PREVIEW: Exeter away

United make the long trip to face the in-form Grecians at the weekend, with both sides looking for the points for their own reasons.

These two sides have had some great meetings in recent seasons, with Tuesday and Thursday night camel treks for both clubs thrown in along the way for good measure.

Exeter hold the bragging rights in terms of league wins, with 27 to United's 20, but the Blues have been known to be stubborn on their away trips to St James Park.

Manager Matt Taylor heaped praise on his players after they set a new club record of 18 games unbeaten with a 2-1 home win over Oldham on Saturday.

The weekend win was also a new club record of 14 league games without defeat, with their last reverse in League Two back in August when they were beaten 3-0 by Leyton Orient.

Speaking to the press after the game, Taylor said: "It can't be underestimated what a fantastic achievement this is for this group of players.

"I'm sure they'll have that record for a little bit of time and they'll go down in the history books."

The run coincides with confirmation from the club that they made a profit of £2.9m in the year to 30 June 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

That was helped by a whopping 4.94m in transfer income over the 12-month reporting period. The £28m move of Ollie Watkins from Brentford to Aston Villa in September 2020 earned a reported £4m, with more add-ons expected in the very near future.

Exeter were in midweek action in an FA Cup first-round replay meeting with Bradford on Tuesday. The sides had drawn 1-1 at Valley Parade, and it was all-square after 90 minutes on Tuesday with the Bantams having smacked the bar just before the final whistle.

They were to rue that miss as a brace from Matt Jay was complemented by a neat finish from Nigel Atangana saw the home side take the win.

But hold on! A faux pas over substitutions means that all of that counts for nothing, with a replay now on the cards - and the teams will have it all to do again.

On to Saturday and they're looking to make it five league wins on the spin, with Tuesday's efforts taking their current run to 19 unbeaten in all competitions (pending deletion of the Tuesday result).

Club captain Matt Jay is currently League Two's joint top scorer with 10 - and he's on one heck of a run with a goal in each of his last six league appearances. 

That has been backed up by another in the Papa John's Trophy, and a double on the FA Cup (unless those goals are expunged), giving him a total of 13 overall.

He's mobile, and he likes to get in the box, and his confidence level will be sky high, to say the least.

He's probably the most obvious pick for a one to watch we've had so far this season.

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Lewis Alessandra scored with just nine minutes on the clock when these teams came together in January 2021. That was the only goal of what turned out to be a very tight game - with United emerging from a horrible period of Covid and weather related postponements at the time.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

United were down in Exeter in October 2020 when a goal from former Blue Tom Parkes was enough to claim the home win. Gime Toure was sent off midway through the second half for the Blues.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, these teams locked horns just once during the 2019/20 campaign. That was in September 2019 where late goals from Aaron Martin and Nicky Law cancelled out Olufela Olomola's earlier equaliser, after Lee Martin had opened the scoring.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Prior to that, it was another Brunton Park meeting in February 2019, when a bright start from the Grecians brought a stunning goal from Nicky Law. His initial effort from a free kick struck the wall, but he reacted smartly to volley the rebound into the bottom corner. Carlisle pushed and pushed for an equaliser, and they eventually got the reward they deserved when Devitt smashed an unstoppable set piece into the top corner.

The first game of the 2018/19 season took us to Exeter for an encounter which was played out in blistering heat. Early goals for the hosts from Nicky Law and Jonathan Forte set the Blues on the back foot, but Richie Bennett glanced a header into the net before the break to keep the Cumbrians in the hunt. There were chances to level it in the second period but Tristan Abrahams scored late in the day to make sure Exeter took the points.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Prior to that we were in Exeter once again towards the end of the 2017/18 campaign. It was a 1-1- draw, and Ashley Nadesan scored the Carlisle goal in what was a very keenly fought game.

Watch the highlights from that game here:

Referee - Will Finnie
Assistant Referee 1 - Daniel Flynn
Assistant Referee 2 - Louis Marks
Fourth Official - Christopher Wade
Observer - Roger Vaughan

Mr Finnie has taken charge of 16 games so far this season and has shown 28 yellow cards and one red.

Now in his third season on the EFL books this is only the second time Mr Finnie has been in charge of a Carlisle fixture.

He was the man in the middle for our 2-0 away defeat at Cheltenham in August 2019, where Gav Reilly and Luke Varney scored the goals for the hosts. Jack Iredale, Nathan Thomas and Stefan Scougall had their names taken on the day.

Prices - Seating:

Terracing:

Babes in Arms – Exeter City’s Babes in Arms policy relates to children aged 4 and under who do not require a seat. As such, any child 0-4 yrs old will not require a ticket to enter the match.   

Disabled info

There are three pairs of wheelchair tickets in the away end. Prices are charged at the seating concessionary rate with the carer going free of charge. Please contact Exeter City directly for tickets on 01392 411 243 (option 2) or email reception@ecfc.co.uk.

Dates of sale

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Methods of purchase: