Late night test for Town but the kids are all right for Alf

An enjoyable foray out west to the cream of Devon proved that size doesn’t matter after all.

With goals from the diminutive David Norris and Ronan Murray, Alf’s finest will have a ball in the bag for the next round draw of the Carling Cup.

Exeter City might not be one of the largest fish in planet football’s pond, but the locals enjoy a friendly, homely match-day experience which the likes of the big beasts can only dream of. Tucked away in a corner of Exeter, growing out of a local school, Alf and his mate finally stumbled on ‘the other’ St James Park.

Right in their backyard, the locals and visitors alike enjoy a drink and banter, sitting on picnic chairs, yards from the player’s front door. Bliss. Clearly the locals have sensibly bagged the better facilities for themselves. Alf and the loyal bunch of 671 travelling Town fans had the ‘crap end’, complete with ivy, for that authentic dilapidated feel.

Some of the more astute Town fans had simply taken a break from their holidays at the likes of Newquay and Porthcurno to witness in person that Saturday’s mesmeric revival of fortunes at Boro was for real. Meanwhile Alf and Bus 1 Galloways arrived back in the small hours following the milkman into Town.

Fortunately, the game was the entertaining sort, which could have gone either way.

Birthday boy Roy Keane took the belt and braces approach by calling up the kids to form the backline, but selecting older heads to man the middle of the park. Alf was treated to a glimpse into the future with the likes of Ainsley, Brown, Eastman, Lambe proving that things are growing nicely in the allotment at IP1. Presumably, Daddy Keane travelled down to Exeter stopping off at Thorpe Park and Wooky Hole as a special treat?

The pick of the crèche was Murray who seems to possess that handy knack of being in the right place at the right time. There might not be much of him to the pound, but his lively display served notice that he’s ready to graduate from the nursery.

The locals shaded the first half with the boys in blue giving the ball away cheaply. John O’Flynn, a native of County Cork, looked a handful for the Town rearguard and by the second half ‘older hands’, Peters and Smith, replaced Ainsley and Brown.

Keane made Alf laugh with his comments that ‘youngsters don’t think about cars, women or money, they just want to play football.’ Alf’s memory is fading fast, but throw in drink and that’s about all Alf thought about as an 18-year-old!

Alf and the faithful had few complaints when the League One outfit took the lead, but from then on Town took control of proceedings and goals from Norris (2) and Murray just about did enough to deserve their win.

Certainly the body language this early into the season has changed. It’s only game two of many, but Alf detects a hunger and desire that was AWOL for much of last season. The news that Jason Scotland and Ross McCormack might at least have directions to the building, coupled with a heartening start, has done much to restore the faith lost by thousands of supporters in the debacle of last season.

Throw in a couple of decent hungry young loan signings from the top of the class and Town should be able to tick all the right competitive boxes. Now if just one of them turns out to be from the same mould as Marcus Stewart, now player-coach at Exeter, then Town really will be in business.