Keeping Up With...The Grecians

The Grecians extended their current unbeaten run to seven games after Easter Monday's 2-0 away win over Crawley Town.

Midfielder Jake Taylor, who joined from Reading in January opened the scoring after 28 minutes, converting youngster Ollie Watkins' cross. Watkins himself would put the game to bed with 16 minutes remaining, scoring his fourth goal in six games. The win moved City up to 11th in League 2, just six points off of the play-offs.

The streak includes wins over Crawley (2-0), Notts County (4-1), Cambridge (1-0) and Stevenage (2-0) as well as draws against Barnet, Portsmouth and Carlisle. Curiously, all of the aforementioned wins came away from home, while all the draws were at St James Park. City have only won twice in their last 12 games at home. 

Argyle players will have their work cut out with the City strike force. Forward Jayden Stockley, on loan from Bournemouth, has scored eight times since joining in January. Also, a notable mention is fellow forward Ollie Watkins. The 20-year-old's form comes as a surprise to many after just one goal in nine games before his run of four in his last six games.

The fixture last season saw Argyle come through 3-1 winners as a hat-trick from forward Reuben Reid was the first in the fixture by an Argyle player in 86 years.

Much has changed in Paul Tisdale's squad since then, with just three of the squad that day (Craig Woodman, Christian Ribeiro and Ryan Harley) starting in the 2-0 win over Crawley.

The fixture holds a lot of significance as after 108 years and 102 games, Argyle have the advantage with 43 wins, along with 30 draws and 29 defeats in that time. The Greens have also outscored their rivals with 143 goals to Exeter's 102. 

The sides met in Argyle's 2000th and 5000th professional games. Goals from Neil Langman, Jack Rowley, a brace from Eric Davis and an own goal from Keith Harvey secured a 5-0 win in 1957. Earlier this season goals from Hiram Boateng and Craig Tanner were enough to see off their rivals 2-0 in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

The most recent meeting between the pair saw Argyle lose 2-1 at Home Park through Ryan Harley double before half time. Bolton loanee Oscar Threlkeld pulled a goal back as a Pilgrims side without Luke McCormick, Peter Hartley, Carl McHugh, Hiram Boateng and Reuben Reid lost 2-1.