Torquay United v Cheltenham Town - 21/8/12

[Neal]

Well I guess we have been lucky with injuries recently so maybe this is payback time, hope not. He played Cruise to sit on a 2-1, it didnt work this time

[yellowmonkey]

Just got back and thought we had a fantastic game till Macklin went off then we fell apart, their second goal was a Saah mess up.

[HRG]

I would have taken the point before the game.

I really feel for Macklin and hope he takes comfort in what sounds like a good performance up until he went off. It's gutting that he's had this setback. But he is capable and I hope he's back to prove it soon.

[Scott Brehaut]

Sounds like Macklin had a very good game.

I can understand why Ling decided to put Cruise on - in order to preserve the lead we had, however it sounds like it backfired and bringing on Jarvis was a case of being too little, too late.

It will be interesting to see who Macklin is replaced with if, as suspected, he is out for a while. He certainly appears (and I say this purely judging by the reports on here before the usual suspect jumps on me as is usually the case) to have considerably improved and appeared to have a huge influence on the game. Do we have somebody else of that ilk in the team or do we, even at this early stage, look towards the loan market?

[bixieupnorth]

aargh just typed 1000 word report and it vanished before I could post in on Android app.
can't be arsed doing it again, suffice to say it was a belter tonight. unlike this app which is more unstable than mark yates

[Colorado Gull]

I said before the game that I would be happy with a draw and I walked out of Plainmoor this evening, not feeling too disappointed. However, I can't help in thinking what might have been if we didn't stick everyone behind the ball to defend, with Cruise coming on when Macklin went off on the stretcher.

First of all a quick say on the singers, well done to those who decided not to go down the end and stay in the middle with the drum. The atmosphere was so much better, with the whole ground joining in with the "Yellow Army", "Come on you Yellows" etc. I thought tonight we made a lot of noise to get behind the boys, we need this every week.

Onto the game and in the first few minutes both sides showed why they are so similar, passing it around nicely trying to get it to the dangerous wingers to start an attack, Cheltenhamshire were the most successful in this. This showed when the visitors scored first and it came from a cross. There was some ball watching at the back from our part and the Cheltenhamshire player got up and headed it into the net, the Torquay players were left looking at eachother. From the restart we looked determined to get a equaliser straight away and that almost was the reality. Macklin, Bodin and Howe looked a threat causing a lot of pressure for the Cheltenhamshire defence. In an attack like this, including the forward men, we won a corner. There was very good movement in the box by us and Downes got up well and headed the ball into the net. The score line now read 1-1. In just two minutes after the Torquay centre back levelled the game up, Rene Howe put the Gulls in front. It was also a header and very much like Downes', however the header was more looping and it went over the Cheltenhamshire goalkeeper to put us into the lead!

After this the game died down a bit, with Cheltenhamshire and Torquay still looking good passing it around and looking for an attack. We broke well when the visitors had a corner, the ball went out to Bodin and he gave it to Howe. Howe gave it back and Bodin knocked it to Macklin. Lloyd ran up the wing, shot but the ball went well over the bar. Cheltenhamshire had a few good chances, but we defending quite well (after their goal) with Downes looking very good, clearing and heading the ball well. Damon Lathrope looked good today, defending and looking solid, but he pulled up injured with his knee and Easton had to come on. In the last few minutes Torquay made one last attack two long throw ins, but these came to no avail and the referee blew the half time whistle for the 15 minute break. The first half was a decent half for Torquay coming back and defending well after we went behind.

In the second half we looked poorer, especially in the last quarter of the game, but first we did have some nice plays. Bodin had a glorious chance when the ball came to him on the left hand side, he should have shot first time, it surely would have been a goal, but he tried to be too clever, checked in side and the keeper retrieved the ball. We should have been 3-1 up! We had a few great chances from corners with Saah and Downes, causing the Cheltenhamshire keeper to save and for the defenders to clear the ball away. Then about half way into the second half, disaster for our attack! Lloyd Macklin pulled up after running behind the defence, holding his leg. The stretcher had to come on to get Macklin back to the changing rooms. Ling put Cruise on as a replacement and this is when we fell a part! Ling put everyone behind the ball to defend to hang on, but with the visitors giving the ball to McGlashan (he dives when he wants) and Zebroski we just couldn't soak up all the pressure to hang on. Michael Poke made some fantastic saves and Easton headed the ball off the line after a Cheltenhamshire corner. But we just couldn't hang on, it was a silly move by our part and ex-Gull Chris Zebroski scored his first goal for Cheltenhamshire, scoring from the left hand side. The Cheltenhamshire fans went mad, like it was a cup final, very OTT!

Jarvis then came on for Howe, which was also a bad move because Bodin looked absolutely knackered and was running on empty. Jarvis made no pressure whatsoever when he came on and neither did the hole side to be honest, in the end it looked like we were hanging onto a draw. It all went wrong when Macklin came off for Cruise and we decided to defend for the whole second half, Cheltenhamshire were too quick up front to do that! However, before the game I said I would be happy with a point, I didn't walk out the ground feeling absolutely gutted, a bad move by Ling and sloppy defending cost us. I feel that it is more a point gained, than two points lost even though we were ahead for a while, Cheltenhamshire probably deserved a point in the end.

Poke 9: Solid, made some great saves.

Oastler 8: Made a few sloppy mistakes at the back, but looked good coming forward linking up with Bodin.

Saah 8.5: Solid, cleared the ball well.

Downes 10: Can't think of a mistake he made, totally solid and defended brilliantly, with a great goal.

Nicholson 8: Couldn't handle McGlashan at times, but looked quite comfortable and put in some decent crosses.

Cruise 7: Looked ok when he came on, was played out of position and worked hard defending.

Lathrope 9: (for his performance when he was on) very solid, tackled well and linked up well.

Morris 7: Made some sloppy mistakes giving the ball away, but looked quite good in the middle.

Mansell 7: A poor performance for the skipper, made some silly mistakes and didn't link up as much, however tackled well at times.

Easton 8: Looked good when he came on, defended quite well as well.

Macklin 8: (for the time he was on) Looked very good running forward with and without the ball, got himself into some great positions. Linked up well with Oastler, Bodin and Morris, but he looked a little sloppy and flat footed at times.

Bodin 9: Ran his socks off and never stopped working, looked very skilful and linked up well.

Howe 8: Worked very hard and looked much better with support, got up well for headers linking up well, also he got up very well for his goal.

Jarvis 6: Didn't do very well when he came on, however wasn't on the pitch for long.

Let's hope we get a win against Rochdale on Saturday!

[ferrarilover]

Where to start?

We should have won, make no mistake, if we'd have scored 7 today, it wouldn't have been beyond belief. Bodin should (should, not could) have had a hat trick, one off the line, one hit the post, Macklin missed a great chance, Downer missed a header when it was easier to score, the list is almost endless.

Twas a brilliant game and Cheltenham played their part. McGlashan was his usual self and didn't once beat Nico, Manse was incredible, Downes just keeps getting better, Saahsy his usual self.

Disappointments were Oastler, who was at fault for the Zedders goal (not Saah as previously suggested). Poke, who is suffering a lack of confidence, probably bought about by an equivalent lack of game time. Finally Morris, who was just not reliable. Again.

Two points dropped, despite Chelts being a decent side.

Final word to their supports, who evidently were not told that the game was on, which is presumably why no one turned up.

Matt.

[Colorado Gull]

I've also got three videos from today's game, will try and upload them tonight!

[royalgull]

In every game I saw last season I thought Oastler was poor, he just looks like he's playing out of position. Has absolutely zero strength, is slow and doesn't read the game very well. They seem convinced he's a full back so I'm pretty sure they aren't looking at it as a problem area. It's a concern in my book.

Credit to danny for writing a report it's appreciated by those that very rarely make home games midweek (especially when they are in the air coming back from Deutschland) but those ratings suggest we won 100-0.

I take heart by the fact we seem to have played well tonight and should have won, but like I said a few weeks ago I don't think our squad is particularly strong. 2/3 injuries and we look threadbare. Nice to hear Macklin played well also, maybe he has turned a corner? Sods law with the injury!

[GazTheGull]

Macklin's torn his hamstring, and is having a scan tomorrow to see how bad it is

Not too disappointed with a draw, just we need to finish games off. Hopefully we can do this against Rochdale at the weekend

[bengull]

A very good game of football between two exciting teams, after 90 minutes a draw was probably a fair result, but after 60 it looked like a matter of time before we made it 3 or 4-1. Macklin, Bodin and Howe were running the show and in truth at least one of them should have extended our lead when we were completely dominant. Billy especially may think in hind sight that he should have shot instead of trying to round the keeper.

Macklin had a decent first half but in the second he was scintillating, we looked dangerous every time he got on the ball and he and Bodin seem to have an excellent understanding. The game changed completely when he got injured and he looked completely crestfallen, he knew it was serious, no one in their right mind can tell me he doesn't care this season. Easy to say it in hindsight but I would like to have seen hm replaced like for like with Thompson, he may have performed a similar role to Lloyd, they couldn't handle his pace. Putting Cruise on ultimately invited them onto us.

Sadly both goals came from defensive errors, slack marking for the first and hesitancy for the second, but on he most part our defending was very good. Downes showing himself to be commanding in the air and both he and Saah looked very assured with the ball at their feet. Before his mistake Oastler was having a stormer and the distribution from both full backs a constant outlet. Extremely worried when MacGlashan left Nico for dead in the first minute, a minute later and Nico had munched him cleanly and left him on the floor, lesson learnt. Nico kept him quit for much of the game.

Thought it was going go be another classic rearrguard show a'la last season, especially when Oastler somehow hooked one clear, Poke made a flying save and Easton headed off the line but sadly CTFC's increased pressure eventually took its toll and our old mate Zebs had the last laugh.

Rene looked really good tonight, won a lot in the air and gave both centre backs the run around. Linked very nicely with both Bodin and Macklin and just goes to show how much more effective he is with pacy wingers in support. Looked a shadow of the side when he came off and that is not meant as a criticism of Jarvis, I don't think the lone role suits him at all, would have much preferred to see us gamble with 2 up front for the last 5 minutes, with Macklin injured that formation would have suited both strikers.

With the right team tonight we looked a potent attacking threat, A lot of positives to take, however the over-riding feeling tonight is a negative and that is the loss of Macklin. We were playing one of the league's better teams tonight and with a few more games like that the forward 3 could have forged a real understanding which wold batter most inferior teams. Fingers crossed Damian Davey can perform his magic on Lloyd and Danny Stevens gets fit in he mean time.

[Dave]

Like the rest would have taken a point here, I really like Cheltenhams team, that said we had the chances to kill this game off, hit the post , thought Bodin should have got a shot off seemed to want to walk it in, lack of concentration at the back cost us dear for the first one, and Joe Oastler had a Leicester game moment for the second.

Some class saves from Pokey who looks to have his confidence back, don't want to be to harsh on the lads at back, Downes what can I say, this lad is quailty what a signing, Saah as Solid as ever, and Nicho did a job on diver McCheaty, and a mention for Joe for a surperb diving header clearence which could have stopped a goal.

Thought Lathrope was looking some thing like his best and along with Macklin who lacked a bit of quality at times however was a constant threat, and a real shame both had to go off, this swung the match their way in my opinion, all in all happy with what I think was a good point.

[Lloyder5]

Good performance, although we should have had it won after an hour. I was please to see Macklin do well, although in the 15 minutes before half time he seemed to switch to a different wavelength to everybody else, which is probably the problem. He needs game time. Morris continues to divide opinion. I though he work hard an play well although within his performance there were a couple of horrible gaffs. Overll, a good night at the footie.

[Modgull]

I also thought this was a good game between two good footballing sides. We should have put the game to bed after half time but once Macklin went off the game swung heavily in Cheltenham's favour with Marlon Pack running the midfield and Zebs and McGlashan stretching us at the back. Their equaliser when it came was not a surprise and they could easily have gone on to win.

What a shame Macklin is now out for a few games - the front three of him, Howe and Bodin looked really potent and I can see them scoring a lot of goals.

Lathrope will also be badly missed, I didn't think Easton was nearly as effective.

Downes and Saah look to be making a good partnership in central defence. Unfortunately they are currently being exposed on the flanks - especially Oastler who seems to be hesitating rather than getting stuck in, probably because of his broken nose.

[Rach]

Thought it was an excellent game tonight!