City return to the Wessex

PRE SEASON FRIENDLY PREVIEW

Tuesday 29 July, 7:30pm – Weymouth v Exeter City

Exeter City travel to Weymouth on Tuesday with an unbeaten pre-season record to preserve.

A draw at Weston-super-Mare and comfortable victories over Truro and St Blazey were followed by narrow wins against Tiverton and manager Paul Tisdale’s previous club, Team Bath.

In amongst the non-league opponents, F.A. Cup holders Portsmouth were held to a 1-1 draw at St James Park. That was the match that really set Grecian hearts racing, with City’s football looking slick, Wembley hero Rob Edwards repeating his play-off final goal-scoring heroics and a healthy crowd of 5,359 lapping it all up.

Only a fool would build up unrealistic hopes for the season ahead on the basis of July friendlies – but, surely, it’s a time of year when all football fans should be optimistic fools?

Weymouth will provide a tough test for Tisdale’s men. City have been beaten in two previous visits to the Wessex Stadium, most recently on Easter Monday when 1,597 travelling Exeter fans saw a 3-1 defeat dent Exeter’s play-off hopes.

Inevitably, there’ll be a run-out for most of Tisdale’s senior squad and plenty of substitutions.

In defence, trialists Jamie Bishop and Billy Franks are likely to feature once again, although Paul Tisdale has hinted at further new faces at the back, admitting on the official ECFC site that he “still wants to bring in a young defender or two”.

Much of the attention will continue to focus on the front-men, with new signings Marcus Stewart and Craig McAllister competing for places with Ben Watson, Steve Basham, Adam Stansfield and last season’s top scorer Richard Logan.