Exeter City 1 - 0 Gravesend & Northfleet

GRAVESEND suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of second-placed Exeter at St James’s Park on Saturday.

Home striker Lee Phillips had been a threat all afternoon but with 10 minutes to go he latched onto a hopeful pass before wriggling away from substitute James Smith and coolly beating the advancing Craig Holloway.

Although Gravesend had come back into the game slightly in the second period, it was Exeter who had dictated the pace early on.

Fleet had a scare as early as the fifth minute when Jon Challinor let fly from all of 25-yards but his shot whistled just wide of Holloway’s post.

The closest Gravesend came was a looping Andy Drury shot that had to be clawed out from underneath his own bar by Exeter keeper Paul Jones.

In truth the winning margin could have been greater had it not been for a fine performance from Holloway in the Gravesend goal.

Gravesend: Holloway, Protheroe, R. Smith (J. Smith h-t), McCarthy, Skinner, Drury, Bowry, Johnson, Slatter (Hodgson 67), MacDonald, Coleman (Moore 73).
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Gooding.
Attendance: 3,396.