Millenic Alli scored a hat-trick while Josh Magennis netted his first in red and white as City beat Mousehole 4-1 on the Cornish coast.
The Grecians kicked off their pre-season training camp with a comprehensive win in a match where they could’ve scored more had it not been for some excellent goalkeeping in the Mousehole net.
The journey down to the depths of Cornwall brought a first start for Ed Francis in a City shirt following his summer switch from Gateshead, meanwhile Ryan Woods was also named on the bench by Gary Caldwell for the first time since becoming a permanent Grecian.
It was the hosts who created the first chance of the match, forcing Shaun MacDonald to save low with his legs from a shot inside the penalty just seconds after kick-off.
However, City opened the scoring three minutes later and, yet again in pre-season, the goal came from Yanic Wildschut’s left-hand side. Jake Richards played the Suriname international through on the wing, and he burst into the box before playing a low ball across the face of goal, which Millenic Alli smashed into the roof of the net.
That left hand side proved fruitful yet again just minutes later. This time, left-sided centre-back Ben Purrington found space in an inside channel and picked out Alli inside into the box. The striker held off his defender well, turning him inside the six-yard box before finishing from a tight angle to double City’s lead just eight minutes in.
Alli almost had a hat-trick in the first 15 minutes, but another Wildschut cross sailed just behind him, after the winger was released by a superb Ed Francis ball looping over Mousehole’s defence.
Mousehole weren’t without threat though, forcing MacDonald into several saves on the break throughout the early period.
One that City’s keeper couldn’t reach was the Seagull’s first of the evening. After a break down Mousehole’s right on 24 minutes, Tom Mitchell found space 35 yards from goal and let fly. The shot initially looked to be going above the bar but instead dipped over MacDonald, clipping the underside of the bar and bouncing over the line.
City threatened to restore their two-goal lead immediately with a flurry of corners, the final of which worked short out to Francis who whipped it into the danger area. Six yards from goal, Ben Purrington could only scoop the ball over the bar.
Purrington fired another chance over a few moments later when Richards’ cross was cleared out to the City defender in the penalty area, but again his shot went over the bar.
The final stages of the first half saw City dominate possession without quite managing that final product. The closest chances came from Francis’ free-kicks. Jack Fitzwater slid a left-sided cross just wide of the post five minutes before halftime, and then a second set piece broke to Alli on the opposite corner of the box, but his shot deflected over.
Caleb Watts created the first chance after the interval, wriggling free of a green and white defender inside the box before sliding the ball across goal. Halftime substitute Santino Ohanaka directed the cross goalwards, but Mousehole’s keeper made a great stop from mere yards out.
There was no stopping what came next though. From a central free-kick 25 yards out, Alli stepped up and placed the ball into the back of the net, completing his hattrick with a superb set piece.
After a break in play due to a serious leg injury for Mousehole defender Jack Calver and eight more substitutions for the Grecians, City restarted the match with serious intent to find a fourth goal.
Ohanaka found himself with the ball on the left of the Seagulls’ penalty box, and after jinxing one way and then another to shake off a defender, the young City attacker placed a cross perfectly on Josh Magennis’ head , allowing the Northern Irishman to head home his first Grecian goal.
Minutes after Mousehole kicked off again, another corner was headed out to Ohanaka on the edge of the box. He had a shot of his own, but the goalkeeper, clad in orange, was equal to it.
Magennis had an excellent chance to double his personal tally and score City’s fifth as he broke the offside trap just before the 90th minute mark, but his effort along the ground crept wide of the post.
City had two corners deep into added time, the second of which found Pedro Borges free inside the area. While it initially appeared like he chested the ball before finishing into the back of the net, the referee adjudged the Portuguese player to have handled the ball first, disallowing the strike.
Tom Dean almost capped off a near-perfect night with a last-minute strike, but the goalkeeper saved as the referee blew for full-time.
Nonetheless, four goals and a hat-trick for Millenic Alli made for a successful evening for City.
With a win under their belts, the Grecians remain in Cornwall for the next few days for a training camp, before returning to the pitch away at Yeovil this Friday.
Exeter City: MacDonald, Niskanen (Oakes), Sweeney © (Cayless), Fitzwater (James), Purrington (Cummins), Wildschut (Ohanaka), McMillan (Beardmore), Francis (Woods), Watts (Dean), Richards (Borges), Alli (Magennis)
Subs: Ohanaka, Woods, Dean, Cummins, Cayless, Borges, Magennis, James, Oakes, Beardmore
Mousehole AFC: Chenoweth, Barrett, Calver (Baxter), Hill, Otto, Mitchell, Trialist, Symons (Black), Goldsworthy (Nixon), Ranalli-Sousa, Turner (Kevern)
Subs: Baxter, Nixon, Black, Kevern
Attendance: 362