FL2: Torquay United v Notts County 8th May 2010

I can say in all sincerity that Dave Smith was the most memorable person I have ever been associated with in a working capacity.

In this day and age he would have been the subject of forum gossip claiming he had fallen out with the manager, the manager wouldn't pick him again and he wanted away. Whilst Smithy was incredibly skilled he was never a regular First team starter; but was one of those characters who absolutley dominated the dressing room with his constant barrage of practical joking, piss taking and general mischief. His impersonations of Brian Clough were the best I have ever experienced even though so many have done them and to included him in a club function was putting one's head on the block to put it mildly

A rabid Notts fan as well, today will be a great occasion for him I am sure.

I know he is in the pub trade in Ivybridge these days and all I would say to anybody thinking of drinking in his pub is do so of course but if he invites you to stay the night for God's sake don't take a bath in the morning..............................you have been warned!

All I can think of is footie - beer - curry - kingfisher

Sod the Grimsby game, the incoming news from Burton Albion is that they have agreed to sign Darren Moore for next season; which (a) ends speculation of his coming back to Plainmoor and (b) increases the chances of Guy Branston being made available to join us..........................are most people happy with that?

City have done it and it's Gillingham into League 2.......................it'll be almost Lge2 (South East) next season with around 7 games within an hour of the Capital!

Congratulations to Exeter City from me...............

For a little club so rapidly promoted up from The Conference to survive against the might of Leeds, Charlton, Norwich and Southampton; and almost every club with bigger budgets and that vital ingredient ~ experience of League 1 football; it's a fantastic reflection of an excellently run club and a superbly managed squad.

Something for us to seek to emulate, and as I said in a previous post; something to draw inspiration from the fact that small relatively "new to the League" clubs have filled three of the four play off places this season ahead of big budget set ups like Bradford, Northampton, Port Vale and Shrewsbury...........................it's not all about money as Paul Buckle and Paul Tisdale have proved!

Well another thoroughly enjoyable afternoon at Fortress Plainmoor. Good game, good atmosphere, and good crowd of 5124. I knew the crowd was going to be a good one when the normally deserted street I abandon my car in was jam packed forcing a longer than usual walk to the ground.

I had already had to push to the limits some of the laws appertaining to vehicular motion to get there in time for the presentations, but I just made it.

Guy Branston looked as fearsome in a suit as he does in his kit as he picked up the runners up shield for Player of the Year, and young Elliott Benyon looked positively delighted as he stepped forward to collect the Player of the Year Trophy.

A large bottle of champagne then wandered on to the pitch with Dave cunningly hidden behind it! Paul Buckle looked pleased to see them, photographs were posed for, and there were now only thirty minutes to kick off.

Just as well really as the drawback of a large crowd was that the waiting time in the Gulls Nest was 17.43 minutes, nearly as long as we would have to hold on to break our record for clean sheets!

Time to meet for the first time and have a quick chat with the infamous Aussie. What a cracking bloke! Then we were ready to go.

The County supporters were very noisy and in celebratory mood, but did quieten down a bit when it gradually dawned on them that they were actually playing a very good team. Schmeichel the Younger looked assured in the County goal and needed to be, whilst 33 goal Lee Hughes looked impotent and not happy at all. Indeed he looked absolutely delighted to be substituted whereas Mark Ellis looked quite disappointed he was going.

A big cheer marked the passing of the 'clean sheet' minutes required for the record, with County up until then having only created one chance a header which bounced harmlessly on top of the net.

We looked the more assured and comfortable on the ball and the inevitable 'Top of the league you're having a laugh' echoed around the home stands.

At half time the Ivybridge duo of ex-County and Gulls player Dave Smith and BBC media man David Fitzgerald failed to pick out my 50/50 ticket despite prior arrangement, and Fitz looked remarkably ill at ease being outside of the Nandon Indian Restaurant where I thought he lived.

Kevin Hill showed us that goalkeeper was not his natural position during the half-time penalty shoot out and then we were ready for the second half. Again the Gulls the more assured and only prevented from a deserved win by a cracking Schmeichel save as Benyon went through one on one and then a lucky Schmeichel save as a cracking drive from Nicholson bounced off him. We certainly edged it against a normally free scoring County outfit and Ellis deservedly picked up man of the match.

A party atmosphere at the end as the County fans celebrated a deserved promotion and the Gulls fans applauded the end of a remarkable sequence of games. It's one of those times when you don't really want the season to end.

Congratulations to Exeter City on avoiding relegation today.

On the evidence of what I have seen in the last eight games we have got every chance of joining them and Argyle for a Devon Fiesta in 2011/2012

I would be very happy indeed if we could have Guy playing for us next season (if he sustains the excellent performances that have given us backbone and the opportunity to kick-on).
Moore has had a great 15 years since he left us - however I think I would rather have GB at the club (even though I know that Darren is a fantastic bloke and highly spoke of by people at the clubs he has played for).

On to the match today - we were very "up for it" today and it was an excellent team performance and Notts could count themselves lucky to get a point today.

There were so many great performances - Ellis was magnificent, he is maturing into a fine centre-half and I can only see that he will move upwards - thankfully we have him under contract for 2 years.
Robertson and Charnock were solid - Nicholson offered a lot in our attacks as well, I wonder whether he will be with us past the summer, he's perhaps having his best spell since he joined.

Benyon has been a relevation over the course of the season and today was no different. He really caused them a lot of problems and his intelligent positioning, well times runs and good holding of the ball was typical of the blossing striker that he has become.

I'm not really bothered by records as such - I'd certainly rather have won 2-1 today and not got the record, but the players certainly deserve the plaudits for their efforts and maturity.
I'm hopefully that with a couple of additions over the summer we could really make a squad that will produce performances that match the last couple of months. I'm looking forward to next season with genuine hope and excitement.

BTW - Congratulations to Exeter today - a fine win.

<EDIT>

He has been carrying an injury that hasn't quite cleared-up. It would be a shame if he wasn't here next season - especially as we only have only started to see his potential realised. I can't see that he would have that many suitors chasing him and at least we would get a fee if he did go.