Exeter's brief Norwich outing

Intrepid Exeter City fans who made the trek from the southwest to Norwich yesterday had to sit it out on the A3 after the winter weather bit hard again. Unfortunately they were not rewarded with any points. But by all accounts the Grecians gave a better account of themselves than the 3-1 scoreline suggests, as a Canaries fan was gracious enough to point out on Exeweb.

The problem at the moment is that results are just not matching performances. In League One mistakes (such as those made by 'keeper Paul Jones for the first and third Norwich goals) are readily punished, and City still seem to lack penetration up front. Relying on Richard Logan as a 'super sub' is not enough. The consolation this time was an 81st-minute goal from veteran Marcus Stewart (picture), who has taken some unfair stick this season, incidentally. Exeter are now poised perilously, just two points clear of the relegation zone, with Oldham, Brighton, Leyton Orient and Tranmere all holding one of two games in hand. The run through to March will be critical, therefore.

BBC1's Football League Show, meanwhile, managed to show less than two minutes of the Norwich -v- Exeter match. That aside, it really is a dire programme. This week, with five games surviving the weather, it was cut to 50 minutes and still only managed to get to League One with 10 minutes to go. Paltry clips are wrapped in annoyingly trite featurettes, the scripted 'analysis' from presenter Manish Bhasin and pundit Steve Claridge is usually uninspiring, Lizzie Greenwood-Hughes doesn't even get a proper surname check ("only a girl", eh boys?) and her hapless role as the chirpy relayer of predictable emails and texts from viewers is downright embarrassing. This could be a really good highlights and magazine programme, but it assumes that its audience is basically dumb and ends up being fragmented and patronising instead -- not to mention too light on actual football content. However, at least it's a break from the ceaseless Prem coverage, so, er, I guess we shouldn't complain. *cough*