Exeter City dominate but once again fail to score in goalless draw

“This was a good performance. You can’t come to this stadium and not think we played well for large periods of this game but for putting it in the net."

Exeter City made it four unbeaten at home and now have a four point cushion over the drop zone, but their woes in front of goal came back to haunt them again in a goalless draw with Cambridge United. The Grecians are the lowest scorers in League One and it showed as they drew a blank for the 15 ^th time in 27 outings.

After a first half where neither side at St James Park even had a shot, City were much improved in the second half. Jack Aitchison and Pierce Sweeney drew good saves from Jack Stevens before Sonny Cox headed into the side netting from close range.

Liam Bennett nearly stole it late on for Cambridge in a rare foray forward when he came close to catching out Vil Sinisalo at his near post. Ben Purrington though could and should have won it for City on his full debut with two great late chances from headers, but saw the first cleared off the line and the second incredibly kept out by Stevens.

Read More - Exeter City 0 Cambridge United 0 - Grecians draw another blank in dull draw

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But the game finished 0-0 which did little to help City pull away from the relegation zone and extended their run to just two wins in 18 in the league, although it is now four unbeaten on home turf. The U’s rose to 14 ^th with the point, but they are now without a win in 13 away games.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell felt that his side had dominated large periods of the game, where the only side trying to win it, and that overall it was a good performance. But once again rued the lack of conviction in front of goal.

“We dominated the game in terms of possession and was just that final bit really,” Caldwell said. “Second half we were much better in terms of the speed we played at and that was my message to players, we have to start like that.

“They gave absolutely everything to win the game, created some good chances to score, but couldn’t put it in the back of the net. We will take it, four games unbeaten at home, and now we have to take it and move on to two away games

“This was a good performance. You can’t come to this stadium and not think we played well for large periods of this game but for putting it in the net. We have to back the players on what they tried to do and went about it, just that little but at the end, the hardest bit in football we have to get right, and at the moment, it is just not falling us for, just not playing with that conviction to get into the net.

“We did a lot of things right today and have to continue that progress into two difficult away games and if we do we will pick up points. We played well for large periods, dominated large periods with possession, and were the only team likely to win the game. We were excellent apart from the last bit of putting it into the net and gave everything to win the game but it wasn’t to be.”

The pitch passed a midday inspection, and with the game on, Caldwell made three changes from the side who were beaten 2-0 at Blackpool last Saturday. Into the starting line-up came Purrington, for a full debut, Ilmari Niskanen, and Yanic Wildschut, who signed a new deal to the end of the season this week. Alex Hartridge, Dion Rankine and Reece Cole all dropped to the bench, where Harry Kite was also fit enough for after his absence.

It was an utterly forgettable half of football devoid of any real moments of goalmouth action, neither side having a shot in the first 45 minutes. But things livened up as the second half started, and inside the first five minutes, Wildschut had an effort blocked by a defender, Aitchison saw a volley well saved, before Sweeney then tested the goalkeeper with a free-kick.

It took an hour for Cambridge to have a shot, but when they did, it was arguably the chance of the game. A free-kick wasn’t dealt with by the City defence, it fell nicely to Lyle Taylor, but his instinctive first-time volley went inches wide.

Tom Carroll blazed over the bar after a goalmouth scramble, before Purrington saw a header cleared off the line. Neil Harris’s men broke, and Bennett nearly caught out Sinisalo at his near post, but the Finn made a superb save.

Three minutes of stoppage-time were added-on, and in the first of them, City nearly won it. Rankine’s cross found Purrington at the far post, his header looked for all the world to be heading in, but somehow, Stevens clawed it away. And that was vital to keep it 0-0 and stop the Grecians from grabbing a winner.

“It is disappointing the result but that’s football,” Caldwell added. “We ask the players to perform and give us certain things, and we will review it, but seeing it live, ticked a lot of boxes.”

On the plethora of short corners, which did draw the ire of sections of the St James Park faithful, the manager added “Statistically it is the best chance of scoring by taking the corner short. We haven’t been great at attacking the ball so that is why we worked that.

“We could have at times switched it up and put it in, but we aimed to pass into the box and too often we took the safe option. We have to keep doing what we believe in giving us the best chances of scoring.”

Exeter City are back in action on Tuesday night when they travel to former manager Matt Taylor’s Bristol Rovers. The Grecians then face Barnsley away next Saturday.

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