Torquay United v Morecambe - 4/1/14

[TeenageGull]

Cant blame Billys finishing for us not winning, we played very well and he only missed 1 big chance

[Gullscorer]

Best performance of the season by the lads, in a game which they thoroughly deserved a win, against a team who are potential promotion contenders. The effort and workrate of every player was incredible, as was their determination and desire to win. Just a little more spacial awareness (Benyon off-side too often) and calmness in goalscoring positions (Bodin) might have won us the game. But if we continue like this there's no way we will be relegated, and the goals will come. M.O.M. was O'Connor, followed closely by Lathrope and Pearce; Benyon and Bodin would also have been contenders but for opportunities missed, though to be fair the state of the pitch did not help. But they were all heroes out there today, and Geoff Harrop did his chances as a future football manager no harm at all..

[DevonYellow]

Cant blame Billys finishing for us not winning, we played very well and he only missed 1 big chance

Yep. At least he is willing to have a go. One chance when he took it past two before firing narrowly over was very unlucky.

[TeenageGull]

Yep. At least he is willing to have a go. One chance when he took it past two before firing narrowly over was very unlucky.

Compared to last season and early this season, Billy is a completely different player and is the player we used to know

[PlainmoorRoar]

Yep. At least he is willing to have a go. One chance when he took it past two before firing narrowly over was very unlucky.

you can't blame the whole result on him but bloody hell he should have hit the target!

[Neal]

Knill gone I returned.

We were the better team, and just shows how poor this league is this season.

Should have been 2 up by the time they scored really.

Hawley definetly the problem. He might work hard but there is 0 quality.

And more times than not the ball comes straight back at us if it goes to him. He also has absolutely 0 threat. If that happens so much as it does then you will get punished. Benyon makes things happen, Hawley doesn't. If we continue with Hawley we will be relegated, he needs to be shipped out, he can't head, he can't beat a player, and although he can distribute going backwards or sometimes sideways he cannot distribute a forward pass, so is completely inaffective.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Knill gone I returned.

We were the better team, and just shows how poor this league is this season.

Should have been 2 up by the time they scored really.

Hawley definetly the problem. He might work hard but there is 0 quality.

And more times than not the ball comes straight back at us if it goes to him. He also has absolutely 0 threat. If that happens so much as it does then you will get punished. Benyon makes things happen, Hawley doesn't. If we continue with Hawley we will be relegated, he needs to be shipped out, he can't head, he can't beat a player, and although he can distribute going backwards or sometimes sideways he cannot distribute a forward pass, so is completely inaffective.

I agree the role Hawley plays in the team is the goal scorer and hes not doing it!

Replace him with Marquis or another goal scorer and that's a team that can save itself from relegation



Quick mention for the utter crap ref - as usual.

[Garydegull]

Best performance of the season by the lads, in a game which they thoroughly deserved a win, against a team who are potential promotion contenders. The effort and workrate of every player was incredible, as was their determination and desire to win. Just a little more spacial awareness (Benyon off-side too often) and calmness in goalscoring positions (Bodin) might have won us the game. But if we continue like this there's no way we will be relegated, and the goals will come. M.O.M. was O'Connor, followed closely by Lathrope and Pearce; Benyon and Bodin would also have been contenders but for opportunities missed, though to be fair the state of the pitch did not help. But they were all heroes out there today, and Geoff Harrop did his chances as a future football manager no harm at all..

Spot on !

[bengull]

That equaliser, top quality though it was, was an absolute sickener, but that is what can happen sometimes if you don't take your chances, and we were guilty of passing up on 3 or 4 very good opportunities today. Some of our football, in the first half especially, was excellent.

The result isn't the best given our situation, but I prefer to look at the performance which was excellent. Pearce was commanding at the back, Lathrope revelled in his tried and trusted midfield anchor role. Those two inclusions really made a mockery of some of the previous manager's decision making.

Labadie was impressive too, strong and direct and the decision to go with 2 front line strikers looked to have paid dividends, Hawley and Benyon linked up really well. Thought O'Connor had a comfortable game at right back, both he and Nicho pushed up high at every opportunity, as required by our more narrow midfield.

Though he didn't score, Bodin looked a constant threat, and at one point put in a perfectly timed sliding challenge in right in front of the pop-side. All in all, everything felt a lot more positive, Plainmoor seemed rejuvenated.

I don't think Harrop did a lot wrong today really, those who attended the match today will be left in no doubt that this squad is far too good to get relegated, and that the spirit in the camp looks to be good. I understand we will have a new man in place soon, but I really hope Geoff retains a place on the match-day staff, he seems to understand the relationships between fans and staff, he is a good man to have around the place.

Final word for Jak McCourt who came over to say 'goodbye' at full time, thank you for all your efforts and best of luck in the future. Bags of potential, a promising career ahead for sure.

[Banging_Them_In]

An encouraging performance it seems, although the late equaliser from Threlfall keeps us in freefall


.....ok ...... sorry ....... but I laugh in the face of adversity

COYY

[Oil Beef Hooked]

What a cruel game footy can be. We were well and truly robbed today. I'm absolutely gutted.

We were excellent, probably the best we've been all season. We made Morecambe look very ordinary, which started to frustrate them.

Once again (as with the 1st half against Exshitter last week) they have 1 shot on target and they score a wonder goal.

My only complaint with the team today is the lack of shooting at goal. You ain't going to score if you don't shoot. This is one area that we desperately need to work on. Other than that, I can't really fault the team today, everyone put a shift in. A vast improvement over recent weeks. Even our 2nd half performance was consistent with the 1st - which is encouraging.

Special mention to Geoff Harrop. Made some big decisions this week, recalling Lathrope from Hereford, Nico from wherever he's been and Pearce. He's galvanised the players and started to make them play like a team. He was very vocal on the touch line and was even encouraging the fans to cheer and sing.

Another special mention is to everyone at Plainmoor today. The atmosphere was excellent. Everyone played their part - well done all. We need to keep this up now.

We have something to build on now. The team and everyone around Plainmoor today were buoyant as if a weight has been lifted. It's a chance of a new start. Let's not waste it.

Come on you Yellows

[Swanny]

So close and yet so far! That was a real sickener today as I thought in very heavy conditions there were plenty of positives. Morecambe has hardly threatened all game and Torquay it seemed had done enough to see out the game 1-0. But on 84 minutes following a corner, Torquay could not quite clear their lines but there still seemed little danger. However Morecambe had other ideas and unleashed an unstoppable volley from outside the area that went into the top corner off the crossbar. It was harsh on the Gulls who were the better team for the majority of the match. Crowd 2,004, 26 brave souls from Morcambe, sponsors MOTM O'Connor, twitter MOTM Benyon.

My first priority was to see if there were any special guests in the directors box, but no there were no clues there. I hear radio Devon have just announced that Chris Hargreaves will be likely to be announced as our new manager early next week! It would have been a lovely story if Geoff Harrop's only game in charge was a winning one. I thought it was a great team selection and I was told today that it was Harrop on the phone in the last 48 hours to get Ladbadie back on loan. I thought the players that returned today did a great job and suddenly we looked a lot more secure at the back. We have a lot of height again with Pearce and Ladbadie and they both put in commanding performances. Lathrope returned to do a great job in protecting the back four and O'Connor was a revelation at right back. Well done to Harrop for doing what many supporters have been crying out for weeks to do. We all know how well O'Connor can defend but today at right back he made some great runs and crosses down the right flank.

Torquay's goal came from a Lathrope corner that was headed in powerfully by Downes. Torquay pressed well for the second goal and their clearest chances both fell to Bodin in the second half. Sadly Bodin for all his excellent approach play, his final ball often went astray. In the space of 2 minutes in the second half he had 2 golden chances but hit the ball over the bar with both. The first he hit powerfully that just went over, the second easier one he should have scored but blazed over. Mozika came on for Bodin with 10 minutes to go. Mozika hardly got a touch and sadly 4 minutes later Morecambe equalized. It was a cruel blow on the Gulls and quite undeserved. But sadly Torquay did not get that vital second goal and paid a heavy cost for that. There was a renewed heart and spirit on show today but sadly not the vital 3 points we so desperatley needed. Still, we are now moving in the right direction and well done to the club this week for that.

[Colorado Gull]

We were very unlucky not to get all three points today, we were by far the better side and completely dominant especially in the first half. O'Conner played much better at RB, I worried before the game that we would have a lack of width due to the 4-3-3 formation, but he worked his socks off to fill the role of a RM when he went forward. Pearce was solid coming back into the side, ridiculous how Knill never played him. Downes was much much better, solid as a rock and cleared everything. Nicholson played very well at the back, like his usual self. Labadie was brilliant, incredibly strong and skilful. Lathrope made a huge difference coming back into the squad, again ridiculous that Knill sent him out on loan, he was great today. Even Mansell had a better game, very promising. Even though Bodin should have taken his time at the end to score the winning goal, he was a threat all game. Benyon worked his socks off all game, running for every ball and unlucky not to get a chance on goal. Hawley wasn't great, but I thought that he looked a bit better than he has done in the past, winning headers and not giving up when he lost the ball.

As others have said, special mention to Geoff Harrop. He was superb today, getting behind the lads, bellowing orders, getting the crowd going and even joining in with the 'Yellow Army' chants, amazing. Loved the fact that he made the youth team watch the game next to the home bench, instead of them walking around the ground. It seems as if Hargreaves is getting the job according to BBC Radio Devon, but I definitely think that Harrop should have some input on matchdays. He is passionate about the club and it seems as if the players and people around him respect him.

EDIT: Was very annoying today that Benyon and Hawley were constantly offside, I hope that is sorted out before the next game.

[ferrarilover]

Disagree about Hawley, he was good today. Not a threat, but the rest of his game was good. This comes from his biggest detractor, so he must have been alright. Bodin the worst player in Yellow, but still at 5/10

In the last two games, we've seen the opposition have 4 shots on target and take four points. We can't ask the defence to do any better than they have, so the buck must fall with the strikers.

Matt.

[Gullscorer]

Disagree about Hawley, he was good today. Not a threat, but the rest of his game was good. This comes from his biggest detractor, so he must have been alright. Bodin the worst player in Yellow, but still at 5/10
In the last two games, we've seen the opposition have 4 shots on target and take four points. We can't ask the defence to do any better than they have, so the buck must fall with the strikers.
Matt.

Or the ball must **** with the strikers.. =D