Lambert double seals the points
Exeter City 1, Saints 2
Saints took to the field at Exeter with sparkling white shorts to match their bible-black tops, and it was an improvement on the ‘Pol Pot’ look.
On the footballing side, they included N’Guessan who had looked out of his depth in the closing stages against Manchester United. Against more modest opponents he gave the team something extra in attack and should really have given his side the lead when set up by Barnard, but his shot had more power than needed and it hit the underside of the bar. That Barnard’s follow-up also clipped the bar was missed by most Saints fans who had thought the first effort had gone in.
N’Guessan also gave Lambert a chance with which he should have done better, but Exeter’s pacy breaks were causing problems and Davis and Jaidi had to perform well to keep the scores level.
However, the whole defensive unit must take blame for the incident that gave the Grecians a half time lead: Nardiello ran on to a simple ball over the top and comfortably beat Davis who had charged well outside the area.
The winger then outpaced Fonte in a footrace and Saints found themselves in trouble against a team with a formidable home record. There were always likely to be more goals, and we had to thank Davis for keeping Saints in the game before a shot by Chamberlain just caught the bar on its way over.
N’Guessan remained a threat as well, and with 20 minutes left, his excellent left foot cross was converted by Lambert with a header of awesome power. And that was it for Dany N’Guessan, as Hammond came on straight away. I’m not sure Saints looked better for it, but Hammond turned a succession of corners into a goal chance by returning the ball into the box for Lambert to head his second on 90 minutes.
Four very nervy minutes of added time followed, but Saints held on for a fairly ugly win.
LSSC Man of the Match: Richard Chaplow, who was outstanding and gets the vote over two-goal Lambert.
03 Harding
06 Fonte
12 Butterfield
15 Jaidi (Seaborne 81)
04 Schneiderlin (Gobern 87)
26 Oxlade-Chamberlain
30 Chaplow
07 Lambert
09 Barnard
32 N’Guessan (Hammond 74)
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