Exeter City recorded their sixth league victory in eight games as they put in a dominant performance away at Morecambe.
The 2-0 win lifted the Grecians to withing a point of the League Two play-off places and came courtesy of an own goal from Shaun Beeley and a late strike from Tom Nichols.
It was also a first clean sheet of the season for Paul Tisdale's side, who are up to 10th place as a result of their win.
The Grecians were unchanged from the team that beat Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday, while there was no Kevin Ellison in the Shrimps starting XI. Ellison, who was injured in the pre-match warm-up, scored both goals in Morecambe's 2-0 win over Exeter City at the Globe Arena last season, but he missed out Sunday's game.
The home aside started well with Ryan Williams firing over the bar from 18 yards inside two minutes. However, the Grecians soon responded and got into their stride with Danny Butterfield's long pass being nodded down by Graham Cummins to Jimmy Keohane, but he volleyed a great chance over the bar.
Cummins skied high with another decent chance as the Grecians, playing into a strong wind, stamped their authority on the game. And the breakthrough came on nine minutes.
A typically patient Exeter build up led to Scot Bennett finding Christian Ribeiro and his low cross was turned into his own goal by Beeley, under pressure from Cummins at the back post.
Scott Davies made a brilliant instinctive save to keep the ball out as Grimes' fierce free-kick was deflected goalwards and the loose ball narrowly avoided Cummins and Ribeiro. Bennett then volleyed high after another promising Exeter attack.
It was almost too easy for the Grecians, who were in almost complete control. They were knocking the ball around with so much ease and could have had a penalty when Cummins was shoved in the box, but the referee awarded a free-kick in the other direction.
Another wonderful move from Exeter led to Craig Woodman crossing for Wheeler and he was denied a great team goal by an outstanding flying save from Davies. What City needed – and deserved – though, was that second goal as there was always the danger of a Morecambe goal on the counter. Jack Redshaw fired a warning when he wastefully shot wide from Laurence Wilson's cross and Christy Pym had to be alert to tip Ryan Williams wind-assisted, miss-hit cross over the bar.
The Grecians did fashion another good chance when a Grimes-led counter ended with Arron Davies finding Keohane, but he shot straight at Scott Davies. Ribeiro brought an utterly dominant half to a close by heading over from a Grimes corner on the stroke of half-time.
It was hard to believe Morecambe would be as bad in the second half and as expected, they started brightly. Jack Sampson glanced a header wide of goal, while Grimes fired a free-kick across goal and wide for the Grecians.
Cummins was then denied by Davies and Wheeler's follow-up was cleared off the line by Beeley. Wheeler then saw a header go straight into Davies' arms.
Arron Davies screwed a shot wide after good play by Wheeler and Keohane, while substitute Paul Mullin rolled the ball across the box, but there was no one there to apply the finish for Morecambe.
Mullin forced Pym into a save with a shot from 25 yards and the young goalkeeper was up quickly to snaffle the loose ball.
Tom Nichols on for the hard working Cummins for the final 10 minutes, almost looped a header over Davies, but the 'keeper tipped the ball over the bar.
However, the Grecians killed the game off in the 89th minute and it was brilliant centre-forward play by Nichols, who timed his run to perfection to latch onto Noble's pass. With the Morecambe backline all over the place, the striker ran through and blasted the ball under Davies and into the net.
The goal certainly gave the scoreline a more reflective look as the Grecians had dominated from the first minute. The announcement that home goalkeeper Davies was man-of-the-match merely underlined the Grecians' superiority.
Morecambe (4-3-3): Davies, Beeley, Parrish, Hughes, Wilson; Fleming, Wright (Amond 75), Williams; Barkhuizen (McCready h-t), Redshaw, Sampson (Mullin 67). Substitutes (not used): Arestidou, Kenyon, Edwards, McGowan.
Exeter City (3-4-1-2): Pym; Butterfield, Oakley, Bennett; Ribeiro, Davies, Grimes, Woodman; Keohane; Wheeler (Noble 69), Cummins 9NICHOLS 81). Substitutes (not used): Hamon, Tillson, Riley-Lowe, Jay, Watkins.
Referee: G Eltringham (Tyne & Wear)
Attendance: 1,787.
