Almost unanimous opinion on the message board this morning that no one could quite understand how we were two nil up at half time having played abysmally and scoring totally against the run of play. However, it was a very good second half performance, at the heart of which was Hutchings’s decsion, for the first time, to switch tactics. From the moment we, in order to counteract Stewart’s free role behind their two strikers, moved the wingers infield and played with two defensive midfielders and two attacking, the team as a whole and the individuals concerned, looked far more cmfortable. If you have no proper wingers, don’t bother trying to play with them!

Louise sums up the reaction:

The scoreline particularly from the first half is harsh on Exeter but its 3 points that matter.
First 25 mins we were crud, they were all over us and I feared the worst. The goals came against the run of play but totally turned everything around. The second Jones goal was quality. The MOTM award finally went to the right man. Jones ran his heart out all game and totally deserved the plaudits.
The presentation to Ray was at half time – I just wished the great man had 10,000+ cheering his award but it was good to hear the rendition of ‘theres only one Ray Graydon’ again.
Second half we showed confidence and looked like a different team. Deeneys goal I think was off side but he showed a cool head to finish off a one on one situation. Only down note Im afraid Bradley still doesnt look at the races. Ince did a good job on for Gilmartin – hope its nothing too serious.
Overall it was fair to say the scoreline flattered us but who cares – the sun shone, Sir Ray appeared and we have 3 points so for once Im a happy girl after leaving the ground.

A couple of points from that. The BBC cameras this morning quite clearly showed the left back playing Deeney onside for his goal (I too having thought at the time that he was off), so congratulations to the female official!

I also have to quibble slightly about the comments on Bradley and Richards, both of whom looked far more comfortable after the change in tactics second half. I actually though that was Bradley’s best game for quite a while. Ince, by the way, I thought made the defence look far more comfortable when he was coming to get crosses.
Lastly, can I also add my thanks to everyone for the wonderful reception for Sir Ray.