Pre-Season Friendly

Post by **bixieupnorth** » 15 Jul 2015, 20:35

hurst 24, marsh 29 after falling behind in the 13th minute

gullsdiv2 · Post by **gullsdiv2** » 15 Jul 2015, 20:40

Hmmm Speiss was the keeper who looked far from convincing in our home game against rovers last season, scored a terrible own goal under pressure from acheampong

Post by **bixieupnorth** » 15 Jul 2015, 20:51

2-2 after 58 but we're ahead again on 61

AlexGulls · Post by **AlexGulls** » 15 Jul 2015, 21:06

More trialists I assume off the bench. Toppliss,Ball along with Jamie Richards. No idea who the first two were they weren't even mentioned on the subs list the link put up with the teams earlier!

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 15 Jul 2015, 21:34

Sam Topliss is a central midfielder released from Hull City - think he's spent some time with North Ferriby and possibly played in the FA Trophy final. I'm sure I saw an article on him on the BBC website on trial somewhere else but I can't find it.

Orlando Lewis, not a clue. Google seemed determined to keep bringing up ex-Shrewsbury winger Lewis Neal, who plays for Orlando City.

Reading back the commentary sounds like two assists for Oneil Odofin, could be a threat in the air going forward then! Solid enough win against tougher opposition, be more interesting to see how we get on against Newport

+Gdog8 · Post by **+Gdog8** » 15 Jul 2015, 22:06

brooker wrote:This article mentions Fairhurst at number 15 in the assists table last year, so I've had a look, and never realised that Luke Young was at number 1! I have a feeling however that Youngy may be on the way out, as Cox talks in the previous article about out's that the fans might have to understand, and can't really see anyone else under contract who would command a fee. (this is pure speculation!!!)

Not luke young he's talking about bowman going out on loan to gateshead

brooker · Post by **brooker** » 15 Jul 2015, 23:15

Yeah, after seeing Bowman absent and speaking to a few it does look like he's off. Also Youngy and Cox looked very friendly when Luke was subbed off. Cox was great on the touchline, far mor aggy then I expected him to be with some strong language. It's immediately obvious that he won't be taking any crap from anyone, and will have a well drilled and organised team.

A good game, and Tivvy played good stuff at times, none of the trialists were too impressive really. Spiess had a shocker, he doesn't talk much, and Cox organised the centre backs for him. He tried to dribble it out at one point, and very nearly got caught a cropper, nor does he have any physical presence, and looked stranded on numerous occasions. The centre backs weren't great, although both are only young. The full backs however (Hurst and Butler) I thought were excellent, both defended well, both bombed on when possible, and looked like they can play a bit, Hurst was my motm, despite a bad looking foul (though I was on the other side of the ground. Young and Courts looked assured but not spectacular in the middle, and there was a period of 15 mins in the first half where they ran the show. Briscoe and Shep looked largely ineffective I thought, but showed glimpses of quality at times. Marsh started slow but warmed up, and I can't wait to see him alongside a proper target man, the absence of which was pretty obvious, and Orlando Lewis next to him did nothing. I thought Fairhurst also wasn't too impressive, and a bit tubby, but then again I'm sure that he too would relish a target man to buzz around and feed off. Yeoman looked good when he came on, and used his instinct to grab a great goal.

A really good evening in all and the side is taking shape. Cox and Hargreaves are like chalk and cheese, and his side will have a game plan, with consequences if players don't stick to it. Roll on Saturday!

hector · Post by **hector** » 16 Jul 2015, 07:03

I thought I saw MacDonald sitting on the bench but I may have been confused with the tall blondish central midfielder who came on in the 2nd half, who might be Sam Topliss.

The bulk of the match was played with the same side that started. I had no idea Odofin was such a big lad but I think he looked slightly more accomplished than his defensive partner who had an essence of carthorse about him.

It was quite a physical niggly encounter, an enjoyable game to watch with some decent moments. I'm sure the manager learnt a lot but I am not sure what I made of the new players.

Spiess looked steady in goal. He could do little about either goal, especially the Tivvy 2nd goal which was a screamer good enough to grace any ground (Dan Smith?).

Hurst and Butler as full-backs looked a reasonable pairing. As for Shepherd and Orlando, nothing really stood out for me. Marsh scored and got on the end of a few crosses.

Both Torquay 1st half goals were virtual carbon-copies of each other, crosses that were virtually bundled in, whilst the winner came in the 2nd half, almost immediately after their stunning equaliser, when goal-machine, Ashley Yeoman got his 10th of pre-season when deftly rounding the keeper and slotting home.

Fairhurst is seriously out of shape - he makes Louis Briscoe look positively lean - and he will need to do more when it comes to the real world to be effective.

Tivvy had a couple of good players. Their no.15 looked tidy, despite is mis-timed tackle on Chaney, that had the more vocal of the TUFC away following screaming an endless stream of 'f words' at the ref and lino, at the top of their voice. A little embarrassing.

There were enough positive moments to suggest that Paul Cox might be assembling a competitive squad - it was certainly a much better performance than the game at the same venue, under Alan Knill, two years ago - a very drab game that summed up the season that followed.

tommyg · Post by **tommyg** » 16 Jul 2015, 10:12

Interesting that Angus didn't feature unless he's carrying an injury. I thought he was one of the 'safest' players after Cox's arrival - hopefully it was a niggle that kept him out and not an impending move elsewhere as I rate him at this level. Does this also mean that Exodus has turned down our offer? If Cox wants to play with three centre-halves then we need to strengthen that area asap.

As for Fairhurst, Cox did say he was a few weeks away from being fully fit so I wouldn't worry too much about his shape at this stage.

royalgull · Post by **royalgull** » 16 Jul 2015, 10:40

Speiss is absolutely not what we need, we're going to have an incredibly young side and if we are signing a goalkeeper then it has to be an experienced proven goalkeeper at this level. Speiss despite being slightly older doesn't have much more experience than Dan and has never held down a first team spot anywhere, i'd sooner we stuck with Dan.

Lenny Pidgely is the guy we should be looking at, was playing at Newport and Exeter previously so I'd imagine he still lives within the south west area, played and won promotion from this league with Newport and captained them for a spell. He'd be ideal for us.

tommyg · Post by **tommyg** » 16 Jul 2015, 12:56

Just read that Angus wasn't risked because of a knee problem. Didn't he have a similar injury at the end of last season? I'm sure there was talk of needing an operation but can't remember if he went through with it. Cox has refused to comment about Bowman's absence which sounds to me like he'll be off.

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 16 Jul 2015, 14:37

Looking forward now to the next one, home to Newport County on Saturday, 3pm.
http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 45180.aspx

DaveysBarTab · Post by **DaveysBarTab** » 16 Jul 2015, 18:59

re Exodus - I expect having offered him a contract, hes not really going to be expected to come for another trial game at tiverton.

CP Gull · Post by **CP Gull** » 16 Jul 2015, 19:12

DaveysBarTab wrote:re Exodus - I expect having offered him a contract, hes not really going to be expected to come for another trial game at tiverton.

He (Exodus) is "back in the building" according to Dave Thomas in the latest Herald Express Podacst - surely only a matter of time before he puts pen to paper on a deal with us?

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 18 Jul 2015, 12:36

LAUNA WINDOWS STADIUM, PLAINMOOR, TODAY (SATURDAY), K.O. 3:00 PM...

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