Torquay United v Portsmouth - 26/10/13

[arcadia]

Played with a bit of purpose today, Chappells early goal lifted everyone and the players seemed to have a spring in their feet.
Second half we were under the cosh for a long period thought the midfield needed another player in there as Pompey took control. You could see Chappell's and McCourts legs were gone before they scored felt that Knill should have acted instead of waiting untill they scored. Allans got to have more faith in his substitutes if he's going to play young players.
A lot of supporters missed out on a good game but Ithink the players gained a lot of confidence from the draw. Mansell did well!
McCullum played well and made Hawley look better.
Their goal came from a Rice goal kick and Chappell was tired and did not take up a position to challenge for it, not his fault but Knill should have got him off ten minutes before.
I think knill would see the game better from the stand.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Good to see us not crumble and lose the game, 1st half we did really well!

2 negatives for me:

McCourt is inconsistent, which I can forgive for being a young lad, some poor passing today

Azeez for all his qualities is not a winger! He is a striker and drifts to that position naturally which made us unbalanced, real shame Bodin is injured

Positives:

Hawley held the ball magnificently at times against 2 big centre halves

McCallum I was very impressed with, has a good jump and looks confident going forward

Chappell had a great first half and was nice to see Mansell having a better game!

Finally Oconnor at CB made some great headers in the 2nd half, likewise Pearce with some good blocks

[hector]

I thought today was quite a decent game, end to end at some points. I heard a Portsmouth fan say it was an awful game but both teams were attacking.

Portsmouth certainly deserved a draw and quite possibly seemed to be on the offensive for much of the game but whilst they probably had the better chances they never felt too threatening. Because we were 1-0 up so early and in the lead for so long, it does feel disappointing that we drew but a draw was fair.

I think most of the players played well. Pearce was man of the match and I even thought Mansell played quite well today. At times though both sides gave the ball away too cheaply.

My ratings out of ten are:

Rice 6 - did what he needed to do, didn't especially have many saves to make. Kicking woeful.
Tonge 7 - involved in quite a few attacking moves
Pearce 9 - seemed to be everywhere, winning every tackle
O'Connor 7 - solid
Nicholson 5 - got a few good tackles in, but many of his passes are hopeful lumps down the wing which remind me of Robbie Herrera towards the end of his career. Goal, also came from that left side.
Azeez 7 - pacy, threatening but often with too little effect. Came close to scoring when it was still 1-0
Mansell 8 - broke up quite a lot of their midfield play. Best game for a while in my view.
McCourt 6 - Busy, or appeared to be, but cannot remember him doing an enormous amount.
Chapell 8 - Took his goal well and looked dangerous before tiring towards the end.
Hawley 6 - Isolated at times, lost possession a few times as well
McCallum 7 - Very tall. Did quite well.

Subs:
Mozika 7 - looked like he has the potential to drive the midfield
Cameron 7 - looked quite purposeful when he came on.

The manager: well, I paid particular attention to him to see if I have been harsh in my assessment of him so far. The first sub was forced on him because of McCallum's injury, whilst he didn't make a further change until Portsmouth scored, so he was hardly proactive today. Before the game, and after the game, he spoke about it being 'Portsmouth' but despite the fact they are Portsmouth, they are also a lower, mid-table League 2 team, with one away win, who got stuffed at York. It is as if because they are Portsmouth, then you have no chance. But they are 16th. They are not running away with the league, so he may have engendered a bit of an inferiority complex, unnecessarily. Portsmouth looked ok, they are not bad, but they are not brilliant either.

Saying that, most would have taken a point before the game and the team he picked was probably the right one. The likes of Elliot Benyon would have been utterly ineffective in that sort of game.

I hope for Knill's sake that today was the start of something promising because if the team reverts to form in the next game then he really needs to go because even though there was promise in today's game, it is another game without a win - 6 games now, one win in 12 and 2 all season. Abysmal form, even if the performance hinted at some promise.

A prickly Alan Knill didn't like the interviewers question about Bury (although he did concede he had not waited to hear the full question) assuming the questioner thought November defined the season and that there are a few more months yet. But...he needs to start winning. Now, not after Christmas, or March. 2 wins out of 14 is shocking - continue that for the rest of the season and we would win 7 games, if we are lucky.

[brucie]

Didn't listen to the match or anything else but however a point is a good result - better than what I thought we would achieve.
Hawley didn't score again (predictably). I don't suppose for one minute Benyon got on the pitch at all.
Should perhaps add that a certain Torquay forward currently out on loan (Ashley Yeoman) only managed to score a hat trick today.

[MidDevon]

Best game I have seen Mansell play this season, certainly benefitted from playing deeper....meaning he mainly was able to pass the ball shorter....he also stayed away from the majority of set pieces which help his performance

[ferrarilover]

Good game today. Pompey the best side I've seen since Oxford and the first team all season to look up to the standard of a professional club. Entertaining match if a little lacking in guilt edged chances. The only negative for me was McCourt, who managed to look bloody hopeless in the middle. Everyone else today was excellent and any criticism will come from those who either have an agenda or who weren't there (no change there, then). Azeez was magnificent in the air today. The new striker looks a threat. Chappell was a constant danger down the outside and ran himself into a coma. Manse was back to his best (remains to be seen whether he keeps it up). Pearce the best player on the pitch. Hawley made the goal and got involved in a lot of our best work. Rice didn't have much to do, but the one noteworthy save was very good indeed. Tongue linked well and showed goods judgement. Nico got attacked and attacked and attacked and tried valiantly; alas, he isn't good enough anymore and today proved it. He did as well as he could, by his standards, he had the best game he could, yet he still looked like the weak link. Sorry Nico, but it's "goodbye and thanks for all the fish" time.

Cameron's best game for us, even in a cameo, really caused problems in conjunction with Tongue and the deeply impressive Mozika. If he plays like that only half for and on a non-contact basis, I can only imagine what he'll be like a month from now.

Overall, a score draw between two good sides was a fair result. It certainly isn't two points dropped, but for a change, we've got from a game what we deserved and we can't ask more than that.

Final mention to the officials who were, for a pleasant but depressingly rare change, very good indeed.

Matt.

[portugull]

Very encouraging post Matt. I think this result proves even though it is another game without a win that we are going to improve.

We just have to be patient a little longer!

[Colorado Gull]

Better atmosphere today?

[hector]

Good game today. Pompey the best side I've seen since Oxford and the first team all season to look up to the standard of a professional club. Entertaining match if a little lacking in guilt edged chances. The only negative for me was McCourt, who managed to look bloody hopeless in the middle. Everyone else today was excellent and any criticism will come from those who either have an agenda or who weren't there (no change there, then). Azeez was magnificent in the air today. The new striker looks a threat. Chappell was a constant danger down the outside and ran himself into a coma. Manse was back to his best (remains to be seen whether he keeps it up). Pearce the best player on the pitch. Hawley made the goal and got involved in a lot of our best work. Rice didn't have much to do, but the one noteworthy save was very good indeed. Tongue linked well and showed goods judgement. Nico got attacked and attacked and attacked and tried valiantly; alas, he isn't good enough anymore and today proved it. He did as well as he could, by his standards, he had the best game he could, yet he still looked like the weak link. Sorry Nico, but it's "goodbye and thanks for all the fish" time.

Cameron's best game for us, even in a cameo, really caused problems in conjunction with Tongue and the deeply impressive Mozika. If he plays like that only half for and on a non-contact basis, I can only imagine what he'll be like a month from now.

Overall, a score draw between two good sides was a fair result. It certainly isn't two points dropped, but for a change, we've got from a game what we deserved and we can't ask more than that.

Final mention to the officials who were, for a pleasant but depressingly rare charge, very good indeed.

Matt.

You manage to contradict yourself in your own post when you say 'The only negative for me was McCourt, who managed to look bloody hopeless in the middle. Everyone else today was excellent and any criticism will come from those who either have an agenda or who weren't there (no change there, then).

...and then go on to slate Nicholson yourself. So were you there? Or do you have an agenda?

[knightmaregull]

Rice 6 - relatively untroubled, no chance with the goal but a few wayward kicks.
Tonge 7 - got forward more than I have seen before and no obvious issues defensively (Nico was being targetted)
Pearce 9 - immense
O'Connor 8 - excellent
Nicholson 6 - got exposed for the goal BUT that was largely because Chapell was too knackered to get back - AK should have seen and dealt with that sooner IMO. Love the attacking formation but this does put so much reliance on the 'wingers' getting back to defend so inevitably requires fresh legs after 70 mins or so. Wasted a few set pieces too.
Azeez 6 - nowhere near his Newport impact - I really don't see he is that much better than Cameron who would surely benefit from a run in the team, would save some wages and reflect the fact he is our own player. Didn't have a great view of it but looked like he should have got his head on a great Tonge cross second half.
Mansell 8 - best I have seen this season
McCourt 5 - did OK, didn't seem too confident on the ball - as per comments above, would rather see one of our own players in the team instead
Chapell 9 - Ran his socks off to get forward and help out Tonge. Just pipped to MOTM by Pearce for me.
Hawley 6 - Battled away against some big defenders, just doesn't look like a goal scorer though which is what we so desperately lack
McCallum 7 - Grew into the game and looks a decent addition. AK should have taken him off at the first indication of his injury and not allow a young player to make his own diagnosis and end up worsening it. Poor shot at the end of the first half when we could easily have gone in 2-0 up.

Subs:
Mozika 7 - certainly adds some muscle. Hopeful here.
Cameron 8 - As above, would love to see him given more of a chance - he showed on first day of the season he has the potential.

Pompey fans = fair play to them, a superb support and must be such a great 12th man for their players.

[ferrarilover]

You manage to contradict yourself in your own post when you say 'The only negative for me was McCourt, who managed to look bloody hopeless in the middle. Everyone else today was excellent and any criticism will come from those who either have an agenda or who weren't there (no change there, then).

...and then go on to slate Nicholson yourself. So were you there? Or do you have an agenda?

Nico did his best, that's all anyone could ask of him. His best is no longer good enough. Sad, yes, but also true.

If anyone has a problem with any player who is selected to represent our club and gives 100% but is simply not to the required standard, then they need to have a word with themselves. That was the case with Nico today and I've said as much. Lovely bloke, club legend etc etc, but time for FGR to have him.

Matt.

[hector]

I was playing with semantics but yes, I would agree with you about Nico, that time is running out but he will always be remembered as one of Torquay's iconic players.

[DevonYellow]

Can't help but think the club missed a trick today. Loads of empty space on the popular side and in the bench when pompey asked for more tickets.

The excuse that fans might get annoyed or that there are no toilet facilities on the pop doesn't wash. How hard would it be to fence off a section at the away end part of the pop and put a couple of porter loos under the big screen. Or write into the terms and conditions of bench season ticket holders that the club reserves the right to move them to accommodate large away followings. Every fan I spoke to today said we should have maximised the prodtit from pompey away fans. At a time when we need every penny we can get this short sightedness baffles me.

The ground could have been full today and unfortunately we haven't got the fans to fill it ourselves. If the away team can do it for us lets let them.

[Gulliball]

I don't think they had too many fans in the home end, there was certainly nothing visible anyway. Portsmouth asked for more tickets on Monday, 5 days before the game. The bench and family stand was impossible as tickets had been sold, so splitting the popside was the only options. For the sake of maybe 100-200 extra away fans, the cost of extra facilities, stewarding and policing wouldn't have seen us make much, if any profit. You only need one incident and then all the talk is why the club put fans at risk to make a few hundred quid extra.

For the game, it was much more encouraging for us performance wise, and we created a few chances. McCallum and Azeez both should have scored, which would have killed the game off. Portsmouth impressed me, they looked a big, strong, powerful side, and they controlled a lot of the game, without creating the chances we did. Rice had nothing to do all game, and their goal came from a scramble. We sat deeper and deeper and eventually the pressure told. They were flooding down the right wing at will (not Nico's fault but he couldn't stop it) and from one cross they bundled it in.

We need some wins soon, while the league is still tight and we are in touch of mid table. The longer it goes, the more we will get cut adrift. Results went against us today, so next week is huge.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Better atmosphere today?

Thought it was much better from our end today, glad the drummer turned up for us, it makes so much difference!!