NL. Torquay United v Wealdstone 3pm 2nd October 2021

Well that sounded more like it..just what we've all been waiting for.
Bloody typical couldn't make it Isolating at home with Covid symptoms.
A few missing today Wright, Addai, and Johnson. Niggles I would guess, I sense a different policy regards injuries when I felt we were pushing players with niggles last season and paid the price more than once.

Pleased for GJ whos stuck to his principles, and the players I hope we can get a decent run together and start pushing for the top places though early days and Wealdstone didn't sound very to good to be fair.
Bigger tests later this week but that result and performance will have instilled the belief and confidence we have been lacking.
Looking forward to reading the reports.

An excellent performance today as the score line would suggest as the Gulls ran out as emphatic 5-0 winners. In these last three games we have turned our season around and it is now going in the right direction. Today felt like one of those Conference South games we had when we just blew away the opposition and were a class above. 4-0 up at half-time and all four goals were quality. We even had the luxury of Little hitting a penalty into orbit.

It is no co-incidence that this turnaround is because we brought MacDonald back in goal and switched to a back three. Any successful team needs to get their defence sorted first and we have done just that. The 3-5-2 works a treat as our two young wing-backs Martin and O’Connell have pace and energy to get up and down the flanks. Our new found confidence then spreads through the rest of the team. When called upon, MacDonald today made an excellent diving save pushing away a long range shot.

The other reason for our poor form was because weconstantly just lumped the ball long and high for Wright. Wright didn’t win many headers and our moves just broke down and the opposition regained possession. Wright was not playing today presumably injured. The Wright / Holman combination just didn’t work and Holman looked poor and hardly got into games. In contrast today Holman / Lemonheigh-Evans in attack worked a treat. Torquay patiently played the ball on the deck involving the entire team and our attack had the ball to feet. I was very skeptical of Holman’s signing but today he showed us what a quality finisher he can be and he is very industrious as well. For Holman’s first goal he had the ball in the penalty box with his back to goal and defenders around him. No problem, Holman used a bit of trickery to beat a defender and thrash the ball into the net. Holman’s second goal (our fifth) was a gift from a defender but Holman was alert and placed the ball firmly past their keeper.

The sponsors MOTM went to Lewis for his wonder goal on the stroke of half-time to make it 4-0 but experts around me like Jon and Chelston Gull would have given it to Lapsie and I agree! Lapsie was everywhere today getting stuck in and pressing the opposition and even opened our scoring with a header. I am amused to hear supporters referring to him as our Nobby Stiles. He even looks a throwback to a player from the 1960’s. He is very short and a bit portly but just never stops and is in the thick of it. No wonder he was very popular at Colchester.

The other person of special mention should be Little. He is our top scorer and this season we are season the best of him I am pleased to say. It was Little’s cross for Lapsie’s opening goal and Little scored himself today again.

As for Wealdstone, I have a soft spot for them. I remember then playing us in the Conference South and remember them playing some great football (we eventually won 3-2). They do play the game with the right spirit and try to play and for a small club they really have a decent away following. Two of Torquay’s old boys were on show today. Umerah offered very little and it was a day to forget for him. Lewis had the better of him all game. I didn’t realize that Umerah was such a large unit as I didn’t see him in the flesh last season but only on the livestreams. Buse came on when Wealdstone were getting well beaten and did look one of their better players but it was a difficult day for Wealdstone.

So well done to Gary Johnson and the team in today’s performance and I am a lot more optimistic about our season ahead now.

Thanks Rob feeling a little better today but have had all the signs and flue like symptoms despite being double vaccinated.
Absolutely no idea how I could have picked it up having rarely left the house.
PCR test ordered as the Lateral flow test was inconclusive and just shows we still have to be on our guard.

Get well soon Pete.

Great result.Dare we dream top 7?

A game to remember today as the gaffer celebrated his birthday week in style as we completely dominated Wealdstone and it could have been more with McDonald only having to make one fairly regulation save that I can recall which was in the second half. The knocks that the gaffer was talking about appear to have affected Danny Wright and Chiori Johnson with CLE and Martin replacing them and Lapslie swapping the bench berth with Rogers. On a very slippery surface where it was difficult to change direction keeping possession was key and I think for the first time this season we played Little, Lapslie, Hall with CLE together and with no Danny Wright meant we kept possession and passed the ball well. Thought Martin and O,Connell did well as wing backs as the side overall continues to improve with a clean sheet particularly pleasing.

The game was effectively won in the first half an hour or so as we dominated and Little opened proceedings by providing an exquisite chip to Lapslie at the far post for him to head home. Tom started where he finished the last game and really seems to have got the bit between his teeth when it comes to scoring goals but put in a quality performance where he was a contender for MotM. The next few minutes after we scored was probably the only time in the half where Wealdstone were able to put us under any sort of pressure being able to retain possession in our half as well as winning a couple of corners.

Holman was next on the score sheet though when the ball came out to him on the edge of the area after a corner and despite been surrounded by opposition players managed to manoeuvre the ball to get a shot away with power and accuracy which we knew he could do from his preseason form. Think he also hit the post from a shot outside the penalty area and of course was caught by the keeper from a through ball to earn a penalty that Little skied over the cross bar for perhaps the striker’s best performance so far. However, before that, Little followed up his assist with a headed goal of his own after some good work on the left hand side, I think, by Martin with the cross slightly deflected by a defender for Little to beat their keeper at the far post and head in back across the goal. Fit again, he is our leading scorer this season and now living up to his marquee signing status of two years ago.

In some respects, the penalty miss ended up being a good thing because as Wealdstone tried to push forward in the closing stages of the first period, Lewis was able to intercept a pass well inside our half and as he surged forward into space was able to take the ball to around 20 yards out and fire his shot into the top corner of the net. I believe that was his first goal for the club and what a cracker, he certainly enjoyed it as did the crowd and up there with one of the best goals seen at Plainmoor and could well be goal of the season. It tipped the balance when deciding the man of the match and was the cream on top of a very good defensive performance by him. Incidentally, I note from Torquay fan stats that at some point in the game we had a run of around nine of our last 10 goalscorers being players names beginning with the letter L similar to last year when W seemed to be in Vogue.

The come back by Maidenhead a few weeks ago ensured that the players remain fully focus and did not get too cocky and continued to pile pressure on Wealdstone and at times their playing out from the back reminded me of the Bournemouth under 21s preseason game where mistakes were made from a high press and when their keeper underhit a clearance to his right back Holman was there to intercept and calmly slot the ball home for his second goal. All in all a very good performance and we look a totally different side to that playing the first three homes games. The heavy pitch meant a few of our players went down with cramp and the scoreline allowed Johnson to manage our players with the returning CLE coming off first followed by Hall and Moxey, the elder statesman of the side with the next game just 3 days away.