County swapped the familiar environs of Cheshire for faraway Devon – but happily made the long schlep home afterwards with all three points, thanks to an early Kyle Wootton brace, on a gloriously sunny Saturday at Exeter.
The Hatters’ first trip in over 15 years to St. James Park – a ground at which they had triumphed on their three previous visits – saw Wootton score the quickest County goal of the campaign thus far, before adding a second ahead of the first half’s mid-point, to put them well in control of proceedings.
And, ultimately, that proved enough to secure a third win running, a sixth ‘double’ of the campaign, and, moreover, a jump of one position to fourth – just a single point behind third-placed Wycombe.
For his 200th game in charge of County, Dave Challinor made two changes from the line-up that had begun the Stevenage match at Edgeley Park four days previously. Owen Moxon was handed his first start in over a month, and Ethan Pye returned from suspension, to replace Callum Connolly, who was named among the substitutes, and the injured Lewis Bate.
Fraser Horsfall – despite lacking a face mask to protect the broken nose he had suffered against the ‘Boro’ during midweek – did add to his matchday-wear by donning the captain’s armband in Bate’s absence.
The away end was packed with hundreds of noisy travelling Hatters, who broke out in celebration with just one minute and five seconds on the clock as Wootton put County ahead with the first attack of the afternoon.
The foray began with a break down the middle by Jayden Fevrier, who struck the right post following a one-two with Tanto Olaofe, before Wootton, by the far upright, turned the ball home on the rebound.
Around the quarter-hour mark, the hosting ‘Grecians’ had their first sight of goal, as Caleb Watts, fed by Ed Francis, fired an effort from just inside the box and into the waiting arms of Corey Addai.
Twenty minutes following his opening goal, Wootton bagged his and County’s second – converting from close range a delivery from the left by Olaofe, who, despite home appeals to the contrary, had beaten the offside trap before providing the assist that brought the two strike-partners level as top-scoring current Hatters for the season with 11 goals apiece in all competitions.
County lost the services of Moxon on the half-hour, when he suffered a facial injury and was replaced by Will Collar. And, largely consequent upon the treatment that the midfielder had received before eventually leaving the field, some seven minutes were added on before the break – albeit without seeing the scorers troubled further.
HALF-TIME: Exeter 0, County 2 (Wootton, 2 and 22).
The Hatters looked to begin the second half as they had done the second – but in spite of creating a chance inside the first minute following the resumption, when Ibby Touray sent over a cross from the left, Fevrier skewed the ball beyond the far post.
Half a dozen minutes later, Touray’s through-ball on the left found Jack Diamond, who cut in before shooting – only to see his attempt blocked by defender Alex Hartridge. The hosts’ woes, meanwhile, continued as second-half replacement Pat Jones pulled up in a race for the ball with Brad Hills, and had himself to be substituted after only eight minutes on the pitch.
As the contest approached its final quarter of an hour, Diamond twisted and turned on the left before crossing to substitute Kyle Knoyle, whose shot was parried by goalkeeper Joe Whitworth. Collar then followed up on the rebound, only for Whitworth to come to the rescue again and deflect the ball behind.
Another large dollop of added time – eight minutes in this instance, on account of a lengthy spell of treatment for the hosts’ Ed Turns – was announced at the end of the half. During it, home skipper Josh Magennis flicked past the near upright a Reece Cole corner from the left – but that was as close as the Grecians were to get to a late consolation.
FULL-TIME: Exeter 0, County 2 (Wootton, 2 and 22).
Team (4-4-2): Addai; Hills, Horsfall (Capt.), Pye, Touray; Fevrier (Bailey, 65), Moxon (Collar, 30), Norwood, Diamond (Powell, 81); Wootton (Cosgrove, 81), Olaofe (Knoyle, 65).
Unused Subs: Wogan, Connolly.
Booked: Olaofe.
Attendance: 6,541 (813 away).
Reporter: Gareth Evans.
Photographer: Mike Petch.
