There were 548 attendees at Exeter’s St James Park for this recently arranged friendly match, despite the England international game taking place at the same time.
They were rewarded with a game that was attractive from the outset.
In the first-half, City controlled the match and dominated possession but had to be wary of the threat posed by the Grecians on the break.
It was Wilcox’s men who took the lead after 37 minutes when a Jack Byrne corner was turned into the Exeter goal by Riley-Lowe unfortunately for an own goal.
Despite the scoreline, the home side were impressing with their progressive style of football and they managed to work City keeper Billy O’Brien from range on two occasions before the break.
With the game delicately poised, City managed to double their advantage 12 minutes into the second half.
Dominic McHale, who had caught the eye in the first-half, earned the reward for his good performance with a goal which saw him dance past three defenders, before rounding the goalkeeper to tap home.
It may have looked like game over, but the home side were not finished yet.
With four minutes to play, a whipped-in Exeter corner was headed onto the post before a goalmouth scramble ensued with the ball eventually falling for Charlie Madden who stabbed home from close range.
Within seconds, the score was level.
This time, Charles capitalised on a defensive mix-up and burst through, lashing past O’Brien with a venomous drive which found the very top right hand corner - much to the delight of the 500 locals in the stands.
It was a disappointing end to the night for the young Blues but there were plenty of positives for both sides to take away from an entertaining exhibition of attacking football.
