Moore-Taylor excited by play-off challenge after Exeter see off Colchester

Posted Sunday, May 06, 2018 by PA

Exeter captain Jordan Moore-Taylor is hoping to take the Grecians one step further this season as they brought the curtain down on the regular campaign with a 1-0 win over Colchester.

Robbie Simpson scored the only goal of a largely dour game, heading in Pierce Sweeney’s 72nd-minute cross.

Colchester missed a great chance to go in front themselves minutes earlier when Sammie Szmodics saw his penalty saved by Exeter goalkeeper Christy Pym.

Moore-Taylor, beaten captain in last season’s League Two play-off final loss to Blackpool, was making his first start since injuring his knee in a 1-1 draw with Carlisle on March 10.

His return will be a huge boost for Exeter heading into a semi-final against Lincoln.

“When I first did it against Carlisle, I thought that was it, season done,” he said. “But credit to the physio for getting me the right treatment and getting me back out there.

“I feel good, the knee feels fine and it is just about getting the mileage in the legs now.

“Fourth place is an improvement on last year and we have to move on and look to go up through the play-offs now.

“It is going to be a challenge, but I think any of the other teams would have been a challenge as well. We will go back in on Monday and look forward to that and get ready to go.”

On Exeter bringing the curtain down on their regular season with a win, Moore-Taylor added: “It is always nice to finish on a high heading into the play-offs and it gives us that little confidence boost knowing that we can win games and see them out.

“It was nice to keep a clean sheet as well, which we haven’t done in a while.”

Colchester boss John McGreal felt that the missed penalty cost his side the chance of victory.

“We have consistently missed penalties this year,” he said. “Sam had the bottle to take it, we were so much in the ascendancy at the time. It didn’t look a good penalty.

“I challenged the boys to win the game at half-time. A lot of our fans came down and we wanted to lay one on for the fans.

“We have had a decent away record and you saw that second half. We were really in the ascendancy and the penalty changed things.

“Junior (Ogedi-Uzokwe) went for the ball but Sam is our penalty taker and we have made that clear this season. We have had poor penalties all season, we have missed four out of seven, all in important parts of the game.”