P.S.F Torquay United V Brighton 28th July 2009

Hargreaves is still out, so maybe Thompson to start with Wroe today and against Chesterfield? Interesting to see who will start with Sills

Might be a bigger attendance tonight if a couple of new players are in the squad.

Don't forget that the Dagenham tickets go on sale tonight.

Thompson and Wroe really impressed me against Derby. Thompson in particularly as we all know what Wroe is capable of.

Many fans I have spoken to had expected a central Midfielder to arrive this summer to cover the aging legs of Chris Hargreaves, possibly overlooking Thompson's capabilities.

For me, he more than any of the fringe players has really staked a claim for a starting role this year, and then it dawned on me that Thompson and Wroe was in PB mind as a midfield partnership way back in the beginning of last season. remember when Hargreaves was penciled in at center back?

Well we all know how that worked out. I even seem to remember posting on here how toothless they BOTH seemed to be against Ebsfleet! Of course I do not blame the partnership for that awful performance now, or the poor start to the season. In hindsight it seems that Hargreaves at center back was probably more of the issue anyway.

From what I saw against Derby, Thompson and Wroe have both improved tenfold in the year they have been at the club, which is an attribute to Paul Buckle. We are also now seeing the fruits of what Paul Buckle saw 12 months ago when Thompson was signed as a direct replacement for Hargreaves.

I hope TT does get the nod against Colchester, and tonight and I back him to do well this year.

benners and rendell started up front together tonight and I thought they played well together in a good first half.Also thought danny played very well.Hard to say too much about the 2nd half as there was so many changes

takes a long time to get it up at your age?

You got back quick Lead Foot, ok very small lead feet but still heavy on the pedal! I thought the Derby game might have been a one off but we played really good football agian, really well and deserved thanks to The Bevonator aswell, great saves mate! We could have had a couple more aswell, there were parts of the game were we ripped em to bits, and pieces of play we had to defend well and we did. All in all I`m buzzing again, it feels so right and so good. Look out County the title isn`t yours yet, a couple of signings more and we will scare alot of teams in our league, maybe a spare pair of wing backs and Chris Zebroski and we are more than there. The depth in strenght is there to be competitive but to take the title a couple of shrewd moves are required! Shit I`ll be happy with mid table or better! ;D ;D ;D ;D

It was because of a head but mate, in a friendly, makes me wonder if they like it up em or not! Being from poofters paradise and all that, well that makes me wonder aswell. No offence intended to anyone queer, related to a queer or friends with a queer or anyone that lives in Brighton! Oh I`m so gunna get told of for that one! High Brighton sorry, just joking, if your going to take it on the chin then please wipe it off afterwards! JOKING, just joking folks!

Just got in from our most recent pre-season match at Plainmoor, and I must say I was very impressed with pretty much all aspects of the game. Our players are noticeably in better shape than last season and seem to have a lot more confidence.

Many eyes were on the very recently signed Rendell, who showed impressive potential and wasn’t afraid of getting stuck in. He worked well with the mid-field players and went on to score a very impressive goal. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one willing him to do well in his first game, and I expect to be seeing a lot of him in the coming season. It was nice to see a very enthusiastic hug from Benyon, who himself had a good game, and set up Rendell’s goal with a cracking pass across the box.

Bevan was another who had a very good game, pulling off some cracking saves – one around five minutes into the second half and then later a spectacular one handed save.

In regards to Brighton, they showed some swift football in the first half before seeming to run out of steam in the second. There was also a fair amount of aggression on their part, in particular a lot of shirt-pulling. I felt that tonight it was evident that there is no major difference in the standard of football between the two teams despite their respective league positions.

Whilst on the subject of aggression, I must mention the slightly surprising red card for Brighton’s No.18 and a yellow for Ellis. Quite a few fans were questioning the reason for the decision; perhaps it was something to do with the pushing and shoving going on between the two players?

I have mentioned the occurrence of lots of shirt-pulling throughout the game, perhaps the most significant being that of Brighton’s No. 14. What began as a ripped collar become a huge tear down his shirt. This seemed to be due to one of two reasons; he wanted to exaggerate an earlier tackle by making the rip more dramatic, or his efforts were to reveal more and more of his chest as the game progressed.

Overall, I feel that every one of our players put in decent effort, and it is clear to see that Buckle has improved the standard of football since last season. There were plenty of just off-target shots and the lads seem to be a lot more confident and relaxed, leaving me very optimistic in my hopes for a mid-table finish next season... ;D