Exeter City punished as they slip to defeat in ‘not good enough’ performance
“All over the park we weren’t good enough and it is on all of us that we didn’t score or keep a clean sheet.”
Exeter City defender Alex Hartridge claimed that the Grecians were not up to the required standards throughout the game against Northampton Town. The Cobblers continued their recent run of success against City, winning 2-0 at St James Park.
Sam Hoskins put the Cobblers ahead 20 minutes into the first half, perfectly timing his run to come on the end of a defense splitting ball and then firing past the onrushing Vil Sinisalo. The visitors had numerous opportunities to expand their lead before finally doing so late in the game.
Patrick Brough clinched the victory in second-half stoppage time, tapping into an empty net after a counter-attack as Exeter rushed men forward. Exeter have now lost two of their past 16 home games against Northampton, and just one of their last 14 overall, dropping them to ninth place.
Defensively City were left too open on too many occasions, while going forward they were fairly toothless in attack, barely threatening Northampton’s goal at all. From the high of Tuesday night’s win over Premier League Luton Town in the Carabao Cup, it was a low point perhaps of the campaign having never got going at all.
“We talked about it, but we didn’t appear ourselves,” Hartridge explained. “We had to create our own atmosphere, which we didn’t do today, and we got punished for it.”
“It all bleeds together. We didn’t win enough first contacts, they got the second ball and momentum, and there were too many panicked defending and Vil saves. We weren’t good enough all over the park, and it’s on all of us that we didn’t score or keep a clean sheet. We’ve struggled against teams that come in and blame everything on us. We need to get back into the habit of making first contacts.”
As the games continue to pile up, City will travel to Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night. And the academy product stated that the players will react to the loss.
“It’s a chance to make things right,” he continued. “When you’re winning, having games to keep the streak going is fantastic, and when you lose, it gives you something to react to.” We will have a reaction; the games after a strong performance will require us to adjust our thinking.”
