Depleted Grecians rescue late point

Exeter City defied an injury crisis to salvage a dramatic late point at Peterborough United, ending a three-match winless run for the Grecians.

City were forced to make six changes to the side that went down to a narrow loss at leaders Birmingham on the weekend, and it showed in a lacklustre first-half display.

The Posh are enduring a painful winless run of their own but they exploited City’s tepid opening to rattle the post through Ryan de Havilland before a slick move created room for skipper Hector Kyprianou to apply a clever finish in beating City ‘keeper Joe Whitworth.

The Grecians were vastly improved after the break, although they did survive a scare when Ben Purrington cleared off the line after Whitworth had made an excellent initial save.

Despite their resurgence after the break, it looked like a fourth straight loss for City until a clumsy challenge on Demi Mitchell saw the award of a stoppage-time penalty.

Millenic Alli took the responsibility. His spot-kick was superbly saved by Nicholas Bilokapic in the Peterborough goal but the rebound fell nicely for a relieved Alli to smash home a deserved equaliser.  

"The players were brilliant in the second half, we kept going," said City manager Gary Caldwell. 

"The first half we weren't good enough and we gave them a goal start, which was always going to make the game really difficult. Second half we were in total control, totally dominated, didn't create enough with the possession we had, but it's not easy, as we made six changes."