Torquay United v Dover Athletic – Saturday 20th September

[SuperNickyWroe]

can someone tell me how Martin Rice who hasnt had a decent save to make be man of the match when the scorer is ignored. What sort of specs are they wearing.

who said that?

[cambgull]

Full time, another good win. Just need Barnet to stop winning 5-0 and we'll end up top!

[Glostergull]

who said that?

Announced by commo after it was heard on Tannoy. much surprise there. Maybe someone who was at the match can tell us.

[HRG]

Another fab result. Wish it had been a little more convincing but it's the same three points. Looking forward to Telford next Saturday. I should be there all being well.

[Glostergull]

Lee Mansell got a mention on radio today as commo was looking forward in speaking about coming weeks. as they talked about christmas agains rovers. And he scored the Rovers second goal today. hope he;s not on too much form when we play each other

[frenchgull]

So the great bandwagon rolls on and I am mighty relived to have got past todays opponents as it looked like a game we could have lost,it looks like this Torquay side have not only football skills they also have resilience to keep going when thing arnt going so good so you have to put that down to Chris Hardgreves and team.

[chunkygull]

6th win in a row! :-o
7th win of the season! :-o
5th clean sheet in a row! :-o
2nd in the table! :-o
Defenders scoring goals! :-o
+ 14 on goal difference! :-o
Winning games when not playing well! :-o
A winnable game coming up! :-o

All I can say is -

You are my torquay, my only torquay, you make me happy when skies are grey, you'll never know, just, how much i love you, so don't take my torquay away.
(laa, laa, - laaaa, - la, la, - laa, laa, - laaaa, - la, la. - la,la,la,la,la, - la,la,la,la....).

Get in, well done lads!

[cambgull]

5th win in a row! :-o
7th win of the season! :-o
5th clean sheet in a row! :-o
2nd in the table! :-o
Defenders scoring goals! :-o
+ 14 on goal difference! :-o
Winning games when not playing well! :-o
A winnable game coming up! :-o

HA! For a moment there I thought you were talking about Torquay! Then I realised, of course, that these kinds of stats would never be about Torquay, we never do well. That would just be ridiculous!

[Glostergull]

done a tally up of corners for and against. 11 for us and 2 for them. seems to talk of a one sided game. was it really that one sided. didn't sound like it on radio. we had a couple of real scares but rode our luck. but a win is a win. roll of Telford next week.. can we hit 6 games with no goals conceded. 7 wins on trot. and over 600 minutes with no goals conceded. it's entirely possible. the atmosphere must to brilliant in the dressing room at the moment. can we keep it up.
Looking forward to the future. well i wouldn't look back to the future would I. November will be the month when we can measure whether we are promotion material. we have a tough task that month. all teams at or near the top. all hoping to feature in or near the playoffs..
Kiddy. Barnet. away. followed by FGR and Gateshead at Home. then Macclesfield away and Eastleigh at home. now I know Eastleigh haven't exactly set the world alight and Macclesfield are not as high up as they want. But I doubt we will find these teams the pushover we think they will be. if we can still remain within the top 5 after November then maybe, just maybe we can dream a realistic dream of promotion.
But remember if we start dreaming. then we will start putting pressure on the lads. that needs to be tempered with a little realism and factor in that we have a decent team but it is rather thin in numbers. a few injuries and suspensions and we could easily find ourselves falling down the league in short order.
We also need out attendance to increase in line with the success. no decent crowds will hold us back. and they haven't exactly turned up in numbers yet have they.
In the meantime lets enjoy our position. at the moment, it's nice to be a gull. long may it continue.
One worrting aspect, gates generaly seem to be down throughout the whole country in all leagues this season. even those who are winning are not bringing them in in huge numbers. Barnet are top having just put 5 past their opponants today yet their gate was only 1500. Granted Rovers had 6000 plus and we had 2300 plus but we were the exceptions. SWindon were pleading with supporters to turn up in greater numbers this week. seems only the Prem cane still fill stadiums. and then some matches are lower that expected.

[tommyg]

Not the goal-fest most predicted and a pretty dire second half but what do they say about a side winning games when not playing well? We were slow out of the blocks but dominated the first half. We had to be patient before Young hit the post with a thunderbolt from the edge of the box and Bowman forced a save after some good link-up play between Cruise and Ajala down the left. We were knocking on the door and were rewarded after Downes scored a trademark header from a Young corner, with the ball squirming over the line. Dover rarely threatened but did create one opportunity which resulted in a fairly comfortable Rice save.

Unfortunately, our second-half performance was woeful and we were lucky to hold onto our lead. Dover had a couple of gilt-edged chances, but failed to capitalise when Rice was caught in no man's land before being rounded, but the Dover player sliced over from an angle with the goal gaping. We just couldn't keep hold of the ball and were very static in the final third. Bowman should have wrapped the game up after being put clean through by Richards but he was again denied by the keeper and smashed his rebound against the post. A second goal in injury-time flattered us. O'Achie looked like he was going to hold the ball up after we forced a corner, but instead he flicked it through to Cameron, whose low cross into the six-yard area deflected in off a Dover shin. It was actually a poor cross because there was no yellow shirt near the ball. But they all count and a win is a win, although against a better side we would have been punished in the second half.

Rice was laughably given the sponsors' MOTM. He barely had a save to make and almost gifted Dover an equaliser so who knows what game they were watching. A much better selection was Cruise, who topped the Twitter vote after an excellent performance. He was a real threat in the first half going forward and Dover couldn't cope down that side. Downes and MacDonald were rocks as usual and Tonge performed well again. In midfield, Richards was better without the ball than with it, nicking back possession regularly. His passing was a bit astray at times, although he did play Bowman through on goal with a delicate ball. Young was superb in the first half before wilting. That said, he never panicked on the ball and was a calming presence when others around him were scrambling.

Out wide, Chapell was quite ineffective, losing control of the ball and over-hitting crosses. He also doesn't have the pace to beat the full-back on the outside. Ajala does possess speed but he's so hit and miss you never know what he's going to do. Hargreaves probably tears his hair out watching him play. He has the ability but sometimes lacks a footballing brain, which is probably why he's at this level. I was frustrated with the front two, particularly O'Achie who too often waited for the ball to come to him rather than moving towards the ball. He can be a real handful but wasn't involved enough today and rarely jumps for the ball. Bowman worked harder and tried his best to stretch the defenders, but his primary role is to score goals and he missed two great chances. Cameron obviously came on and assisted the own goal, but as previously mentioned, it wasn't a very good cross. I'd rather he started ahead of Chapell now he's fit again. Wakefield did ok out of position on the right and put himself about a bit.

Relief probably best sums it up and with a full week now until our next game, hopefully our players can recharge their batteries and keep the run going. On a side note, I wouldn't mind Hargreaves bringing in another striker because we were crying out for a change up top in the second half and clearly he doesn't fancy Yeoman. Maybe Briscoe will add extra depth when he's fully fit, but I think he'll be used more out wide.

[leetufc]

5th win in a row! :-o
7th win of the season! :-o
5th clean sheet in a row! :-o
2nd in the table! :-o
Defenders scoring goals! :-o
+ 14 on goal difference! :-o
Winning games when not playing well! :-o
A winnable game coming up! :-o

All I can say is -

You are my torquay, my only torquay, you make me happy when skies are grey, you'll never know, just, how much i love you, so don't take my torquay away.
(laa, laa, - laaaa, - la, la, - laa, laa, - laaaa, - la, la. - la,la,la,la,la, - la,la,la,la....).

Get in, well done lads!

Even better than that - 6 wins in a row! :~D

We looked comfortable rather than spectacular today. Other than the open goal their striker put over the bar, Dover offered very little threat. We could have had a couple more - Young was unlucky to hit the post, and Bowman should have scored when through - but we didn't need to play to our best to win today.

The defence were solid, Bowman did well up front but I thought Duane and Toby were off the pace today.

All in all a good win, and a game against bottom of league to follow. The good times are back at the Launa Windows stadium!

[A Realist]

In comparison to recent games, that was a really poor performance today. Dover were by far the better team for most of the second half and Bowman and O'Achie offered little to nothing against their 3 man CB line up. They missed 2 absolute sitters second half and I think they will be gutted that they never came away with a point. One of them was an open goal.

That said, Torquay still hit the woodwork twice (Bowman should have scored with his first shot before the rebound hit the post) and if Young's went in it could have been a different game. Still, as they say, when you play poor and win it suggests that you're a decent team. On to Telford next week and the confidence will still be high and there's no reason to think that a win isn't on the cards.

[Glostergull]

In comparison to recent games, that was a really poor performance today. Dover were by far the better team for most of the second half and Bowman and O'Achie offered little to nothing against their 3 man CB line up. They missed 2 absolute sitters second half and I think they will be gutted that they never came away with a point. One of them was an open goal.

That said, Torquay still hit the woodwork twice (Bowman should have scored with his first shot before the rebound hit the post) and if Young's went in it could have been a different game. Still, as they say, when you play poor and win it suggests that you're a decent team. On to Telford next week and the confidence will still be high and there's no reason to think that a win isn't on the cards.

I was rather hoping it would be on the pitch. wont be much us if it's only written on cards. Saying that. i'll get me coat. hope theres still room on the executive naughty step trojan

[gullno4]

we weren't good, luckily they were worse! how they missed that open goal I'll never know, but another win, and another 3 points! we did the job but improvements needed!

[Swanny]

So another win, another clean sheet but a game in which Torquay struggled to click today. In the end both of Torquay's goals came from corners and were quite fortunate. You felt that Dover gave everything and can feel a little hard done by for all their efforts. Our crowd crept up to 2,383 today with 90 odd enthusiastic supporters from Dover who made plenty of noise. Sponsors MOTM mysteriously going to Rice who was a spectator for much of the game.

It was a pretty low key start to the match but as time went on Torquay slowly improved. Bowman was through and had his shot saved. Luke Young nearly scored another pile driver after his exploits in midweek but his shot today crashed off the inside of the post. Rice made a smart diving save when Dover hit a shot across him from inside the box. Torquay's break through on 35 minutes was a from Downes header at the near post from a Young corner that squirmed in with defenders on the line. It was a soft goal but a vital breakthrough. It was a strange half as our 2 strikers, O'Archie and Bowman had very quiet games and our wingers Ajala and Chappel were not delivering. Our best hope seemed to be an aerial one from a defender or a shot or from a central midfielder. Richards and MacDonald had further chances in the first half saved.

Torquay did not improve in the second half. Our best moment was a double chance from Bowman. He first had his 1-on-1 well saved and he hit the follow up against the post from a tight angle. Dover had a great chance to equalize with about 10 minutes to go. Rice raced off his line and after an apparent misunderstanding with MacDonald, Dover were through on goal on their left. However he blasted the ball over with the goal gaping. A big let-off for Torquay. Cameron had come on for the ineffective Chappel and helped to raise Torquay's game with his quality on the ball and final ball. Sadly Chappel's decision making and final delivery was poor today. He looked good on the ball but there was no end product unlike Cameron. O'Archie grew into the game and started to make a nuisance of himself with those very long legs. But the moves tended to break down and Dover took the initiative and it made uncomfortable viewing for Gulls supporters. Then on 90 minutes a short corner from Cameron to O'Archie, who cleverly back heeled and put Cameron through on the byline. Cameron's low cross was put into his own net by a Dover defender. Game over and Gulls fans could finally relax and enjoy the 3 points. Joyous scenes at the final whistle and it was nice to see Hargreaves on the pitch at the end celebrating with the players.

So a hard earned 3 points in a game where things did not quite click on the pitch. In the end our defence stood firm and MacDonald and Downes were probably our outstanding performers. Apart from 1 golden chance in the 2nd half and Rice's save in the first Torquay kept Dover at bay. The trouble was that after a deserved 1-0 half-time lead, Torquay did not work their keeper much in the 2nd half and stuttered for much of the the 2nd half. Moves tended to break down and Ajala and Chappel had games to forget. There was little service to our front 2 Bowman and O'Archie who struggled to get into the game. I felt that at times Bowman could have made more of an effort to chase balls down etc. I was impressed with Luke Young's work rate. Sadly we had a fair share of misplaced passes today from several players so there was not much fluency in our game. When I was entering the ground today I overhead some man predicting a 4-0 win. Football is rarely that straight forward and today we had to find a different way to win - this time without the style.