By Josh, 16, Jill Dando News
Shot Stopper Purnell Shines in 5-0 Defeat against Exeter whilst 23 year old League 1 star Sam Nombe fires home 4 for the Grecians.
Weston were defeated 5-0 in the second half by a very strong fielded Exeter side at the Optima Stadium.
With the sun beaming down, the Optima was buzzing with football being back for pre-season. The game started in worrying fashion for ex Weston loanee Sonny Cox who went down for 3 minutes after a last ditch tackle by Lloyd Humphries. Sonny was back up limping, however, sadly his night ended 8 minutes in after being replaced by Aamir Daniels.
After the game Sonny was seen leaving the Optima on crutches and we wish Sonny the best in recovery.
Twenty one minutes in, the seagulls had a penalty shout for a handball in the box, however, this was waved away by the referee, in disgust by the Weston fans, who believed their side should have had a penalty.
7 minutes in, Exeter really started pushing for a goal with Matt Jay hitting the post with an effort inside the box whilst 20 seconds later Matt Jay won another corner for the grecians. Matt Jay then had an audacious attempted chip over Luke Purnell but it just goes slightly over. The last attempts in the first half saw the 2 superb saves from Exeter keeper Harry Lee in the 35th minute saving double efforts from the former Grecian and now WSM forward Rueben Reid whilst his shot from 18 yards was pulled away.
The Second half ended 0-0 with the Grecians bringing on a new squad in the second half barring goalie Harry Lee including the likes of Josh Key, Sam Nombe and Jevani Brown.
It took Exeter 7 minutes into the second half to find their first goal of the night where Nombe Curls from Distance found the net scoring his first of the night. Purnell saves an almost certain goal header from Alex Hartridge however Pond scores a tap in by the 68th minute to make it 2-0 Exeter.
In the 70th minute Purnell made an impressive double save with 2 incredible efforts from close range ending in safe hands by Purnell. A minute later, Exeter were still applying the pressure with shot after shot being saved by Purnell, whilst Nombe headed it in, saved and an impressive rebound was also stopped.
The pressure became too much by the 77th minute with another goal from Nombe to secure a brace where from the edge of the area, Nombe powers a shot into the bottom corner whilst there’s nothing Purnell can do. Nombe secured a hatrick in the 79th minute where Sam blasted the ball past Purnell who was determined to save the effort.
For the next 10 minutes Exeter were pushing and giving it everything they had got testing the Seaguls defence and Luke Purnell’s incredible goalkeeping ability, however, goals kept steaming in and by the 89th minute it was 4-0 with another goal from Nombe from inside the area, scoring his 4th of the night within a 36 minute period averaging a goal every 11.25 minutes during the second half which is something only a few players can do and is very impressive.
All 698 Fans were loud and proud supporting their team throughout the game however a key highlight was after the game where the youthful fans were cheering on the seagulls and encouraging them to not let this get to them.
This is also the Grecians first win of Pre Season after losing to Tiverton 2-1 last week as Exeter set their eyes on the new league 1 season whereas Weston look to gain fitness and experience when they next face league 2 side Newport County on the 15th July at the Optima for a 19:30 Kick off.
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