Torquay United vs Oxford United
Posted: 02 Jan 2011, 10:33
Plainmoor
Monday 3rd January 2011
KO: 3pm
It's our first game at Plainmoor of 2011, aswell as being our first home game for over a month, but tomorrow we welcome Oxford United to Devon for what should be an interesting encounter. This is the first time that we will have played the two fixtures against a team so far this season, as we recorded a great 2-0 victory at the Kassam on that Tuesday night in November. I expect, with it being a bank holiday, that Oxford will bring a fair few down, as they always seem to have done. I hope that all the speculation about Paul Buckle staying or going doesn't effect the squad like Micky Adams leaving Port Vale has done (two consecutive defeats; 3-0 & 5-0) as that would be well and truly demoralising. It's a distraction we don't need, especially with a massive week for the club; tomorrows game followed by the potential money-spinning cup game against Carlisle. I am looking to change a couple of parts of these threads, but can't really think what, so any things that you'd want to see would be lovely. But for now..:
LAST 5 SEASONS.
2005/06 - League 2 - 23rd place - 49 points
2006/07 - Conference - 2nd place - 81 points - LOST IN PLAYOFFS
2007/08 - Conference - 9th place - 71 points
2008/09 - Conference - 7th place - 77 points
2009/10 - Conference - 3rd place - 86 points - PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS
As you can see, their exit from League 2 in 2006 was a massive shock for the Club. A final day defeat, losing 3-2 to Leyton Orient, coupled by our fantastic escape under Ian Atkins, saw the U's down. However, they were always the biggest club in the Conference. They were still getting gates of 5,000/6,000 in the non-league, which is exceptional. Their first season in the Conference saw them top of the league for the first third of the season, but then Dagenham came out of the shadows, eventually winning the league by a fair margin. Two seasons of closely following the playoff pack proceeded, until last season, when they held onto the top 5 position for alot of the season, eventually finishing 3rd, behind Stevenage and Luton. A win over York City at Wembley was the reward, after beating Rushden over the two-legged Semi final.
HEAD TO HEAD.
Oxford wins - 6
Torquay wins - 8 (5 in League)
Draws - 13 (12 in League)
We have a decent cup record against Oxford, having knocked them out whenever we've played them. But its a bit tighter in the League. Out of 22 league meetings, 12 have been draws, 6 Oxford wins and 5 Torquay. The two clubs have played alot since the turn of the millenium, but before that, the meetings were a bit rare, between the 1970's and 2000's. Some great games include a 3-3 draw at Plainmoor in 2005, that incredible 3-3 in the BSP in 2007, after we were 3-0 down at half time, beating them 3-2 in the return fixture at Plainmoor that season. I also remember the 3-0 victory over the U's in the 2003/04 promotion year - mainly for one Oxford fan before the game saying '3-0 TO OXFORD! TORQUAY ARE SH*T.' right to me outside, so it made it a little bit sweeter. Our win at the Kassam in November followed up after our last game there, again a 2-0 away win courtesy of a brace from Elliot Benyon.
FORM (LAST 6 GAMES).
LLWWWL
December proved to be a hit and miss month for Oxford, with the weather causing a lot of postponements, meaning that the U's only played 3 games. Their last 6 fixtures have seen defeats at Rotherham, and at home to Gillingham, giving the Gills their first away win for 18 months(!). 3 wins followed this up, at Chesterfield, then at home to Barnet and Macclesfield. A New Years Day home 2-0 reverse gave Southend 3 points to take home, yesterday.
PROBABLE LINE UP.
This is the side that lost 2-0 to Southend yesterday afternoon:
Ryan Clarke
Ben Purkiss
Harry Worley
Steven Kinniburgh
Ben Futcher
Josh Payne
Simon Heslop
Simon Clist
James Constable
Steve MacLean
Alfie Potter
Subs: Craddock, Wright, Hall, Tonkin, Batt, Eastwood, Green.
PLAYERS TO WATCH.
The ability to leave players like Tom Craddock out of the starting 11 shows to me that the strikers must be doing something right. Either that or he's returning from injury anyway. James Constable is well known, and will need to be watched. Steve MacLean has bags of experience, and could be a danger aerially. Josh Payne is a good midfielder, and he'll probably be at the heart of a couple of attacking moves tomorrow.
THE MEN IN CHARGE.
R EAST
M Mullarkey and A Rodda
Fourth Official C I Powell
Mr East is the man in the middle for this fixture. Down the lines is World Cup Final linesman Mike Mullarkey, and Andy Rodda. Mr East has been in charge at Plainmoor once already this season, when we lost 1-0 to Aldershot. He also refereed twice at Plainmoor last season, the 2-1 defeat to Bradford and the 2-1 win against Shrewsbury.
PREDICTION.
Hopefully our players are fit again now, but the speculation about PB could be a distraction.
Gulls 1-2 Oxford.
Monday 3rd January 2011
KO: 3pm
It's our first game at Plainmoor of 2011, aswell as being our first home game for over a month, but tomorrow we welcome Oxford United to Devon for what should be an interesting encounter. This is the first time that we will have played the two fixtures against a team so far this season, as we recorded a great 2-0 victory at the Kassam on that Tuesday night in November. I expect, with it being a bank holiday, that Oxford will bring a fair few down, as they always seem to have done. I hope that all the speculation about Paul Buckle staying or going doesn't effect the squad like Micky Adams leaving Port Vale has done (two consecutive defeats; 3-0 & 5-0) as that would be well and truly demoralising. It's a distraction we don't need, especially with a massive week for the club; tomorrows game followed by the potential money-spinning cup game against Carlisle. I am looking to change a couple of parts of these threads, but can't really think what, so any things that you'd want to see would be lovely. But for now..:
LAST 5 SEASONS.
2005/06 - League 2 - 23rd place - 49 points
2006/07 - Conference - 2nd place - 81 points - LOST IN PLAYOFFS
2007/08 - Conference - 9th place - 71 points
2008/09 - Conference - 7th place - 77 points
2009/10 - Conference - 3rd place - 86 points - PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS
As you can see, their exit from League 2 in 2006 was a massive shock for the Club. A final day defeat, losing 3-2 to Leyton Orient, coupled by our fantastic escape under Ian Atkins, saw the U's down. However, they were always the biggest club in the Conference. They were still getting gates of 5,000/6,000 in the non-league, which is exceptional. Their first season in the Conference saw them top of the league for the first third of the season, but then Dagenham came out of the shadows, eventually winning the league by a fair margin. Two seasons of closely following the playoff pack proceeded, until last season, when they held onto the top 5 position for alot of the season, eventually finishing 3rd, behind Stevenage and Luton. A win over York City at Wembley was the reward, after beating Rushden over the two-legged Semi final.
HEAD TO HEAD.
Oxford wins - 6
Torquay wins - 8 (5 in League)
Draws - 13 (12 in League)
We have a decent cup record against Oxford, having knocked them out whenever we've played them. But its a bit tighter in the League. Out of 22 league meetings, 12 have been draws, 6 Oxford wins and 5 Torquay. The two clubs have played alot since the turn of the millenium, but before that, the meetings were a bit rare, between the 1970's and 2000's. Some great games include a 3-3 draw at Plainmoor in 2005, that incredible 3-3 in the BSP in 2007, after we were 3-0 down at half time, beating them 3-2 in the return fixture at Plainmoor that season. I also remember the 3-0 victory over the U's in the 2003/04 promotion year - mainly for one Oxford fan before the game saying '3-0 TO OXFORD! TORQUAY ARE SH*T.' right to me outside, so it made it a little bit sweeter. Our win at the Kassam in November followed up after our last game there, again a 2-0 away win courtesy of a brace from Elliot Benyon.
FORM (LAST 6 GAMES).
LLWWWL
December proved to be a hit and miss month for Oxford, with the weather causing a lot of postponements, meaning that the U's only played 3 games. Their last 6 fixtures have seen defeats at Rotherham, and at home to Gillingham, giving the Gills their first away win for 18 months(!). 3 wins followed this up, at Chesterfield, then at home to Barnet and Macclesfield. A New Years Day home 2-0 reverse gave Southend 3 points to take home, yesterday.
PROBABLE LINE UP.
This is the side that lost 2-0 to Southend yesterday afternoon:
Ryan Clarke
Ben Purkiss
Harry Worley
Steven Kinniburgh
Ben Futcher
Josh Payne
Simon Heslop
Simon Clist
James Constable
Steve MacLean
Alfie Potter
Subs: Craddock, Wright, Hall, Tonkin, Batt, Eastwood, Green.
PLAYERS TO WATCH.
The ability to leave players like Tom Craddock out of the starting 11 shows to me that the strikers must be doing something right. Either that or he's returning from injury anyway. James Constable is well known, and will need to be watched. Steve MacLean has bags of experience, and could be a danger aerially. Josh Payne is a good midfielder, and he'll probably be at the heart of a couple of attacking moves tomorrow.
THE MEN IN CHARGE.
R EAST
M Mullarkey and A Rodda
Fourth Official C I Powell
Mr East is the man in the middle for this fixture. Down the lines is World Cup Final linesman Mike Mullarkey, and Andy Rodda. Mr East has been in charge at Plainmoor once already this season, when we lost 1-0 to Aldershot. He also refereed twice at Plainmoor last season, the 2-1 defeat to Bradford and the 2-1 win against Shrewsbury.
PREDICTION.
Hopefully our players are fit again now, but the speculation about PB could be a distraction.
Gulls 1-2 Oxford.
:ball1: 
:ball2: