2013 Prediction League; Game 40 v Exeter City (away)

[Div3North]

Exeter City

V

Accrington Stanley

2013/14 Prediction League – Game 40; v Exeter (away)

Tell you what ……. You know it’s a Bad News Week when the main story on your club website is that The Wurzels – average age deceased – will be playing a gig in the Grand Marquee at St James Park on Friday 2nd May! (Tickets are £12.50, £17.50 for VIP status) …….What’s THAT all about?

They won their first three home League games in August; 2-1 against Brizzle Rovers, 2-1 against York, and 2-0 over the Wombles. Since then they’ve played 16 League games at home; they’ve won TWO (3-1 against Plymouth and 3-0 against Fleetwood), drawn 5 and lost NINE . As last year, they can put it together (after a fashion) away, but not at home; when they beat us on 14th December, it was their first win in 8 ; from January 1st until two games ago their record was P14 W1 D6 L7 , but – maybe in the nick of time – they’ve won their last two, 3-0 v Fleetwood, and 2-1 at Plymouth (to complete a slightly unlikely double) …………if they’d lost those two, they’d have been 22nd, 1 point above Northants.

They left each of the three Cup competitions 2-0 in the First Round; at home to QPR in the Capital One; at home to Wycombe in the JPT; away at Peterborough in the FA Cup. Their overall League record, if you smooth it out over the whole season, is P39 W12 D11 L16 F47 A50 Pts 47 …… Only Wycombe and Northampton (17) and Torquay (21) have been beaten more often than they have….. Their problem is sticking the ball in the net; they’ve done it four times in a game once (a 4-0 win at Scunthorpe, one of only four defeats they’ve suffered ), and put three in the opposition net on five occasions, but against that, they’ve scored no goals in 16 of their 42 matches (including the Cups), and a total of 47 in all games. Their leading scorers as per their website are striker Tom Nichols (20), who’s been there since he was u11, with 6, homegrown defender Scot Bennett (23) and MF Liam Sercombe with five each, and on-loan striker Eliot Richards (22), who has 5 as well; he would apparently “love to stay at the club beyond this season” ; let’s see if he still feels the same if they go down!

Backstage, their problem is money, as in “they haven’t got any” ; they signed defender Doug Bergqvist (20) from Aldershot in the summer, loaned him out to Welling, and when Ostersunds FK (Sweden) made an offer for him they let him go; he was released, mainly, because the Grecians are/were unlikely to be able to keep him next year. Out on loan went Scotsman Alan Gow (31, striker, Clydebank, Airdrie, Falkirk, Rangers, Blackpool, Norwich, Plymouth, Hibs, Motherwell, Notts County and East Bengal) – actually their leading scorer of the season with 7, but not shown on the website stats, and obviously not coming back; he fell out of favour (bit like Richie Barker at Pompey; 20 games and out?! Excuse me? ), he last played for Exeter on 11th January, and has been loaned to Bristol Rovers; Welsh-born striker Eliot Richards (22) passed him on the M5, going South on loan to Devon from Bristol R, where he’d come through the ranks over several years; in (proper-signed after a loan spell) is MF Matt Gill (33), who fell down the pecking order with the Gas and came back where it all (nearly) started (he was a Grecian from 2006 to 2009, playing over 160 games, before joining Norwich, and then Bristol Rovers, where he was, at one time, club skipper), although his career actually began at Peterborough and Notts County …..

Head-to-head favours them ; in 2008/9 we lost 2-1 away but won 2-1 at home; last season we entertained them at ours and lost 3-0; the return game at theirs was loads better – we only lost that 2-0! Back just before Christmas at our place we went 3 down in 24 minutes, and despite a fightback (Murph on 38 and Naismith on 50) we lost for the fourth time in five tries ……….Pretty cr*p, lads ……Can we do something about that, please? Never mind “cleared off the line”; put man and ball in the back of the net together, I say! It was the spirit of Nat Lofthouse that made Britain Great!

As always the deadline for entries is scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 29th March. They can’t win at home for toffee, at least not since August; we’re getting stronger with every game; our away form is pretty decent, and we’ve only lost one in our last six, and that to a last minute goal. This is a game that frankly we easily could win ……….

Good luck to everyone ……Remember; passion overcomes logic! …………..Keep the Faith…… and thanks for playing!

[Div3North]

Two pms with scores from folk who can't get to a computer:

Sherry has this as 1-1
Revived Red has it as a 2-1 win for Stanley

[mab]

Exeter City 1 - 2 Accrington Stanley Please for me

[ossy kid]

Exeter 0 - 2 Stanley

[accybeme]

Exeter 1 Stanley 0 please

[Tom D]

stanley to win 2-0

[DAV007]

Exeter 1 - 2 Stanley

[smobile]

2-0 Stanley

[AccyMad]

3 - 1 to Stanley for me please

[Outback Ozzy]

Stanley to win 2-1 please

[Crown Grounder]

I've never entered this competition, and if things don't go to well, I will never enter again. So my prediction is Stanley to win 3 - 2 with goals from Odejayi, Molyneux and Gray....

[Tommy McQueen]

Exeter 0 Stanley 1 please

[teach]

Have a good feeling about this away game. Hope I'm right! 2-1 win for Stanley please.

[Chubbyman]

Exeter 1 - 3 Stanley please....

[Wynonie Harris]

4-2 to the Stanley please!