FL2: Torquay United v Bury 3rd October 2009

Well it was good to see my Buckle In The Dugout thread had the required effect and Bucks decided to listen to the views of Dave R and change them back around. Mind you unlike on Tuesday night, where he stood arms folded on one corner of the technical area, he started this game sat inside the dugout.

As the game wore on a bit he came out and then stayed out the whole match and clearly was giving out instructions to his players, I’m sure jmgull can let us know, if Bucks received any form of abuse during the game.

Must say before I go on and forget, it was great to meet Chris Hayes for the first time and I soon introduced him to Barton , Timbo and chelstongull.

This was a game where only one team looked like scoring in the first half and did and where a team in the second half at last found the fight they had showed on Tuesday night against Aldershot. What TUFC lacked in quality in the second half, they made up with real effort and a desire not to go back to losing ways.

As was expected the only change from Tuesday was Rendell for Sills, but we did not really play to his strengths in the first half and sorry but Benyon really ran around with little or no effect. We so often failed to play the simple short pass, choosing to hit long when there was no need.

We were also guilty at times of leaving the ball for someone else to deal with and lost it a few times in the midfield, when it really should have been our ball to win. Ellis defended like his life depended on it, winning most of his headers and so often just getting a foot in to break up an attack.

I will be honest and say a few of his clearances were too weak and we found the ball coming back to us too quickly as a result, but I have always said the first thing defenders must do is defend and Ellis sure did that. He should have been the man of the match, but sponsors it seems like to have their pictures taken with the goal scorer.

The first few minutes were a bit scrappy but we did win a free kick on the 5 minute mark. Nico floated the ball into the box, it was only cleared a short way out to Carlisle just outside the right hand side of the box. He got the ball under control, took it a few yards across the outside of the box and hit a left foot shot high and wide of the left and post.

A few minutes later we lost the ball cheaply in the midfield and a Bury player sprinted to the edge of our box, he laid a perfect ball to Elliot(wearing the 12 shirt?) who hit is shot wide of the post. We then became a bit guilty of not clearing the ball that far away from our goal and found we were then under a bit more pressure than we really needed to be.

On 13 minutes Benyon would have clearly got past Bury’s no6 onto a through ball that had been played, but was held back by the no6 who rightly got booked. Ellis found himself in the book 5 minutes later, it looked a nothing challenge, maybe Ellis said something out of turn to the ref, but it seem a harsh booking to me.

Nico was having mixed success knocking long cross field balls over to Carlisle, but he got one spot on and Carlilse send in a good ball into the box. Benyon looked like he was facing the wrong way, but somehow got himself very low to head the ball backward toward the goal; it went wide of the left hand post.

We were at times carved open with too much ease and on the 24 minute we were again and Elliot for Bury should have done so much better than the tame side foot shot he had, that was never going to even try me if I had been in goal.

The ball went straight up the other end and Rendell got a head on the ball, it fell to Wroe who fired just wide. Our best move of the half came to nothing, but it came about by playing the ball on the ground, a few good passes and the ball was with Carlilse, he played it to Wroe just outside the Bury box, he passed the ball through the area out toward Benyon, who cleverly stepped over it for the over lapping Carlilse to put in a cross, it got blocked for a corner but won the applause from the fans.

I’m not to sure about Poke at the moment but he did make a good one handed diving save to push the ball around the post on 34 minutes, but then on 40 minutes I must have blinked or something as there was Bury’s no 14 Jones inside out box, who coolly shot across Poke into the far left hand corner of the goal.

We did score a goal but it was disallowed, not sure what for, but the ball was swung in form a corner, Hargreaves rose at the back post and in the end the ball fell to Benyon who poked it in.

On the balance of play and chances created, you had to say Bury deserved to go in a goal up. I did feel very early in the half, if we could have upped our game a bit we might have got more out of the first half than we did.

Early in the second half we started to look disorganised and you felt another goal was on the cards for Bury, they sure had the better of the first part of the half, but slowly the fighting sprit came back to our players and while we lacked any real quality, the work and effort alone was due a reward.

Benyon for most of the game was well handled by Sodgie, but he surprised me and got the better of him and laid the ball he won out to Carlisle, sadly the cross was well over hit and sailed out the other side of the pitch.

Hargreaves as always was battling away in the midfield, he won the ball well and fed Carlisle, the cross this time was perfect, but sadly only Stevens was there to try and head the ball and he falied due to lack of height.

Robertson then had the first of two good chances he should have done better with, a Nico corner came in and Robertson headed to ball to far into the ground and the keeper was able to beat out the ball as it rose off the ground and toward the middle of the goal.

Benyon then had a shot from around the same position he was to later score from, he hit it well on the volley, but it was just off target. At the other end what was Poke doing? The ball was heading his way on the edge of his six yard line, it looked a simple pickup from where I was standing, but he missed the ball and it ended up going not that far wide of our left hand post.

Back up the other end and another Nico corner finds Robertson with a free header, but he did not keep it down and really should have hit the target, but his header went high over the cross bar.

Then came our goal, Carlisle had worked so hard all the game and the ball was played to him, he was quickly closed down but he laid the ball back to Wroe who hit a sweet ball toward Rendell, who was able to nod the ball into the path of benyon, who this time hit his volley just inside the right hand post.

We looked the more likely now to get the winner, but Bury looked dangerous on the break, Benyon played a ball to Stevens who saw Wroe making his way to the edge of the Bury box, the pass was perfect, but the shot was saved with ease by the Bury keeper.

Hargreaves had a chance after a defender only managed to head the ball across his box and not outside of it, it fell nicely for Hargreaves, but once again the keeper had an easy save to make.

Our last real good chance fell to Wroe again, who hit the ball really well, but it screamed past the post and anyway while I would have loved us to win, I think we really just about deserved the draw.

I have just one thing I want to moan about and that is to ask what has happened to the catering. I did moan last season about the price of the pies, but conceded in the end that they were good quality and a good size.

I have not had one for sometime as Carol and I enjoy lunch together before I leave for the game. Well today she was working and she had left me something to put in the microwave, but I decided to get a pie in the ground.

They have shrunk to the same tiny size you get in those four pack ones you get in supermarkets, but they still chare £2;50 for it, a few bites and it was all gone, so that is the last time I shall be buying a pie from there again.