Cheltenham Town 0-7 Exeter City: Grecians get record away win with League Cup victory

Exeter captain Matt Jay got his first goal of the season while fellow forward Sam Nombe (right) took his tally to four goals in three games

Exeter City manager Matt Taylor says his side could have scored more as they broke the club's record for an away win with a 7-0 thrashing of Cheltenham Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.

Four goals in a 20-minute spell in the first half helped the Grecians into a 5-0 lead at half-time against their League One rivals.

They found the net twice more in the second period to set a new mark in the club's 121-year history.

"It could have been worse for the opposition," Taylor told BBC Radio Devon.

"We seemed to score at will, our box entries were outstanding and we also ringed the edge of the box, which is why we got some good clinical finishes around that area as well.

"That's a really big scoreline, we've come away to League One opposition and we've dominated the game and won convincingly."

Cheltenham made eight changes from the side that lost at Barnsley on Saturday while Exeter made five changes from the team that won 4-0 against Port Vale.

A poor Cheltenham clearance was seized upon and Jake Caprice's low ball was touched over the line by Sam Nombe to make it 1-0.

Alex Hartridge's cross from the left then found its way to Archie Collins on the edge of the box and he thumped in the second three minutes later.

Matt Taylor led Exeter City to second place in League Two last season

Matt Jay made it 3-0 with a header at the far post after Caprice's delivery from the right in the 28th minute and Pierce Sweeney's superb cross was nodded in by Nombe for his second and Exeter's fourth 10 minutes before half-time.

Nombe bamboozled Tom Bradbury and fed Jack Sparkes to add the fifth in first-half stoppage time.

Harry Kite made it 6-0 in the 50th minute after a long throw was only half cleared to him on the edge of the box.

Josh Coley rounded off the scoring six minutes from the end to compound Cheltenham's misery as they slumped to their heaviest home defeat for more than 30 years.

"We were miles off it and that has to be a wake-up call," said Cheltenham boss Wade Elliot, whose side have lost all three games so far this season.

"The fans were great, sticking with us, but it was a horror show."

Having signed just two players since winning promotion from League Two last season, Taylor is hopeful that his side's recent performances will help encourage more new faces to come to St James Park.

"If I was a footballer I'd want to come and play for this football club," he said.

"They get well-coached, they get fantastic opportunities, they get really well-looked after and the team plays a certain style of football.

"It's easy for me to say that, but we've got to put that into a recruitment process which attracts players."

Match details supplied by PA Media.