Exeter City's weekend win was much more like levels we want

PIERCE SWEENEY IS THE CLUB CAPTAIN OF EXETER CITY FC

After a couple of victories in cup competitions, it was great to get back to winning ways in the league with victory over Charlton Athletic at the weekend.

Admittedly, we rode our luck a bit towards the end of the game, when the visitors missed a couple of big chances, but I felt we were the better side over the 90 minutes and good value for our 1-0 victory.

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While we were delighted to scrape past Barnet in the FA Cup, we didn’t reach the levels we aspire too. However, our performance against Charlton was much more like it.

I think our corner count ran into double figures over the course of the game and while we failed to capitalize on the eight or nine which came our way in the opening 45 minutes, we finally took advantage early on in the second half when Tristan Crama got on the end of Ed Francis’ delivery in front of the big bank.

We work hard on our corners with David Perkins, who has responsibility for attacking set pieces, and first team analyst Alex Mitchell, so it was nice to see our endeavours rewarded with a goal.

All the more so given we’d never really threatened with our corners in the first half. However, we tweaked a couple of small things at half-time and were rewarded soon afterwards.

Tristan has been fantastic for us thus far this season so it was great to see him bag the winner; all the more so after his only previous goal came in our 2-1 defeat at Northampton Town back in August.

Gary Caldwell has said more than once that Tristan has all the attributes required to have a successful career in the Premier League and you won’t hear any disagreement from me.

In the meantime, the club is reaping the benefits of the Frenchman’s not-inconsiderable talents, as am I. It probably won’t have escaped your notice that I’m not blessed with a great deal of pace so having someone as quick as Tristan in the team covering for me whenever I make an offensive foray is a godsend.

That aside, what I might lack in pace I’d like to think I make up for in other areas such as, say, the ability to win a cheap free kick or nick a few yards at a throw-in. I guess these kinda things are what some people might term ‘the dark arts’.

The reality is every team indulges in them to a greater or lesser extent these days, so it makes good sense to be proficient in their execution. And while I’d like to think I’m pretty adept at this, given the ever-growing number of people who’ve remarked on it, maybe there’s room to refine my skills further.

Who knows, with an ever-increasing number of clubs having coaches dedicated to very specific areas such as throw-ins and free kicks, it might even present a career opening for me by the time I come to hang up my boots!

As you may be aware, the clean sheet against the Addicks was our seventh in League One this season, which is more than any other club. That’s a pretty remarkable achievement when you consider that, one, we’ve played less games than the majority of our rivals; and, two, Joe Whitworth, Johnly Yfeko, and Tristan, who’ve made up a significant part of our defensive unit this season, are all in their early 20s and only played together for the first time a few months ago.

At the other end of the scale, no doubt a few of you will be old enough to remember Jimmy Giles, who made more than 300 appearances for the club over two spells between 1971 and 1981; you may even have joined in with the chants of ‘6ft 2in, eyes of blue, Jimmy Giles is after you!’

While Jimmy retired some considerable time before I was born, I’ve had the good fortune to meet him on a few occasions now and it’s clear he’s quite the character. Little wonder then renowned author and City fan Matt Riley should joined forces with him to produce an autobiography: Jimmy Giles 110%.

I was fortunate enough to be presented with a signed copy and while I haven’t got around to reading it quite yet, I’m looking forward to doing so – all the more given more than one person has commented on the similarities between Giler and I on and off the pitch.

I understand you can pick up a copy from the club shop, so why not treat yourself to one for a Christmas present!

Lincoln visit SJP on Saturday for a 12.30pm kick-off in front of the Sky Spots cameras. I appreciate not everyone is a big fan of these early starts but, truth be told, I don’t mind them. For sure, they take a bit of getting used to – you don’t get the opportunity to chill for an hour or two as you do before a 3pm game – but we’re becoming pretty accustomed to them now and, having beaten Charlton, will go into this weekend’s game brimming with confidence.

It’s only a shame we’ll be without Ilmari Niskanen and Josh Magennis, both of whom are away on international duty. As I’ve said before, I agree wholeheartedly with the gaffer that in this day and age, when so many lower league clubs have players representing their countries, it would be much fairer not to schedule any fixtures for international weekends. I appreciate it would mean a bit of a stop-start season, but at least you’d know where you stood at the outset and some clubs wouldn’t find themselves unfairly disadvantaged.

On a more positive note, the loss of Josh and Ilmari will at least present others with an opportunity to impress.

As we saw a few weeks ago when Jack Fitzwater stepped in to replace the injured Johnly Yefko, it’s vital that you’re ready to do a job when called upon and touch wood whoever the gaffer turns to on Saturday won’t disappoint.

For sure, we’re in the midst of a really tough set of fixtures and, while three points against Charlton last Saturday saw us off to a great start, we’ll really be flying if we can beat the Imps!