Exeter City took advantage of a poor showing from Plymouth Argyle to claim a 2-0 win in the Devon derby under the lights at St James Park. Goals from Reece Cole and Akeel Higgins were enough to give the Grecians a win over their local rivals for the first time in six years
After an explosive start to the game that saw Danny Andrew fire the ball over the Plymouth bar within the first 30 seconds and Jayden Wareham have a shot excellently stopped by Argyle keeper Conor Hazard, Brendan Wiredu thought he had put Plymouth ahead after a free kick flew through Exeter’s defence, only to see it ruled out for him being offside. Moments later, a poor clearance from Hazard made it only as far as Cole, who made no mistake in putting the ball home to make it 1-0 and giving his side the lead they had deserved up to that point.
Despite a period of good play from Plymouth in response to going behind, they were unable to find an equaliser, as City keeper Joe Whitworth repeatedly found ways to preserve the lead between the posts.
When the sides emerged after the half, it took just 13 minutes for the Exeter side to cement their position as the dominant team, as a through ball from Brentford-loanee Ethan Brierley was met by Akeel Higgins. Higgins was able to slot the ball past Hazard to score his first senior goal and double Exeter’s lead in the process.
A good passage of play in response that saw Lorent Tolaj, who was by far Plymouth’s most dangerous goal threat over the course of the game, have an effort from in the penalty area blocked, but that would be it for Argyle’s big chances on the night.
Gary Caldwell’s side will be hoping this result could provide the beginning of a change in fortunes, as it had temporarily moved them up to 13th in a chaotic and unstable bottom half of League One, before they swiftly returned to 18th place once the rest of the weekend’s results came in.
In contrast, the loss sees Plymouth drop to 22nd in the table, firmly in the relegation zone, a disappointing reality for a side that was only relegated from the Championship last year and will have been looking to immediately get promoted back this year.
Exeter’s next game will see their first run out in this season’s FA Cup, as they travel to Halifax Town, whom they have somewhat of a working relationship with on the back of signing strikers Millenic Alli and Andrew Oluwabori from the Shay, on November 1st.
