Exeter secured their first win in six League One games with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Shrewsbury.

Referee David Rock showed a red card to Shrewsbury winger Jordan Shipley for a two-footed challenge on Ryan Woods in the sixth minute.

And the Grecians took full advantage with Will Aimson, Luke Harris and Jack Aitchison all scoring before half-time.

Exeter’s Reece Cole was played through in the 33rd minute but his goalbound effort was blocked for a corner.

From the resultant set piece, Aimson put the Grecians ahead by flicking in at the near post.

Exeter doubled their advantage in the 41st minute. Aitchison drilled a cross into Harris in the middle of the box and after Marko Marosi parried away the midfielder’s first attempt, he reacted quickly and fired home from close range.

Aitchison was in the thick of the action again in the fifth minute of first-half added time and the forward hit a fantastic strike from just inside the box which rippled the back of the net.

Shrewsbury substitute Aiden O’Brien went through one-on-one with Viljami Sinisalo with just over 10 minutes remaining, but the goalkeeper parried it clear as the visitors completed a comprehensive victory.

Derby assistant manager Richie Barker was delighted with the way the Rams executed their game plan in Tuesday night’s 3-0 League One victory at Exeter to boost their promotion hopes.

The home side saw more of the ball – they enjoyed 70 per cent possession – but the ruthless Rams were clinical with their chances and won the game with goals from Max Bird, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Tom Barkhuizen.

“I am pleased for our fans, given the long journey and to take something back is pleasing,” Barker said. “It is nice to get the clean sheet and it doesn’t do the goal difference any harm either.

“We were patient out of possession and I am sure – if you look at the stats – it will look like they have dominated the game.

“They are obviously a very good technical side and very well coached. We came with a plan to ensure we only pressed certain passes and we did it really well.

“There is a lot of work that goes on to ensure we give them the correct information. No two games are the same and we will have a totally different game on Saturday than tonight.

“We have to make sure the players are best prepared we we can. That is why we do the work we do and sometimes you have to sacrifice your principles in terms of letting certain teams have it and pressing certain passes.

“The lads took the information on really well.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell rued the mistakes that led to Derby’s goals and said: “I think they punished us for every mistake we made.

“In those big moments, against the big teams, we have to be more ruthless when we lose the ball.

“We have to foul and we have to penetrate the (defensive) line more. I thought we played well in two thirds of the pitch.
They sat back and allowed us to have the ball.

“We have to recognise that having the ball is not enough and we have to penetrate and we have to create better moments from having the ball.

“I think it is a lesson that we have to take. I don’t think it’s a disaster to lose to a team that is second in the league, but there are definitely moments where we can improve and we have to learn that very quickly.

“I thought we played well in possession in two thirds of the pitch, but we could have created more.

“There are details within the game that I feel we can improve. There are details that we did very well and the biggest lesson for me is that against these teams with physicality, speed, power and quality, they punish you for any mistake you make and we have to take that on the chin.”

Derby boosted their League One promotion hopes with a comfortable 3-0 victory at Exeter.

The Rams created the first chance with James Collins firing straight at Vili Sinisalo from 10 yards, while Exeter’s Reece Cole was off target with a shot from distance before sending a free-kick straight at goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith.

Derby took the lead in the 24th minute. Ilmari Niskanen lost the ball to Max Bird, who drove forward before firing past Sinisalo from distance as his shot bounced over the goalkeeper’s arm and into the net.

Jack Aitchison fired against the base of the post for Exeter, but it was Derby that ended the first half on top with Bird twice forcing Sinisalo into saves with long-range shots.

The Rams doubled their lead after 52 minutes when Nathaniel Mendez-Laing burst onto a ball over the top and had too much pace for the Exeter defence as he slammed it past Sinisalo and into the bottom corner.

The Rams completed the scoring in the 62nd minute when Tom Barkhuizen received the ball wide on the left and cut infield before curling a delightful shot into the far corner.

Gary Caldwell criticised referee Ross Joyce’s decision to send off Jack Aitchison following struggling Exeter’s 1-1 draw at Stevenage.

Aitchison received a second yellow card for apparent dissent in the 43rd minute of the Sky Bet League One contest, with Carl Piergianni heading Boro into the lead shortly afterwards.

Half-time substitute Yanic Wildschut’s first league goal for the Grecians within two minutes of the restart earned the 10-man visitors a battling point but Caldwell, who was booked himself following Piergianni’s goal, could not hide his frustration with the officials.

“We don’t know what he’s sent him off for,” he said.

“He hasn’t sworn, all their players said he didn’t swear at the ref and he’s chosen to send him off. And when we ask him politely why at half-time, he refuses to tell us.

“Only we were getting booked in this stadium because referees are intimidated at this stadium.

“We are very respectful, everything goes against us and we have to deal with that. We dealt with it in a really positive manner.”

The Grecians’ winless league run stands at 12 matches but their under-pressure boss believes the second-half fightback shows the squad are still playing for him.

“I have never doubted that for one second,” he said. “I really believe in this group of players, they give so much.

“A lot has gone against them in recent months and when that happens as a footballer, confidence gets affected and it’s a difficult thing to play through.

“You have seen their character and resilience and we have to use this as a springboard going into the coming games.

“They can all be really proud of how they went about the second half, both the way we defended and when we had the ball.”

Caldwell’s opposite number Steve Evans felt Aitchison should have seen red for the challenge which brought his first yellow card but admitted his side did not do enough to win the game, despite Jordan Roberts and Elliott List spurning fine chances late on.

“We were far from our best,” he said.

“We looked as if Tuesday night’s game took its toll on us in terms of sharpness and freshness. We were off it the first 25 minutes then we got it into the game.

“With the sending off, my only question is why is he even on the pitch to receive a second yellow? He should have been in the shower room after running up and kicking Louis Thompson off the ball.

“Did we do enough in terms of the final pass? No. Did we miss a couple of huge chances? Yes.

“We had great opportunities, great overload, we had command of the ball. But our quality, for once, wasn’t there.”

Oxford head coach Liam Manning praised his players for digging in despite not being at their best after their 3-0 win over Exeter lifted them up to second place in League One.

Ruben Rodrigues headed in Kyle Edwards’ cross in the eighth minute before Cameron Brannagan sealed victory with two late penalties following fouls on Rodrigues and then Josh Murphy by City captain Will Aimson.

Manning said: “I was pleased most of all with the clean sheet.

“I’m delighted with the players.

“On a day when we didn’t manage the game like we’d want to, we showed a different side, in being able to block and being
able to defend well.

“Sometimes there’s a little bit of snobbery in football around what it should look like and what people want to see. Across the course of a season you’re never always going to play at the highest level you can.

“I’ve just said to the players, it’s a nice feeling to not necessarily be as we were in other games but win. Against Cambridge and Port Vale we played well but ended up losing the game.

“You have different experiences with the group and manage it in a different way. We could have controlled the ball better, but we showed a great togetherness and a great resilience.

“And the physicality – I thought the physical output was outstanding, which is credit to them and the staff for the work that’s done every day. You can only put in a shift like that if you’re in peak condition and train properly.

“I’m proud of the players because I thought they really showed what they are about as a group and as people.

“I feel the group are growing. The lads have such a respect for each other.

“For me it felt like quite a big moment in terms of finding a different way to win which in the past we maybe haven’t done. That shows the progress in the game.

“I don’t think Exeter created loads of chances. The keeper’s made a couple of good saves, but for all the ball they had, a lot of it was in areas where we controlled the game.

“Analysing the chances that were created in the game, it was definitely us who had the greater threat.

“There isn’t a player in League One I would trust more to take penalties than Cameron Brannagan. I feel so confident when he steps up and his record speaks for itself.

“And Ruben got his first goal for us today – it’s important to get goals from different areas.”

Yanic Wildschut’s fierce angled shot which came back off a post was as close as Exeter came and manager Gary Caldwell felt his side lacked a cutting edge.

He said: “I’m disappointed with the result.

“We got off to a poor start and gave away a really bad goal, which made it difficult.

“We controlled the rest of the first half without creating too many opportunities, although Yanic had a great chance, but it was a brilliant save off the post.

“Second half we were in total control, but we didn’t penetrate enough or create enough chances.

“The longer the game went on, we left ourselves vulnerable to counter-attacks which Oxford punished us with.

“It’s a game we need to learn from, but overall I didn’t think it was a 3-0 game. There were moments that went against us and we have to dust ourselves down and go again.

“The team were excellent in training for this match, but we were playing without a recognised number nine, which gave us a problem.

“That was probably why we looked a bit toothless at times.

“I can’t fault the team’s effort – we just didn’t have the understanding or intensity in the final third to make things happen and turn it into goals.

“At 1-0 down, if we could have scored, we were very much in the ascendancy at that point.

“We left ourselves open to counter-attacks and Oxford scored two penalties from those situations.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell has high hopes for Ryan Trevitt after his goal set up a 2-0 win over Carlisle.

Trevitt and Demetri Mitchell sealed the points to make a long trip north worth the effort, following a midweek defeat at Portsmouth.

“It was a fantastic result after a really difficult week,” said Caldwell. “We had to recover well after Tuesday night and after everyone’s really hard efforts we thankfully got the result here today.

“After the first 15 minutes of the second half we looked the stronger team. The substitutes gave us a real attacking threat. It was a big team effort and I have to thank everyone at the club who contributed today.”

Trevitt opened the scoring on 70 minutes with his first professional goal and Caldwell was full of praise for the Brentford loanee.

“Ryan’s been brilliant since he joined the club and I can see him scoring a lot more goals between now and the end of the season,” he said.

“He’s got a brilliant knack of finding the corner. It was a brilliant finish.”

Exeter kept their third clean sheet of the season against Carlisle.

“We’ve been very good defensively,” Caldwell said.

“It was a big question mark in pre-season and in fairness the whole team have worked hard on defending set-pieces and working hard off the ball. That allows you to make moments to go and win the game and when we got our two moments, we took them.”

Paul Simpson believes his Carlisle side are not too far away from where he would like despite the result.

“I thought there was a lot of good things today. We had good controlled possession and worked their keeper well,” he said.

“My over-riding thought is that we’re not too far away now. But that’s also a frustration.”

Carlisle were on top in spells of the game and Simpson rues the chances his side missed.

“When we’re on a good spell that first goal is all important,” he said. “There were opportunities to get crosses in and we hit the first man and that’s where the real frustration lies.

“We do know the importance of scoring the first goal when we’ve had the chances. We’ve had the corners. We overloaded the near post with good deliveries but fine margins and we didn’t get on the end of those good balls.”

Goalscorer Mitchell was on a yellow card when he fouled Fin Back in the first half but Simpson was coy about the decision not to send the Exeter man off.

“If he hadn’t been on a yellow, it might have been given but I don’t like seeing players sent off,” he said.

“It’s not why we lost today so I would be clutching at straws if I were to claim that cost us the game today.”

Ryan Trevitt and Demitri Mitchell netted as Exeter beat Carlisle 2-0 at Brunton Park.

Exeter found the breakthrough when Trevitt struck 20 minutes from time for his first professional goal.

Mitchell stroked home with eight minutes left to make the points safe, but Carlisle may have felt aggrieved he was not sent off in the first half after a possible second bookable offence.

United started well and Sean Maguire pulled a first-minute shot narrowly wide of the Exeter goal, before Fin Back’s volley whistled close as the home side dominated the early moments.

Maguire again created an opening for Carlisle, heading a decent chance into Viljami Sinisalo’s grateful grasp. The City keeper was called into action again when Maguire fired low on 53 minutes.

Despite the Carlisle pressure, Trevitt fired home from the edge of the box to give the Grecians the lead on 70 minutes.

On 82 minutes, Mitchell got on the end of a Jack Aitchison cross and picked out the bottom corner to seal the game for Exeter.

John Mousinho called on his Portsmouth team to be more ruthless after seeing them beat Exeter 1-0 at Fratton Park.

Colby Bishop’s second-half strike was enough to settle a keenly contested game.

Mousinho said: “I thought we were excellent in the first half. The only thing we didn’t do was put the ball in the back of the net.

“It was a different story in the second half. Exeter made some changes which I thought would leave them a bit exposed in places for the counter-attack.

“If I could criticise anything, it’s that we need to take our chances. We had some good opportunities up to and after the goal.

“We also have to learn to manage the game better. We didn’t do that particularly well in the last 10 minutes.

“We made some rash decisions and although we are a youngish team, I think we’ve got enough experience on the pitch to deal with it.

“Having said that, it was a well-deserved win off the back of a totally different game at the weekend. I’m absolutely thrilled.”

With both sides coming into the game unbeaten, it was Bishop who ended Exeter’s run with the only goal 20 minutes from time.

He rifled home from just inside the box after picking up substitute Jack Sparkes’ pass with his back to goal.

Exeter boss Gary Caldwell said: “We weren’t ourselves in possession tonight. We can play much better but, having said that, in the first half, we were dogged and resilient and defended the box very well.

“We improved in the second half. Most of the chances were from set pieces and I thought those chances were better than our overall performance.

“It’s a newly formed squad, we’re still developing in terms of partnerships, have come to a big stadium for the first time and we have to learn from experience.

“We didn’t make good decisions throughout the game. We kicked long when we could have played out and played out when we should have played long. We’ll analyse it as a group but I want them to be braver, to be a team.

“Their keeper has made some good saves and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. Even when we are not at our best, our set-pieces cause teams problems.”

Colby Bishop scored his second goal of the season to fire Portsmouth to a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Exeter.

With both sides coming into the game unbeaten, it was Bishop who ended Exeter’s run with the only goal 20 minutes from time.

Bishop rifled home from just inside the box after picking up substitute Jack Sparkes’ pass with his back to goal.

It took until the 29th minute for Pompey to produce the first effort on goal from either team as Alex Robertson forced goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo to palm away from 20 yards.

Further efforts from Exeter’s Dion Rankine and Pompey’s Connor Ogilvie and Robertson failed to break the deadlock.

In what turned out to be a pulsating second half, it was Exeter who nearly opened the scoring after 63 minutes but Zak Jules headed straight into Will Norris’ arms.

Exeter had two golden chances to snatch a point when captain Will Aimson headed over from two yards out before Pierce Sweeney’s header forced a brilliant save from Norris.

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell could not fault the effort of his players as they held much-fancied Blackpool to a goalless draw at St James Park.

The Tangerines are tipped by many to make an immediate return to the Championship after relegation last season, but they were second best against a spirited and largely youthful Exeter side.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, Exeter could have gone in front on the stroke of half-time, but Jack Aitchison took too long to get his shot away when through on goal, while Blackpool could have won it in stoppage time, but Vil Sinisalo made a brilliant stop to deny Matty Virtue.

“I thought the players were outstanding with their energy, their quality and the way they kept going against a team that was in the Championship last season,” Caldwell said. “I thought we looked like the team that tried to win the game.

“We gave them a huge opportunity that we have to be better at, as it came from our throw-in, but they came and showed us a lot of respect and but for a little bit of quality, or the ball bouncing in the right place in the final third, I thought it was a game where we did enough to win.

“I don’t think there was much lacking today, we had 11 shots at their goal and it wasn’t like we were toothless or didn’t create chances.

“We created one great chance from the way that we pressed late in the first half, but every other chance was probably a half chance, or moment in the final third where we have to understand the profile of each player and the relationship between the players, how each player differs and wants to receive the ball.

“I think that part of our game, our understanding, still needs to come, but I can’t fault the players for what they gave me today.”

Blackpool boss Neil Critchley felt the result was about right.

Critchley said: “I am not sure we deserved to win the game but I don’t think we deserved to lose it either.

“We are coming to Exeter’s first game and you can see the belief because of the start they have had and they are playing full of confidence.

“You could see that we were a big flat and a bit leggy. Both teams gave everything, it was a good, honest performance from both teams.

“We weren’t at our best but we defended the goal brilliantly well. We gave away one chance and we nearly nicked it at the end which would have been the perfect away performance. But it is another clean sheet which is a positive.

“We stressed at half-time we would get chances on the break and it didn’t quite happen until right at the death but we defended the goal brilliantly well. A lot of teams would have got beaten today by Exeter.”

Exeter manager Gary Caldwell was delighted with the second-half response from his side as they reached the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win over Sky Bet League Two club Crawley.

After falling behind in controversial circumstances – former Plymouth and Torquay striker Klaidi Lolos headed in from a corner when Exeter were down to 10 men and trying to make a substitution – Kyle Taylor and James Scott scored in the last 15 minutes to turn the tie on its head.

It was Taylor’s first goal since returning from a nightmare 18 months out with a serious knee injury, while Scott’s goal was his second in successive matches.

In truth, it was no more than Exeter deserved as they dominated for long spells, but it took a half-time rollicking from the Grecians boss to get the response he wanted.

“It was a really difficult game and I said before the game that we can’t underestimate Crawley and I felt, in the first half, we did a little bit,” Caldwell said.

“We were a little bit flat, our press wasn’t as energetic as it needed to be and in fairness to them, they played a really open style of football and asked a lot of questions of us defensively with how they position players on the park. I thought they played well.

“We could have been better on transition and we could have been better on the press. We conceded the goal, but I thought our response after half-time was sensational and we came out and looked more like the team on Saturday, we played on the front foot, we played aggressive football and in the end, I think we deserved to win the game.

“I said to the players at half-time you can’t win a game without running for the team, but we did that second half and thoroughly deserved to win the game.”

Matt Bloomfield admits his Wycombe players suffered a significant “reality check” after weeks of pre-season work went up in smoke against Exeter.

Two goals in the first five minutes fired Gary Caldwell’s red-hot Grecians to a comfortable 3-0 opening day victory as Jack Aitchison, captain Will Aimson and James Scott all netted at Adams Park.

Bloomfield says that left his players “shell-shocked” and the Chairboys boss urged them to deliver a rapid response when their travel to Lincoln next weekend.

He said: “It’s a reality check – if you look at the way we conceded those goals the lads were shell-shocked.

“It’s a disappointing scenario to find yourself in – there’s a lot of planning that goes over in over the summer and during this week, and then to find yourself 2-0 down.

“I think behind the scenes we’ve seen during pre-season that we have been missing bodies – we’ve had far too many of our top performers not being able to take part.

“The football league has a habit of throwing up these scenarios so unfortunately we were on the wrong end of one of those today. We have to make sure we are up to speed as quickly as possible.”

“We gave the ball away in a dangerous area early on, and unfortunately that ends up in the back of the net.

“There’s been plenty that’s happened at this football club that isn’t in our control, and in those situations where we are we have to make sure we’re better.”

Aitchison was one of 13 debutants across both sides and made the perfect start since joining from Motherwell, scoring after just 24 seconds.

A goalmouth scramble from a corner three minutes later then saw Aimson tuck home to double the lead.

Sam Nombe could have made it three from the spot, after Demetrii Mitchell was felled by Max Stryjek, but the Wycombe keeper saved superbly.

Wycombe rung the changes and had second-half penalty appeals waved away after substitute Josh Scowen was barged over in the box, but failed to muster a single clear-cut chance and Scott’s late goal saw Exeter seal victory.

Grecians boss Caldwell loved his side’s razor-sharp attacking performance and added: “It was an amazing start – I don’t think any of us would have thought we would have scored that early.

“I thought the intent and the aggression we showed in the first 15-20 minutes was incredible.

“We spoke a lot in the last couple of weeks about wanting to have a style of play and to play in a certain way, and we have to be a team that’s aggressive with and without the ball.

“And I thought the way we played in that early period, how we landed on second balls and when we ran forward – we called them so many problems.

“We looked a really dynamic front-foot football team, which is what we want to be. Every time we passed the ball forward today I thought we looked a real threat.”