Post by capitalgull on Nov 1, 2008 18:39:04 GMT
Torquay United extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a professional 2-0 win over a disappointing Mansfield side at a wet, cold and windy Plainmoor, a result which lifted them into second place in the Blue Square Premier table, just a point off leaders Kettering.
Second-half goals from Roscoe Dsane and Steve Woods proved the difference between the two former Football League sides, although Mansfield failed to trouble home keeper Scott Bevan throughout the 90 minutes as their own unwanted streak reached seven games without a win.
Conditions in South Devon were wintry to say the least, with a strong northerly wind giving the team kicking towards the Ellacombe End an advantage, if it can be called such, but the visitors completely failed to make that pay in what was a dour opening 45 minutes in all truth.
Playing with only Jason Lee up front, most of their attacking play came to nothing, with long shots well off target from Jonathan D'Laryea and Aaron O'Connor coming vaguely close to causing a second's trouble for Bevan, whose main problem came with a couple of early kicks which were badly affected by the swirling breeze.
Torquay themselves produced a little more, with Tyrone Thompson twice going close to opening the scoring; first having an effort saved by Paddy Gamble, although with the linesman's flag waving for a foul, a goal would not have counted, and then volleying wide with a reaction effort after Gamble sliced an attempted clearance into his path.
United were at their best when they got the ball wide, where man-of-the-match Mustapha Carayol and Dsane were constant threats; the latter producing the first proper save of the game when he cut in from the right wing, and curled a left-foot shot goalwards which was dealt with by visiting keeper Paddy Gamble.
Adnan Ahmed, making his Stags debut, fired an effort narrowly over the bar just before half-time, but there was little to separate the sides at the break, with Torquay possibly going in happier in the knowledge that the wind would be at their backs in the second period.
And so it proved as, not for the first time this season, Paul Buckle's men came out after the break in a hungry mood (maybe it was the sight of Bananaman doing the half-time 50/50 draw, again won by a member of staff
), eventually taking the lead courtesy of a combination of the deserving wide men in the 54th minute.
Carayol did well to chase a long through ball down the right hand side - he and Dsane had switched wings midway through the first half - and his ball into the middle proved perfect for the former Accrington man to side-foot past Gamble from 10 yards for his second goal of the season, celebrated in style in front of the Family Stand.
By now the Gulls were well on top, with Tim Sills a constant threat and Woods and Lee Hodges looking comfortable against a toothless Stags attack, which offered very little and was constantly caught offside, much to the chagrin of manager Billy McEwan.
Sills was unfortunate to be booked for 'kicking the ball away', considering he had been kicked all over by Chanot for most of the afternoon and also that Lee had been a persistent infringer on both Woods and Hodges without any censure from a distinctly average referee, who had trouble keeping up with play at times.
But the Gulls grabbed a deserved second goal with just over 20 minutes to play after Carayol's persistence won them a corner. It was scuffed in low by Kevin Nicholson and beat at least a dozen players in the box before finding it's way to Woods at the far post, whose header found the back of the net off the woodwork.
United had few scares in the closing minutes, even after Mansfield brought leading scorer Mark Stallard into the fray, with the back-four looking as solid as they have all seasons. Giant keeper Bevan barely had a thing to do, bar flap at a couple of high crosses and collect a deflected shot from Matt Somner just after the Gulls had scored their second goal.
Pacy winger Emile Sinclair, also off the bench, provided a couple of scares in the final 10 minutes but was well dealt with in general by Nicholson, whose distribution seems to be getting back to the high levels fans will remember fondly from last season.
But at the end of what could have been a much tougher afternoon, the referee's whistle went to a barrage of applause all round the ground, with most of the 2,267 on hand happy with what they had seen on a day when flowing football was unlikely to be the winner.
The Gulls now go on to face two cup games in the next seven days, where many of their fringe players are expected to get a game against either away to Weymouth in the Setanta Shield on Tuesday or at home to BGB Southern League Premier Division outfit Evesham United in the first round of the FA Cup next Saturday, by when they may be going for a 13th game without defeat.
Torquay: Bevan, Mansell, Nicholson, Woods, Hodges, Wroe, Hargreaves, Carayol, Dsane (Stevens 89), Sills (Charran 90), Thompson
Mansfield: Gamble, Silk, Moses, Chanot, Jeannin, Arnold, D'Laryea, Somner, Ahmed (Sinclair 80), O'Connor, Lee (Stallard 71)
Ratings:
Bevan 6 - little to do, flaps still a little worrying
Mansell 7 - defensively sound, distribution as usual inconsistent
Nicholson 7.5 - solid all-round display
Woods 8 - kept Lee and Stallard very quiet and deserved goal
Hodges 7.5 - another most professional performance
Carayol 9 - a goal would have capped off an excellent display
Wroe 7 - very solid
Hargreaves 7.5 - all action as usual
Dsane 8 - flitted in and out at times, but deserved his goal and was a threat
Sills 7 - worked hard
Thompson 7 - see Sills
MOTM (mine and sponsors): Mustapha Carayol.
Second-half goals from Roscoe Dsane and Steve Woods proved the difference between the two former Football League sides, although Mansfield failed to trouble home keeper Scott Bevan throughout the 90 minutes as their own unwanted streak reached seven games without a win.
Conditions in South Devon were wintry to say the least, with a strong northerly wind giving the team kicking towards the Ellacombe End an advantage, if it can be called such, but the visitors completely failed to make that pay in what was a dour opening 45 minutes in all truth.
Playing with only Jason Lee up front, most of their attacking play came to nothing, with long shots well off target from Jonathan D'Laryea and Aaron O'Connor coming vaguely close to causing a second's trouble for Bevan, whose main problem came with a couple of early kicks which were badly affected by the swirling breeze.
Torquay themselves produced a little more, with Tyrone Thompson twice going close to opening the scoring; first having an effort saved by Paddy Gamble, although with the linesman's flag waving for a foul, a goal would not have counted, and then volleying wide with a reaction effort after Gamble sliced an attempted clearance into his path.
United were at their best when they got the ball wide, where man-of-the-match Mustapha Carayol and Dsane were constant threats; the latter producing the first proper save of the game when he cut in from the right wing, and curled a left-foot shot goalwards which was dealt with by visiting keeper Paddy Gamble.
Adnan Ahmed, making his Stags debut, fired an effort narrowly over the bar just before half-time, but there was little to separate the sides at the break, with Torquay possibly going in happier in the knowledge that the wind would be at their backs in the second period.
And so it proved as, not for the first time this season, Paul Buckle's men came out after the break in a hungry mood (maybe it was the sight of Bananaman doing the half-time 50/50 draw, again won by a member of staff
), eventually taking the lead courtesy of a combination of the deserving wide men in the 54th minute.Carayol did well to chase a long through ball down the right hand side - he and Dsane had switched wings midway through the first half - and his ball into the middle proved perfect for the former Accrington man to side-foot past Gamble from 10 yards for his second goal of the season, celebrated in style in front of the Family Stand.
By now the Gulls were well on top, with Tim Sills a constant threat and Woods and Lee Hodges looking comfortable against a toothless Stags attack, which offered very little and was constantly caught offside, much to the chagrin of manager Billy McEwan.
Sills was unfortunate to be booked for 'kicking the ball away', considering he had been kicked all over by Chanot for most of the afternoon and also that Lee had been a persistent infringer on both Woods and Hodges without any censure from a distinctly average referee, who had trouble keeping up with play at times.
But the Gulls grabbed a deserved second goal with just over 20 minutes to play after Carayol's persistence won them a corner. It was scuffed in low by Kevin Nicholson and beat at least a dozen players in the box before finding it's way to Woods at the far post, whose header found the back of the net off the woodwork.
United had few scares in the closing minutes, even after Mansfield brought leading scorer Mark Stallard into the fray, with the back-four looking as solid as they have all seasons. Giant keeper Bevan barely had a thing to do, bar flap at a couple of high crosses and collect a deflected shot from Matt Somner just after the Gulls had scored their second goal.
Pacy winger Emile Sinclair, also off the bench, provided a couple of scares in the final 10 minutes but was well dealt with in general by Nicholson, whose distribution seems to be getting back to the high levels fans will remember fondly from last season.
But at the end of what could have been a much tougher afternoon, the referee's whistle went to a barrage of applause all round the ground, with most of the 2,267 on hand happy with what they had seen on a day when flowing football was unlikely to be the winner.
The Gulls now go on to face two cup games in the next seven days, where many of their fringe players are expected to get a game against either away to Weymouth in the Setanta Shield on Tuesday or at home to BGB Southern League Premier Division outfit Evesham United in the first round of the FA Cup next Saturday, by when they may be going for a 13th game without defeat.
Torquay: Bevan, Mansell, Nicholson, Woods, Hodges, Wroe, Hargreaves, Carayol, Dsane (Stevens 89), Sills (Charran 90), Thompson
Mansfield: Gamble, Silk, Moses, Chanot, Jeannin, Arnold, D'Laryea, Somner, Ahmed (Sinclair 80), O'Connor, Lee (Stallard 71)
Ratings:
Bevan 6 - little to do, flaps still a little worrying
Mansell 7 - defensively sound, distribution as usual inconsistent
Nicholson 7.5 - solid all-round display
Woods 8 - kept Lee and Stallard very quiet and deserved goal
Hodges 7.5 - another most professional performance
Carayol 9 - a goal would have capped off an excellent display
Wroe 7 - very solid
Hargreaves 7.5 - all action as usual
Dsane 8 - flitted in and out at times, but deserved his goal and was a threat
Sills 7 - worked hard
Thompson 7 - see Sills
MOTM (mine and sponsors): Mustapha Carayol.
Oh shock, horror; aren't they the side that "play football the way it's meant to be played"? Seven games without a win, is THAT what we are doing so wrong then when WE go eleven games without defeat?