Exit Exeter: even Uri can't bend this one
Exeter City 1 Southend United
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Your support makes all the difference.For the Grecians, 2003 started grey and turned black, culminating yesterday in a tame exit from the Football League. At least Steve Flack's simple goal in the 90th minute silenced the small but vociferous bunch of Southend fans but it was never going to be enough. Swansea's victory at The Vetch meant that Exeter could not avoid the drop into non-League football after 92 years.
The Cliff Bastin Stand at St James' Park is indication that this area once bred good players, but none were on view yesterday. The season's-best crowd of 9,036 had nothing to enthuse over and the local paper's urgent page one splash "You Can Do It, City" never remotely looked like being borne out.
Exeter have lost only three of the last 13 games under new management, but their inability to put chances away has been crucial.Not that they had many of those yesterday Even record signing Sean Devine could not get close to claiming his goal bonus.
Supporters of the team known as the Grecians, who have never risen higher than the Third Division since joining the League in 1920, are devoted in that special fashion peculiar to struggling clubs. Jim Coke, a 38-year-old from London, visited Topsham Cemetery before the match to ask his departed father "to put in a good word for the red and whites." The faith of all Exeter's loyal band has been seriously strained in a disastrous season which sees the club on its third manager, Gary Peters, following the sackings of John Cornforth and Neil McNab, and bitter boardroom wrangles.
Six directors resigned last month following a report by the Football Association's Financial Advisory Unit which concluded Exeter are insolvent and highlighted practices which the outgoing directors called "deeply disturbing." The spoon-bending Uri Geller, named as the club's co-chairman even though he was never registered as a director, also departed and the club was left in the control of two men, Mike Lewis and John Russell.
Lewis has clocked up many years on the business side of the game and recently provoked a headline or two by selling Swansea City for £1 to the Australian-based Tony Petty, who was subsequently ousted before Swansea went into administration.
Russell, the chairman, was also in charge at Scarborough when they dropped out of the Football League four years ago, and was given a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for financial deception, but the two men were still talking up the club's prospects last night, promising that season-ticket prices for next season would be frozen. Lewis acknowledged that the year they had been in charge had contained "many changes and some trauma," but pledged better times.
The kick-off was delayed for a quarter of an hour because of crowd congestion and by the time the teams emerged the gates were closed with hundreds still outside, and anxiously reduced to snatching a view from window ledges and car bonnets. By then the news had spread that Swansea were in front with a penalty.
Kicking into a keen wind, Exeter struggled to impose any form of authority and should have gone a goal behind after six minutes. James Coppinger brought down Brett Darby and a penalty was awarded, but Kevin Miller easily saved the kick, taken by Tesfaye Bramble, brother of Newcastle's Titus. It was Bramble's third straight failure from the spot and the sixth penalty Southend have missed this season.
The news that Hull had gone in front at Swansea bucked up Exeter, with Steve Flack hooking his shot over the bar and Coppinger getting in a low effort. Their best chance of opening half fell to Flack, who was blocked by Darryl Flahavan's brave dive at his feet.
In addition to Bramble, Southend fielded two more players famous by association: Leon Cort, brother of Carl, and Gavin Strachan, son of the Southampton manager. As well as better names, they also showed superior co-ordination. With all hope seemingly extinguished, Flack rounded Flahavan to roll the ball in in the final minute. But, of course, it was not enough.
Exeter City 1 Southend United 0
Flack 90
Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 9,036
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