Despite the bad news for Exeter, the Grecians are ‘excellent’ as they extend their unbeaten record at Cheltenham.

“To go a goal down here and produce a comeback with quality, sticking to our principles, and we were outstanding and deserved the win.”

Exeter City went past the ’50 point’ mark and made it five games unbeaten as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Cheltenham Town. It is now the Grecians’ longest unbeaten streak in two years after second half goals from Luke Harris and Reece Cole all but secured League One survival.

The Grecians were dominant in the first half and should have gone in ahead – Mo Eisa missing a one-on-one the best of the chances. The profligacy in front of goal was costly though as five minutes after half-time, Ben Williams was left unmarked to head the Robins ahead.

The lead lasted just five minutes though as a lovely move between Jack Aitchison and Tom Carroll saw the ball slipped through to Luke Harris, and he drilled home a low finish for his second of the season to make it 1-1. Joe Nuttall hit the crossbar for hosts, while a scramble from a corner was cleared off the line as Darrell Clarke’s men tried to win it.

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But Gary Caldwell’s side got the winner in the 90 ^th minute. A short corner was worked to Ilmari Niskanen and his shot was adjudged by referee Steve Martin to have been handled by Lewis Freestone, much to the fury of the home side. Cole though kept his cool, and slotted the penalty into the bottom corner of the net to make it 2-1 and another three points on the road.

The win took City to 51 points, and in doing so, made it five unbeaten for the first time in two years. Exeter, who stayed 15 ^th , are now 12 points above the relegation zone, and Caldwell was left delighted with the win and the performance.

“We deserved it and at half time, if it was a Boxing match, it might have been stopped,” the Scot said. “I thought our play was outstanding, and the only thing we didn’t do was put the ball in the net, which has been a problem this season that when we are on top, we have to score and make the dominance and quality count in goals.

“At 0-0, they came out, raised their game, we started poorly, but the players were outstanding. To go a goal down here and produce a comeback with quality, sticking to our principles, and we were outstanding and deserved the win.

“We lost a bit of control in the second half, they changed the shape, had some impetus, we overplayed a bit in our own half, but the players worked it out. We scored a brilliant first goal, and then a fantastic corner routine which we had worked on, and saw the rewards for that. It gets us the penalty that gets us the win.”

After the 1-1 draw with Charlton Athletic on Good Friday, Caldwell made two changes to the Grecians side. Eisa replaced Sonny Cox in a straight swap upfront, while Ben Purrington, who scored the goal in that game, was ruled out under concussion protocols. In came Alex Hartridge for a first appearance since January 27.

Within four minutes, City should have been ahead. Eisa beat the offside trap and was clean through on goal. The striker rolled the finish past Luke Southwood, but the ball dribbled agonizingly wide of the post. It was a golden chance to open the scoring, while Harris and Ryan Woods came close to breaking the deadlock in the first half.

Within five minutes of the restart though, Cheltenham had the lead. Exeter failed on several occasions to clear their lines from their own box, Sean Long floated a cross from the right in, and Williams, on as a half-time sub, was unmarked at the far post to head home. It was their first effort on target, and put them 1-0 ahead.

The lead lasted just five minutes though as the Grecians grabbed a deserved leveller. Aitchison drove forward to the edge of the box, he found Carroll, who slid the ball to Harris. The teenager took a touch, and then drilled a low finish across goal and into the far corner to send the 1,500 away fans wild.

Both sides pushed for a winner. The Robins came close when Vil Sinisalo tipped Nuttall’s header onto the crossbar, with Hartridge managing to clear off the line from the resulting scramble. City, though in the 90 ^th minute, did win it. After Freestone was adjudged to have blocked Niskanen’s effort after a well-worked short corner with his hand, the penalty – City’s first since the opening day of the season – was awarded.

Up stepped Cole, and he drilled the penalty low into the bottom right hand corner of the net. It was a sixth goal of the season for the midfielder, taking him to the top scorer, with all six having come in one goal wins.

“He had a back problem in training on Saturday, didn’t train yesterday, took some painkillers and got treatment, and barely managed to get on the bench, and he comes up with the penalty to get the win,” Caldwell said of Cole. “I am not someone who designates a penalty taker, whoever wants it to take it and put it in the net, but I wouldn’t want anyone other than Reece on it. The quality he has and a clean strike into the bottom corner and it was unsaveable.”

Exeter City are back in action on Saturday when they host Stevenage at St James Park, and while safety might be effectively secured, the manager wants more wins and to see more scenes at full time like the ones the fans had on Monday.