Truro City v Exeter City (Friendly): Match Preview

Exeter City come to Treyew Road after a somewhat frustrating 2015-16 season. The Grecians missed out on a play-off place, ending 14th in League Two to continue a run of mid-table finishes since they returned to the fourth tier in 2012.

The highlight of last season was undoubtedly the 2-2 draw in January with Liverpool at St James Park in the FA Cup Third Round. Although they would lose the replay 3-0, the club’s exploits made national headlines.

Manger Paul Tisdale has also been in the news, reaching his 10th year in charge at St James Park. With more than 500 games under his belt he has become a fixture at the club, alongside Director of Football and Tottenham Hotspur legend Steve Perryman.

The last meeting between Truro and Exeter ended in a 2-2 draw on a very foggy March evening last year (as the photo above shows). But on that night, Exeter didn’t field a full 1st XI so this is likely to be a tougher test for Truro.

The Grecians’ pre-season schedule has got off to a good start, with three wins (eight goals scored, none conceded). A 2-0 victory over Weymouth got things going, followed by another 2-0 win against Bristol Rovers. On Tuesday, Bodmin Town succumbed 4-0.

It’s been a relatively quiet period on the transfer front so far, with just four new signings.

Liam McAlinden is a 22-year-old striker, arriving from Wolves, where he came up through the Academy. Robbie Simpson made 218 appearances for Cambridge as a striker, having started in the Norwich City youth system. Manager Tisdale will be hoping that the two can step into the boots of leading scorers Tom Nichols and Jayden Stockley who left St James Park earlier in the season. Simpson has scored twice in pre-season friendlies so far (Ryan Harley has also got two).

Also new at Exeter are 28 year old midfielder Lloyd James, a former Wales u21 international who made 128 appearances over four years for Leyton Orient, and centre back Troy Archibald-Henville who rejoins (he had multiple loan and permanent spells at the Grecians) from Carlisle United.

And finally, it will be a pleasure to see some familiar faces lining up for Exeter in the form of Connor Riley-Lowe, Matt Jay and Jamie Reid who all had very successful loan spells at Treyew Road last season.