Exeter City Manager Praises Team After Narrow Loss to Salford City
Exeter City manager Matt Taylor has commended his team’s “outstanding performance,” despite suffering a 2-1 defeat against League Two leaders Salford City. The match saw Sonny Cox give the Grecians an early lead, only for Luke Garbutt to equalize midway through the second half.
The contest took a dramatic turn when former Exeter defender Will Aimson scored a brilliant long-range goal just two minutes before the final whistle, which ended Exeter’s five-game unbeaten streak in the league.
“What an outstanding performance from my players up against the best team in the league,” Taylor told BBC Radio Devon. “I’m so proud of what we’ve done today, but the cruelness is the scoreline at the end. I think we could see by Salford’s celebrations what we’ve done today.”
Taylor expressed that he believes Salford has not faced a challenge as tough this season, stating, “I thought we were excellent. Could we have been more ruthless with our openings and our moments and our chances in the game? Yes, but in terms of everything that we stand for, I’m so pleased with performance and it’s taken a wonder strike to beat us.”
Despite the loss, Exeter remains in 12th place in League Two, having improved from two spots and one point above the relegation zone at the beginning of October. Taylor noted this reflects significant progress for his team, which has won four of their last five matches.
“We’re going in the right direction,” he remarked. “I don’t want this scoreline to dampen us in any way. We could have come here and got absolutely battered, we could have come here and not played well. We’ve come here and taken on the best team in the league and it’s one moment right at the very end which has cost us.”
