Unbelievably, after a first round bye, victory that by getting to the Third Round and last 8 of the Southern Section, it is already the furthest that City have ever progressed in this competition.
Club personnel and fans alike have long suggested that our fringe players could hold their own in the Second Division and that many would be regulars in most other sides at our level, it was easy to see why with City's line up.
Martyn Margetson was last season's PFA selected goalkeeper for Division Two, Ryan Green (forever on trial it seems) has played in Division One for the previous couple of years while Michael Simpkins (playing against a club where he was recently on loan) and the youth of James Collins are solid. Then you had almost £2M of purchases in Andy Campbell, Chris Barker and Leo whilst Andy Legg, Jason Bowen, Des Hamilton and Mark Bonner are returning to action after injuries. Hardly a novice team.
Exeter, befitting a club lying 90th in the entire league, was a mix of youth and journeymen. Some familiar names in keeper Kevin Miller, ex Jack Kwame Ampadu, ex Bluebird Steve Flack (other veterans like ex-Jacks Martin Thomas and Sean McCarthy were injured so was striker Don Goodman - their combined ages must be 120!) but not much else of note.
It's a homely club but a bit of a joke club too in recent months with Uri Geller and son as Directors (and what a difference their positive thinking is making!!), talk about playing Brazil in a friendly and even speaking to the media about getting Paul Gascoigne as player-manager (without ever really speaking the man himself apparently). Meantime, in the real world, their results have got worse, their manager has been sacked and their league status is in grave danger.
No surprise then to learn that a key man running the club is Mike Lewis. Yep, the same Mike Lewis who went on and on and on and on about Cyril The Swan, moving The Jacks to a brand new state of the art stadium and how everything was rosy when in reality, they got relegated, they're stuck at The Vetch and it's worse than ever and he sold the club to an Aussie for £1 who stripped it they ended in administration, a situation in which they still seem to be free falling. Hardly Goldfinger, is he??
Ex-Spurs and Bolton player from the early '80's Neil McNab is the man in the unenvious position of steering Exeter to safety with a Cardiff City hero, Gary Bennett, assisting him. Good Luck to them, they'll need it.
St James Park has had quite a bit of renovation since we last visited just over 2 years ago although the away terrace is the same as ever. A narrow terrace behind a goal with hedges and nets to stop balls flying into houses behind us. One great thing about it though is that you are right up against the pitch and on the same level as it too. To our right remains a decrepit wooden stand.
In an era when clubs are moving to seated stadiums, Exeter must be the only club who have developed part of their ground (a banked terrace behind the opposite goal) into a modern, covered ... terrace. A small family type stand replaced what used to be the cowshed on our right.
As the teams came out, City's 250 or so fans (all wondering exactly what we were doing travelling 120 miles straight from work on a Tuesday night to watch a LDV game) were rewarded by getting to see Exeter's mascot close up. Not a bloke in a furry animal outfit but a buxom Page 3 type girl in a top with her assets straining to stay in. "They're false and you know they are" and "Jordan, do the ayatollah" were two of the kinder comments made to her.
The players all knew they had a good chance to impress and stake a claim not only to play in Saturday's F.A. Cup game at Tranmere but also future league action with the team currently misfiring, particularly away, and some injuries/suspensions. In the first half, you wondered if it was a chance any of them wanted to take.
The opening period was poor entertainment and a standard, worrying pattern for recent away games. Exeter were robust, physical, putting a foot in and determined to knock City about. Cardiff were put out of stride, seemed to be second best on all 50/50's but, as Lennie later explained, it took some time for some players, especially those returning from injury, to feel their way back into competitive football.
His tactics didn't seem to help much either though. It was a curious playing style which from behind the goal was hard to fathom but looked to be 4-3-1-2 with Bowen behind the front two but almost exclusively playing off his wrong foot on the left side.
Leggy, Bonner and Hamilton crowded the central area and all these things made for an unsatisfying 45 minutes as City didn't produce much but nearly everything was condensed into the left channel of the pitch and there wasn't much cohesion.
They did have the best chance though as Des Hamilton, who opened brightly, put Campbell racing clear with a great through ball. Miller did well to block save as he ran out. Mark Bonner screwed a shot horribly wide after a good move and Campbell snatched a shot wide, when he should have done much better, after Jason Bowen found him with his one clear break of the half.
Exeter applied themselves well but were crude. There were some nasty challenges, none more than Steve Flack who made sure both James Collins and Michael Simpkins know they were in a game. Collins, whose ginger hair has grown more than Shaggy Weston's and who looks much slimmer, must still have a headache as Flack jumped into him unaware from behind and clashed heads. Simpkins was winded and holding his ribs for a while after he bravely headed clear as Flack went to shoot but only connected with Simpkins.
Also causing problems was a striker with a ridiculous hairstyle for a footballer, no 26 James Coppinger, whose barnet looked like a hangover from '80's group A Flock of Seagulls. The group didn't get many hits and all Coppinger's efforts were misses too, three into the away terrace and one into the street outside. Margetson had one simple save to make and that was it.
City didn't play well at all, were in need of a(nother) rollocking and there were some boos and a couple of shouts of "earn your money" to players and "sort them out Lennie" as they trudged off. In any moment summed up the half, it was a silly Andy Campbell booking for arguing with the ref late on after what seemed like a fair challenge on him, pure frustration. Deep down, we were a little worried that unless City upped their ideas, we were going to be staying late for extra-time.
The only satisfied punters seemed to be a group of 70 or more Exeter fans in the opposite terrace who spent the whole 45 minutes singing every anti-Plymouth Argyle chant they could. Cardiff fans by comparison were deathly quiet, it just wasn't an inspiring occasion or display. Exeter's only chant towards us was "you're Welsh and you know you are" - ouch, that one hurt!
H/T: EXETER 0 CITY 0
The second half was different as City finally raised their performance and commitment, it didn't need much to blow Exeter away (they deserved to lose for their kit anyway, their traditional red and white striped kit has been replaced by a mainly white top white a large red letter Y design in the centre - the Y must have been for Yuck).
They showed more life from kick-off, Andy Campbell went on a run, Disco Des on another and then the breakthrough on 48 minutes. A bit of City pressure saw Exeter scramble to clear but only as far as Andy Legg. He held the ball, then passed at the perfect moment to Jason Bowen as defenders charged out. BOWEN controlled the ball well, had a clear opportunity on goal but kept his cool to roll the ball wide of the slow diving. With that goal, Exeter's fragile confidence seemed to instantly evaporate and they never looked like fighting back.
Meanwhile, City continued to press with most players now putting in strong showings as they finally adapted to the game. Bowen switched right after his goal and the shape looked better too.
A funny moment for the travelling support came just after the opener as Leggy worked hard to win a corner. As he hit the ball to the near post, Leo (who was poor tonight) never came for it and the ball came back at Leggy who screamed out "Move You F***!!" so loudly that half the meagre crowd must have heard it.
However shortly after, it was Michael Simpkins who was booked for something said to a linesman after a bad challenge by Ampadu. The referee got his rules slightly wrong as he made Margetson bring the ball forward 10 yards a free kick due his team mate, Simpkin's dissent, before realising he got it wrong and made him take it back.
On the hour it was 2-0 and game over as Mark Bonner produced a delightful burst through two players and charging in the area was brought down by Ampadu right in front of us. Ampadu complained long and loud, City support loved the opportunity to ridicule the ex-Jack for what he had just done.
It was a worry when we saw ANDY CAMPBELL line up the penalty, he smashed it into the centre of goal but Miller dived left and was well beaten.
City had an even more obvious penalty 5 minutes later when Leo was blatantly hacked down inside the area but the ref must have been starting to feel sympathy for Exeter and let it go. Shortly after, he tried to help them more as he got in the way as a Hamilton crossfield pass which set up Mr Flock of Seagulls for Margetson's only save of the half (if you exclude a cross which flicked towards goal off Bonner's head).
Exeter made changes but had run out of steam totally. Flack's headers were useless but at least he was making contact, Leo jumped but kept missing his as he slumped to the way he used to play. Funniest was one 1st half moment where he tried to head on twice in 15 seconds but both times sent the ball straight out of play in a sideways direction.
Jason Bowen was troubling Exeter and having troubled them a couple of times with his trickery, he finished the game with a run and movement that we have been crying out for. Wide on the touchline, he came in, flicked the ball past two players to the by line and with a change of pace burst straight past them before clipping the ball across goal for LEO to head into an unguarded net from all of 2 foot. Fantastic piece of skill by Jason and how satisfying it was to see someone get behind defenders.
In contrast to the first half, the whole City team came off to big applause and it was well deserved too for the way they comprehensively took Exeter apart in that 2nd half.
Most can be pleased with their performances;
Margetson - not much to do but all done well
Green - put himself about and got better as the game progressed
Collins - let Flack boss him 1st half, fought back afterwards
Simpkins - good defending but his passing and distribution are still lacking
Barker - did ok, solid rather than spectacular, it seems to be his way
Leggy - lead by example as Leggy always does
Bonner - took a while to get involved but did well
Hamilton - he was looking good until he went all Kavanagh with sideway passes instead of carrying on taking the game forward
Bowen - has to be back in the squad and used
Campbell - some nice bursts but why can't he ever stand up when challenged?
Leo - scored, should have had a penalty but well off his best otherwise
A good night's work and well it may have been a minor match in the context of the season and our sole aim of promotion to Division One, we have a great chance of going all the way. Indeed, we are favourites and what we would all give for a Millennium Stadium final - something I'm sure we would never forget.
One final thought - Exeter are a poor side, very poor to be honest. It's frightening to think that they're still better than Swansea though on results and league positions so far this season.
Report from FootyMad
Cardiff City cruised to victory with three second half goals.
The visitors had the best early chance when Andy Campbell forced Kevin Miller to make a double save from close range.
Campbell then fired just wide from a tight angle but it was a poor first half.
Cardiff were ahead three minutes after the restart when Andy Legg's fine pass found Jason Bowen inside the box and he stroked the ball home.
They stretched the lead on the hour mark when Kwame Ampadu brought down Mark Bonner and Campbell converted from the spot and in injury time Leo Fortune-West headed the third.
External Reports
BBC Online
Exeweb - Independant Exeter City
The South Wales Echo