Exeter City beaten by late Stevenage goal in Sky Bet League One

Exeter City slumped to their third successive defeat in Sky Bet League One after a battling display at high-flying Stevenage.

The Grecians fell behind early, Harvey White curling a lovely free-kick into the top corner for the hosts, but City boss Gary Caldwell expressed his satisfaction with the response from his team.

After surviving the mild scare of a goal disallowed for offside, Exeter drew level when Pierce Sweeney released Ilmari Niskanen with a delicious pass and his square ball gave Josh Magennis a tap-in.

City suddenly had momentum and chances fell to Magennis and Jayden Wareham to snatch an unlikely lead. The second half turned into an even contest and the draw was beginning to feel like a fair result, but Stevenage found an extra gear ten minutes from time, Jordan Roberts heading home the winner.

It felt harsh on City, who sit on the same points as their fierce rivals Plymouth Argyle and only just above the bottom four. Next on the League One menu is a visit from Huddersfield on Saturday.

“Lots of the performance was good,” said Caldwell. “It is a really difficult stadium to play, they’ve not lost a game here and we went behind on five minutes.

“The character we showed was first class and scored a brilliant goal. In the second half, we created chances but I felt we didn’t look after the ball as well as we should, which invited pressure.”