Argyle 1 Exeter 2 (09/11/2010)
After Argyle won promotion in 2002 it would be another eight years before the teams would meet again, but it was definitely worth the wait. This time the two teams met in the Quarter Final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in front of nearly 10,000 at Home Park.
The home side bragged the likes of Bradley Wright-Phillips and Yannick Bolasie up front and would have no doubt been expecting nothing less than a win here, but with the Pilgrims suffering some tough financial difficulties Exeter looked to take advantage. The build up to the game was huge, with both sides looking forward to resuming battle after so long in different leagues. Home Park was awash with Green and Red under the floodlights for what promised to be a tense affair.
It was Exeter that dealt the first blow on the pitch, as Ryan Harley fired home to give the away side the advantage after just two minutes. The goal definitely buoyed the away side but they couldn’t add to their advantage before the break. The goal scored by Chris Clark to level the scores wouldn’t have looked out of place in El Clasico let alone the Devon Derby; the 40 yard lob over Artur Krysiak was a goal then Argyle manager Peter Reid would have been proud of.
As the night was getting darker, it looked like penalties were inevitable, both teams were still giving it their all but the winner seemed elusive. Step forward Daniel Nardiello, who came on as a substitute with just ten minutes to go, and with 30 seconds to go he was the match winner. After managing to evade defenders he stroked the ball home to steal victory at the Theatre of Greens. The win saw Exeter’s first in the fixture since 1994, and saw a brief change in power in Devon, as the Pilgrims were relegated to League 2, leaving Exeter as the highest Devonshire club at that time.
