NL: Torquay United v Stockport County 3pm 30/11/19

With the weather forecast not looking too bad this game is definitely going ahead tomorrow.     I would have thought that Keating has done enough to keep his place somewhere close to Janneh up front and give the Stockport defence something to worry about at least.     I realise its stating the obvious but this would be a HUGE three points in the circumstances if we could win...COYY !

Really surprised Ryan Dickson not recalled - or will he be a late surprise?

Confusion over Niate and Andrews. Dave Thomas said during the Chorley commentary that Andrews was up to 5 bookings and he would miss Eastleigh. That was wrong.

Most sources seemed to agree that Andrews and Niate were on 4 before Eastleigh.

Most sources (TUFC, BBC, Soccerbase) said Niate booked at Eastleigh and Andrews not.

The Torquay Talk report did say Andrews was booked and Soccerway agrees.

Rob C has put up an FA link which suggests Andrews is suspended but Niate not.

My guess is they are both suspended, but the lack of clarity is ridiculous.

If none of Dickson, Andrews and Niate is available we need both the new signing to scrape together sixteen.

Toss-up for keeper. Hope we return to the usual back four (bar Medford-Smith for Davis).

Buse and Bansal-McNulty in centre midfield.

Keating and Kalala wide with Whitfield in the hole behind Janneh.

Kalala and Whitfield ripped County to shreds up there with their movement and position-swapping.

Let's hope they can repeat that - although County will be geared up to stop them!

Lewington joining spare keeper, Lewis, Duku and Koszela on the bench.

5-1 Home defeat! This will take quite a turnaround.

No excuses, we were poor and were well beaten today and I suppose this score line has been coming. Yes we have had a crippling injury list in recent weeks and we have seriously missed key players like Davis, Little, even a proper fit Reid. But there is no accounting for such sloppy play especially in our own half. I remember remarking on this on our last home match, the difference is today we did not get away with it as much and Stockport took full advantage of our generosity. It was remarkable to think that it was 0-0 at half time and everything to play for. So to concede 5 goals in one half is criminal. Apart from Stockport's quality fourth goal, the rest were as a result of to our own sloppiness giving the ball away cheaply or slack marking. Today reminded me of those horrible humiliating defeats when we were last in the National League when Hargreaves, Nicholson or Dean Edwards was in charge! Yes we have plummeted to those depths and we need to wake up quick and deal with this crisis. Suddenly getting to 50 points is the bigger priority. Crowd a healthy 2,659 thanks to an impressive away following of 328 who were strangely quiet for most of the match. Oh well, at least the pitch is looking impressive this season considering all the rain.

Torquay kicked towards the Family stand first half with a strong swirling wind in their favour. It was cold but dry. Torquay started well for the first 5-10 minutes and new loan player Bansal-McNulty playing on the left wing was our brightest spark in the first half. He was lively, quick on the ball and very skilful. Stockport then came into the match and the game was played mainly in our half and Stockport had a succession of corners. The game settled down to an entertaining end-to-end sort of game. Torquay's best chance fell to left back Medford-Smith who caught the ball beautifully on the volley inside the penalty box and brought a top drawer tip over from their keeper. Torquay had 2 or 3 other half chances. However, Stockport had the clearer chances in the first half and keeper MacDonald did very well saving with his feet on a couple of occasions. Stockport also had a shot that went narrowly over and a free header that went wide. The warning signs were there and Torquay were fortunate to be on level terms at half time.

The second half went horribly wrong with two goals in quick succession that knocked the stuffing out of Torquay. Cundy in particular today had a horror show being so sloppy with his defending and was punished for it. For the first goal Cundy lost possession and Stockport were through on goal. The shot was blocked by covering defenders but the ball fell to a Stockport player to tap in an open goal. Shortly afterwards following a corner, Cundy covering on the line sliced the ball into his own net. Torquay lacked leadership and it was obvious Stockport were that bit sharper and Torquay's previous reputation of slick passing and confidence was nowhere to be seen. Lemonheigh-Evans replaced Hall (both returning from injury) but Lemonheigh-Evans joined in the charity of losing the ball in his own half to set up Stockport's third. The game was turning into a horror show. Incompetent at the back and toothless up front. Reid was clearly not properly fit and Janneh had another poor, anonymous game. Torquay had made a double substitution with Kalala and debutant Lewington coming on and Kalala made a big difference. Credit to Whitfield, he was also having a poor game but through sheer commitment took the ball on a run and shot into the corner of the net. Soon after Whitfield was at the back showing similar commitment in rescuing Torquay at the back when Scockport were about to score.

Torquay were doing most of the attacking trying to rescue the situation but Stockport also looked dangerous counter attacking. Stockport put the game beyond doubt with a quality finish into the top corner. Just when you hoped it did not get worse in injury time Stockport had a dangerous free kick on their left with a crowd of players around the 6 yard box. True to the game the ball was stabbed home at close range with again a sloppy looking wall and defending. Poor old MacDonald, he played very well today but was well angry letting in five. Thankfully the final whistle blew to end our agony.

There is no denying we are in a crisis and our defending in particular is being found out. Cundy had a horror show, Cameron looked bad probably mainly thanks to Cundy, our left back loan player has lost every match since he joined so we are clearly severly missing left back Davis who was having a great season. Only Wynter at the back played well as a defender and was also dangerous in attacks. In midfield Buse was anonymous and Hall was just returning from a long injury. Whitfield at right wing kept wasting possession but at least rallied in the second half and our debutant right winger, Bansal-McNulty, played very well in the first half and should do a good job in coming weeks. Up front Reid is carrying an injury and Janneh just isn't performing at the moment. I am disappointed Keating was not used today as he scored in the week and he is just the sort of player you need in a crisis when you need players to stand up and be counted.

We have all witnessed loads of these poor runs over the years and we all know only hard work and character will get us out of this slump in form. Let us not kid ourselves it will not be easy to get out of in the coming weeks and we will have to earn it through hard work first. The team is clearly low in confidence now and with so many young, inexperienced players it is going to be difficult to turn this around. It is quite obvious as well that players returning from injury like Hall and Evans will need time to get match their sharpness back. By the way, I have not forgot about today's sponsors MOTM - it was not announced. I think we know why.