Torquay v Lincoln Sat. 3 Sept. (k.o. 5:30 pm) match thread

ImpDale · Post by **ImpDale** » 04 Sep 2016, 07:55

Good 'full blooded' game yesterday from both teams, even if it lacked a certain amount of skill / flair from both sides. Wasn't helped by the conditions of course. Certainly made it difficult for Lincoln and I feel slightly rude taking the 3 points in the 93rd minute. Torquay did not deserve that and were probably unlucky not to pinch a goal yourselves to win it 2-1. Could have gone either way for the most part.

I see Matt Rhead has attracted a number of abusive comments. Totally understandable when you've gone away from home and grabbed a winner so late on. He does have a certain appearance that might leave you wondering if he was telling the truth if you met him in a pub and asked him what his job was! However, used correctly, he'll bag 20+ goals a season. There's more to Rhead than brute force and strength, although admittedly he's not the 'chasing through balls' type of player.

I wasn't too impressed with our organisation or set pieces (defending or attacking) but teams who are contenders for playoffs / promotion are generally the teams who can grab a late winner after not particularly excelling during the game. I'm still pinching myself at the start we've made. Normally reality has set in by now and we're starting to drop silly points.

Torquay certainly look like a decent outfit and will definitely take some points off better teams this season. Just a few tweaks and you never know whether you might be able to creep your way up the league.

Across the Bey · Post by **Across the Bey** » 04 Sep 2016, 09:03

What a kick in the gut that was. First time at a Plainmoor for a while, I turned to my son and said theyâ€™ll grab this if we arenâ€™t careful. Then when it looked like we had a point in the bag of course the inevitable happened. I really do believe we deserved something from the game. With such a big lump up top in Matt Rhead, perhaps Gerring would have been the better choice, moving GG into defensive position higher up the field.
I donâ€™t think much fault can be picked with the display. Some good football played at times, weâ€™ll certainly be ok this season.
The substitution fiasco was a bit strange. Chaney waiting to come on for the best part of ten minutes by which time we were almost into the 86th minute with plenty of breaks in play to bring him on. By the that point we were running on empty and perhaps more effort could have been made to made to get a triple substitution onto the field and to get the refereeâ€™s attention. The officiating was certainly very poor.

Charley the Gull · Post by **Charley the Gull** » 04 Sep 2016, 09:34

Great thing about yesterday was we looked like we could win against a good side. Plenty of skillful, thoughtful football and thankfully we have stopped just launching balls from the back. Loved the number of times we passed our way from back to front and some excellent distribution by Moore. In fact I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Richards who I thought had a really good game and covered all over the pitch - in fact there were many committed tackles with the likes of Bliss chasing and stopping Lincoln's back four from clearing. Love the way Ward and Reid are working together and the number of times we had three or four trying to get into the box. Let's face it they were a good side who regularly found their front men and had a couple of excellent midfielders. Add to that Rhead's presence who just bullied us as you would hope from a big front man (if he's on your side!!) but they didn't look a class above us. Good TV viewing despite the ruddy awful weather and the even worse refereeing - can BT send him a recording of the match so he can see how poor he was? Well done Nico for pulling the team together into what is now looking a far more coherent side who know their roles and who are looking to use their skills to make chances. Agree with all the comments that this isn't a season to worry about on the field. Very hopeful the chances will start to be converted in the very near future.

SteveDeckchair · Post by **SteveDeckchair** » 04 Sep 2016, 11:27

Just watched the highlights and although we had plenty of chances, Lincoln definitely put us under pressure in both halves.

They are clearly a strong side that will be up there challenging based on last night but it was great that we went toe to toe with them for most of the game.

Not the result we wanted and the manner we lost in was disappointing having held out for so long. All in all though, I think the better team won. That's not to say we couldn't have nicked a winner at the end though.

Feeling much more positive about this season than last and hopefully Nicho can get us up into mid table safety.

wivelgull · Post by **wivelgull** » 04 Sep 2016, 11:58

I note that Lincoln had a player who rejoices in the wonderful name of Luke Waterfall. Wouldn't it be great to have a name like that? You can imagine standing in the NAB and your name being called " L. Waterfall, box 13!" Mind you I do like our dear old Bert (and now a Fred has joined our happy gang).

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 04 Sep 2016, 12:37

Bloggy wrote:I still think the collar looks ridiculous on our shirts...

A shirt isn't a shirt without a collar..

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 04 Sep 2016, 12:55

The best team won (albeit only in the final minutes) yesterday, but there were a lot of positives to take from the game, and I don't think we will be in a relegation battle this season. We may even finish in a very decent position.

However, Lincoln were fitter and stronger than us, and we need to improve in that area. If bodies get tired towards the end of a game, the brain also gets tired and less sharp and slower to respond, which is where a fitter team takes advantage, as happened yesterday. How many goals have been conceded in the final minutes of a game? A game isn't over until the fat lady blows the final whistle, so we need to work on that.

Which brings me to the question of substitutions. They say fortune favours the brave, yet football managers are far too cautious when it comes to substitutions, and yesterday, as Modgull and Across-the-Bey have indicated, was a case of too little too late, and that cost us the game.

That said, I have no doubt we will improve further, and this campaign will turn out to be far more enjoyable and entertaining than those of other recent seasons.

SteveDeckchair · Post by **SteveDeckchair** » 04 Sep 2016, 13:06

Regarding the subs at the end. Has anyone checked the to see if we were getting the subs ready before their goal? Maybe we were looking to run the clock down, they scored, then there was a delay as the substitutions would then be meaningless. Just a thought. .....

lucy6lucy · Post by **lucy6lucy** » 04 Sep 2016, 16:11

Gullscorer wrote:The best team won (albeit only in the final minutes) yesterday, but there were a lot of positives to take from the game, and I don't think we will be in a relegation battle this season. We may even finish in a very decent position.

However, Lincoln were fitter and stronger than us, and we need to improve in that area. If bodies get tired towards the end of a game, the brain also gets tired and less sharp and slower to respond, which is where a fitter team takes advantage, as happened yesterday. How many goals have been conceded in the final minutes of a game? A game isn't over until the fat lady blows the final whistle, so we need to work on that.

Which brings me to the question of substitutions. They say fortune favours the brave, yet football managers are far too cautious when it comes to substitutions, and yesterday, as Modgull and Across-the-Bey have indicated, was a case of too little too late, and that cost us the game.

That said, I have no doubt we will improve further, and this campaign will turn out to be far more enjoyable and entertaining than those of other recent seasons.

I think the fatigue in fitness from us was because of playing the second half in the hurricane conditions.

chunkygull · Post by **chunkygull** » 04 Sep 2016, 17:37

Bloggy wrote:I still think the collar looks rediculous on our shirts...

No it doesnt, best home kit we have had. The only thing that lets it down are the dark pinstripes.

Bloggy · Post by **Bloggy** » 04 Sep 2016, 19:06

Nope.
It looks like an afterthought...

Post by **Scott Brehaut** » 05 Sep 2016, 01:11

I thought we played well and could take a lot of positives from the game.

If we keep up those sort of performances throughout the season, we will win/draw more than we will lose.
Kick in the teeth to lose so late in the game, but positive would be that we were also pushing for the winner and not sitting back for the point. Didn't get us anything, I know, but it is a positive to see the team fighting like that. Great advert for our level of football, that's for sure.

Parkys People · Post by **Parkys People** » 05 Sep 2016, 21:13

The full match on YouTube for those who want to see a re-run.

arcadia · Post by **arcadia** » 06 Sep 2016, 18:30

Looking back to last few games Blissett is playing well but he's never in the box, We need to get him in the box and give him the service as we know he can finish. Last season he had players around him doing the work now it seems he's doing more work outside the box than in.

MellowYellow · Post by **MellowYellow** » 06 Sep 2016, 19:40

Agree Arcadia. I think most would agree that Blissett's main attributes are his: strength, work ethic, and unselfishness (and last season his eye for goal) . However, his role is more pronounce this season viz. target man to hold the ball up and support other forwards . Our consistent long ball play I fear does not play to Blissett's strengths which I advocate is taking crosses from the byline eitherby defensive overlapping or a pacy winger. Last season he look more comfortable heading the ball back across the goalmouth or direct at goal. Do no expect many goals from Blissett this season if his back is against goal trying to hold the ball up - AKA. Emile Heskey . I think Lincoln showed the trouble a bit of wing pace can do,

I assume Verma and LRT do no have the pace or skill for overlapping, as Berry and Butler gave us last season, however, when we brought the WBA lad Scrivens on loan, Nico stated "He's got the pace that is going to cause problems for the opposition". Well he's not going to cause to many problems if you don't give him a run out, unless you count his 95th min sub appearance as a good 15 sec work-out. Not enough time for decent sh*t let alone trying to ... words fail me!

If you don't know just how fast this kid is - think Usain Bolt of the Conference League. The boy is mega fast. Feed him a ball on the counter attack and he will win it (what he does with it is another question). The downside is our forwards will not be able to keep up. For those old enough to remember, we had a right winger in the 70's called Bruce Stuckey (Torquay born and bred) who transferred from Sunderland (what was then a Premier league side - played 10 first team matches). He would get so feed up with the pace of the game that he would collect the ball on the edge of his own penalty box and the next thing we knew he was at the other end shooting at goal. Nobody could catch him.

So lets have a bit of pace down the touchline and crosses from the byline for Blissett to attack rather than hoof-ball down the middle of the pitch.

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