By Rob Clement at St. James' Park

Kristian O'Leary was on target for Swansea reserves midway into the second half, but it was little reward, after Exeter had established a three-goal lead in their totesport.com combination clash at St. James' Park.

The Swansea starting line-up consisted of youth team members, along with Chad Bond, Oliver Hewitt-Fisher, Matthew Collins, Kristian O'Leary and Artur Krysiak.

It took only three minutes for Swansea's first goalscoring opportunity to arrive, with an angled strike from O'Leary which flashed over the crossbar from ten yards.

Five minutes later, the Grecians responded, and it was Krysiak who reacted superbly to push away a Craig McAllister drive.

Just before the half hour, Joe Walsh went close to breaking the deadlock, only for former Wrexham goalkeeper Andy Marriott to deny the attacking full back, producing a quality save.

Exeter's opening goal had an element of good fortune, with Liam Sercombe's shot from the edge of the penalty deflecting in off the inside edge of the far upright.

The Grecian's increased the tempo, adding a second goal two minutes before the interval, with Ronnie Bull planting a rising shot into the roof of the Swansea net.

Despite that two-goal setback, Swansea began the second half once again in threatening style, and Hewitt-Fisher was unlucky with a curling shot flying narrowly wide of the goal frame.

Swansea continued to seek a way back into the match, and Lee Lucas displayed his attacking ability, only to be denied the opening goal, with Marriott smothering his low drive.

Exeter injected more pace in their match play, securing a three-goal lead on 61 minutes with Fred Murray placing a downward header into the net following a Chris Shephard corner.

Three minutes later, Swansea successfully made a vital impact with Kristian O'Leary powering in a twenty five yard shot beyond Marriott's reach following an opening carved out by Bond.

Unfortunately, Exeter re-established their three-goal advantage, with Ben Watson squeezing the ball between Krysiak and the far post during the 77th minute.

Substitute Adam Orme, a replacement for Hewitt-Fisher, went close to scoring Swansea's second goal four minutes later only for his well timed shot to rebound off the crossbar.

Exeter: Andy Marriott, Scott Bennett, Jack Obersteller, Liam Sercombe (C), Fred Murray, Ronnie Bull, Emmanuel Panther, Neil Saunders (Steve Basham, 64'), Ben Watson, Craig McAllister, Chris Shephard.

Not Used: Ben Osman, Lewis Tasker, Toby Osman, Nick Jordan.

Swans: Artur Krysiak, Matthew Collins (C), Joe Walsh, Kristian O'Leary, Josh Ford, Daniel Alfei (Steven Berry, 82'), Oliver Hewitt-Fisher (Adam Orme, 65'), Ben Adelsbury, Chad Bond, Lee Lucas, Anthony Finselbach.

Not Used: Rhys Wilson.

Referee: Andrew Bennett (Hatherleigh)

Attendance: 127

Click HERE for the reserve team fixtures and results.