NL: Torquay United v Dagenham & Redbridge 3pm 21/09/19

I suppose the question for this game is how many of our injured players are now fit? It has been a few weeks of ever more bad news since the Woking game and hopefully we are now past the worst. What we really need is more midfielders and maybe Little and Edwards will be back? Surely Niate is over his concussion but will struggle to supplant either Cundy or Cameron.

After a poor start, losing 3 of their first four games, Dagenham have gone on an unbeaten run so will be a tough match, even if everyone was fit!

link - add Andrews and Keating into the mix from the above two.

link - pre match interview with some of the players

Happy Birthday Timbo! Hopefully we can all celebrate it together with another TUFC win!

I'm looking forward to the game, and hoping for a good performance and a win, to hopefully cap a very happy birthday for Timbo who has brought interest and enjoyment to so many of us by reproducing a number of fascinating programmes from his collection.

The congested fixture schedule for August and September has made it a treadmill existence for our players, and when the extra travelling is factored in compared to what most other clubs face, it's not entirely surprising that it's all taken its toll, and several of our first choice players are sidelined with injury.

D&R look like strong and confident opponents for us today, so given our weakened state, it's no foregone conclusion that we'll take all 3 points from this, nice as that outcome would be. Only the second game this season that the Nursing staff have allowed me to attend, but having promised to keep an extra thick blanket over my knees, it will be a joy to get back to Plainmoor. And not forgetting other fans who can rarely or ever get to our games, such as @gretagull and her TUFC mad brother, who moved an important event forward by a day so that they'd be free to tune into TUFC radio as usual. 

Manny Daku seems about as popular as Tom Watson at a Labour Party conference, so he needs an impressive start if he's selected, and while the Popside are still sharpening their knives.

Good luck to Gary Johnson and his team ....Gulls fans around the globe will be wishing them well.

Petef ..could not agree more on Matt Rhead...my brother in law is a Lincoln City season ticket holder and last season..when there were rumours Rhead was looking to leave Lincoln..he told me Torquay should sign him. Just the type of player we need it seems.
Sadly might be more difficult to sign him now that he is at Billericay.

     


       Torquay Utd v Dagenham & Redbridge





Not a game packed with thrills and spills, and given that D&R are probably just that little bit better than the side we can put out at the moment, it’s a point we are best accepting without too much complaint. Both defences getting the upper hand as the scoreline indicates, although Covolan had to make a few excellent saves. And just as importantly he seems to make the ball stick, and doesn’t spill it into the path of an oncoming forward, which could undo all the initial good work.

A central back three of big men, Cundy, Captain Cameron, and Joe Lewis, providing adequate protection against a talented D&R attack of Joe Quigley who teamed up with the smaller Angelo Balenta who provided the deft touches and flicks. They were ably assisted by Luque (no, not Leopoldo, for those immediately thinking back to Argentina ‘78 …. This is a much younger Spanish version called ‘Joan’ …. insert your own jokes)

For us, Reidy ploughed a mostly lone furrow up front. Kalala flitted around to little effect, Wynter and Davis in the first half pushed forward at every opportunity out wide, safe in the knowledge that the central three blocked the way to Covolan’s goal.

You had to feel sorry for our midfield. Not that any of them had a bad game, but there was little experience to lean on in the case of Vincent or Buse, and even Whitfield hasn’t been here long enough to learn all his teammates names. And so intuitive link up play, a sixth sense to accurately judge each others positions at any given time , you just weren’t going to get it, nor have a right to expect it. Given the circumstances all 3 lads put in a more than respectable shift. What those three needed, indeed what the whole team needed to spark them into a confident display, was Kalvin Kalala turning on the magic and tying the D&R defenders legs in knots. Disappointingly this was one of those afternoons when KLK couldn’t quite provide the inspiration that would have rubbed off on his teammates and perhaps helped deliver the performance we’d all been hoping to see.

The half time break saw us decide to sacrifice Joe Lewis from the defence in order to bring on a striking partner for Jamie Reid. Ruari Keating came on to bolster the attack. Keating is still sporting the hair-do that looks as if a couple of the ever present seagulls above have scored a direct hit. And in addition Keating continues to be a red card waiting to happen. This time when he lashed out during the game his flailing arm thankfully failed to make contact. But even after the final whistle there was pushing, shoving, and handbags (perhaps the handbag belonged to Joan Luque ?) before the Ref and his teammates got a grip on hot headed Keating. While it’s more than possible that Ruari was more sinned against than sinning, and a degree of aggression is a vital ingredient for any forward (except Gary Lineker) it still looks nailed on that Keating’s temperament is going to bring him a suspension or two.

The youthful looking Ref had a competent enough game. Ruari going at speed into the penalty area was felled by either fair means or foul. I was at an angle where I couldn’t see the challenge, but roared for a spot kick in hope rather than expectation. The Ref did slightly blot his copybook later by allowing the D&R player being substituted to wander the width of the pitch, from the Popside to the dugouts. Clearly forgetting this season’s new rule. Captain Cameron was on to it in an instance, pointing, gesticulating , and I imagine the Ref could do little more than acknowledge the oversight, but calling the player back in order to make him trot off in the other direction would have achieved nothing at that stage.

We hit the bar with a great effort late on from a direct free kick. I think Andrews took the kick, and it was a fine attempt.

So all in all definitely not a thriller. But we’re all conscious that several of our best players just aren’t available. So an afternoon to keep the bigger picture at the forefront, rather than obsess over a single match. With that in mind, I’ll finish by relaying a section of Gary Johnson’s programme notes from this afternoon, where he focuses on the state of the club rather than on the team:

‘I do feel there’s plenty of potential left to come from our football club. We’d all like things to be done quickly and supporters like to see evidence of progress, but whether you’ve actually seen the progress, or whether it’s behind-the-scenes progress, I promise you there is progress at the moment, and we are still progressing.