thing to do, to score a goal, but we’ve kept three clean sheets out of four. The back line, Christy (Pym) and the rest of the group and the roles they’ve played in. Dean Moxey is leading that group at the moment and it’s so, so important and it only takes one goal to win a game.
“I couldn’t fault them today, we had every element in terms of the weather: wind, rain, sun, the whole lot rolled into one and the pitch was difficult at times against an opposition on the back of three good wins, a confident team and we limited them to one chance when Christy came out in the first half so I can’t hide how pleased I am but it’s three points at the end of the day. We won’t get too carried away now, the lads have got to reset and focus this week.
City started the match the brighter of the two sides, with chances falling for the likes of Taylor, Lee Martin and Lee Holmes in the opening 45 minutes, and a fast start is something that Matt was pleased with and would like to continue.
“We start games well at the Park, we get momentum and threaten their goal time and time again. I’ve not seen the disallowed one back, so I don’t know if it was offside or not, but you hit the crossbar and balls were bouncing around dangerous areas, but we wanted their back four and goalkeeper under pressure, as we do any team that comes to the Park. We’ve got to stick to our processes and don’t get too worried about scoring early, games of football are like that, but three valuable points and it’s on to the next.”
The Grecians could have been awarded a second penalty of the afternoon when Kane Wilson drove inside the box before going to ground. The referee adjudged the City youngster to have gone down too easily and therefore booked him for simulation. On the yellow card Matt said he will have to look at the incident again.
He continued: “I’ve not spoken to him, but there weren’t too many complaints from the rest of the group which might tell you. Kane’s an honest lad and I was pleased with his display today, I know he’s not a left back but he gave us energy and he takes us up the pitch in terms of carrying the ball so we know we’ve got to make slight tweaks to our team to create chances and hurt the opposition, plus when they broke they are a physical threat, and Kane defended fantastically well. If it was a dive, then I’ll talk to him because I don’t want my players doing that.”
The three points puts City seventh in the league table going into the match with MK Dons at St James Park, but Matt warned that there will be many more ups and downs over the rest of the season.
He said: “There’s 17 games left, lots of points to play for and there will be ups and downs, like I say, people have got to stick together. The group first and foremost and then everyone at the club and the fans.
“The games won’t be easy, 17 games won’t all go our way, but we’re excited about what’s to come. We’ve got nothing to lose, nobody expected much of this group at the start of the season, so we’ve put ourselves in a good position, the players have put themselves in a good position and it’s onto the next.”