Ben Purrington’s sixth-minute goal against his former club was the first time Exeter had scored in the opening 15 minutes of a home league game since October 2021
Exeter’s boss, Gary Caldwell, has admitted that his side’s draw with Charlton was a fair result. His team had a great start but failed to take full advantage of it in their 1-1 draw with Charlton.
Ben Purrington scored against his old club in the sixth minute of the League One encounter, marking the first time Exeter had netted so early in a home league game since October 2021. However, they let Charlton off the hook by not building on that lead.
This decision came back to bite them when Chuks Aneke’s header bounced off Exeter defender Cheick Diabate and into the net with just three minutes left. Things could have been even worse for Exeter if Alfie May’s last-minute shot hadn’t hit the post.
Caldwell reflected: “I think it was probably a fair result. I think both teams might think they could have won it.
“I want us to be better over the course of the game; I thought our start in the game was fantastic and the personality we showed right from kick-off, the bravery to play our way, the patterns of play we had worked on all week were killing them.
“We scored a brilliant goal and then we stopped doing what we did to get in front. We made it a 50-50 game. We lost our composure.
“When we give it away playing out, we then become edgy at doing that. I think it’s a lesson that we have to stick to the process. We have to keep doing the things that got us in front in the game and not turn the game into a 50-50 game.
“We’re four games unbeaten but we need to be better.”
Nathan Jones, Charlton’s manager, had a lot to say following the encounter.
He stated, “I’m just disappointed.” We could have won the game if we had begun the game better, been more aggressive, cleared our lines, and taken the game to them in the opening 10 minutes.
“We had a good first half, creating enough opportunities and moving the ball efficiently, but 1-0 puts a different spin on things.
“In the second half, we came out and went after it for the first six or seven minutes, but the game evened out, and it wasn’t until I made the substitutions that we looked like we were going to score.
“Then we finally got the goal and kept going for it; we went for the win and should have won in the end. The positives are that we are still unbeaten after another game, that we have gained another point, and that we will continue.
“I wanted us to be front-footed and out of the blocks, but we were a mile behind where we had been in recent weeks. Now we have three home games, and I really want us to be on top.”
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