NL: Torquay United v Grimsby Town 3pm 17th October 2015

I am starting from a position of expecting nothing but hoping for a lot. The 4 away points will have boosted the team's confidence and belief so you never can tell. COYG!

I think euphoria will be appropriate if we hold on to another 1-0 lead. My heart's racing at the mo cos if things stay as they are we will have climbed back out of the rel zone. And looking at the BBC live scores' page we have had 67% possession, which is bloody amazing! My expectation level is tentatively creeping up. COYG!

Boreham end up with the same result as us 1 - 1. Penalty looked dubious to me and my chums, anyone confirm that the ref got it right?

I thought only coming away with the 1 point a little harsh as over the 90 minutes I would suggest we were the better team. There sure as hell didnt look to be 16 or however many places there are between us. A good solid all round performance today with just a few niggling concerns. As for the penalty, it looked a fair call with the ref playing advantage till it went just wide. Keeper hesitated after taking a couple of steps off his line, then thought he should come and get to the ball but was just too late. Clipped the striker without getting a touch on the ball. Gutting for the lads, but thats life.

I thought there was much to be pleased with today in a full throttle encounter with Grimsby today. It felt like a throwback to the better times at Plainmoor – two evenly matched decent teams giving their all, a decent atmosphere with a vocal 300+ from Grimsby and the yellow army doing their bit. There were decent moves from both sides, chances and most of all two totally committed teams. Pre-Nicholson this season Torquay would not have been able to handle Grimsby's skill and physicality and would have succumbed very weakly by probably 2 or 3 goals. But make no mistake about it, under Nicholson Torquay look revamped and play like a proper professional outfit again. We have to go back to the Buckle and Ling's eras in recent times to say that with any degree of confidence. Torquay dug in well against an in form Grimsby and almost won it. A draw was probably a fair score line. Crowd 2,003, sponsors MOTM captain MacDonald.

Grimsby started confidently as you would expect from a team who had just won 7-0 in mid-week and asked questions of Torquay's defending. In the opening 30 minutes Grimsby must have had around half a dozen decent chances. Spiess did well coming off his line to smother a 1-on-1 and there some decent last ditch defending and let-offs. Richards had a decent long range effort saved and as the half wore on, the play evened out to a mainly hard fought midfield battle. There were times when Torquay played some good passing moves. Then on 38 minutes Torquay took the lead. A Richard's effort flew over their keeper and Marsh headed in at close range.

Torquay probably edged the second half and at times Grimsby resorted to trying to rough Torquay up. Torquay stood up to their physical challenge well. Grimsby's equalizer was a little strange and came at a time when there seemed little threat. A breakaway caught out Torquay with their striker with just Spiess to beat on the edge of the area. Spiess rushed out, the ball was dinked over him and went just wide. Phew, I thought, that was a close one. However the ref pointed to the spot for Spiess colliding into him? The penalty was stroked in at ease. Grimsby found an extra gear again and Spiess made an excellent diving save at close range pushing the ball past the post at full stretch. Torquay stood up well for the rest of the match and had some corners and free-kicks towards the end.

There were no 3 points today but another morale boosting performance against a team who will certainly be challenging this season. There seems to be some strong foundations being built by Nicholson that should steer us clear from relegation this season if we maintain this level of performance. We are no longer easy pushovers and our approach play is now decent. Some friends at the end said we are missing a decent keeper and centre forward. Well, Spiess is erratic I'm afraid. One minute he makes match winning saves, then other times he's flapping at crosses and is all at sea. I don't know if he was at fault giving the penalty away as it was down the other end from me? As for a centre forward, Marsh shows good skill and pace and again today was at the right place at the right time. But Fisher looks quite average to me.

I really like Butler in left midfield and he has a really good left foot delivery. A young Nicholson, my son says. There is a much better balance to the team with Nicholson and Butler on the left and the impressive Berry and the enigma Hurst on the right. MacDonald seems to be maturing since he's been made captain and Smith alongside him is very consistent. Richards really shone in midfield today and is back to his best.

The Popside lino was like Long John Silver with his good leg removed!