FL2: Torquay Utd v Bradford City August 21st 2010

Thankfully the last home match i'll miss, as the cricket season finally draws to its usual cold, damp finish.
We actually won today and are safe from the dreaded drop now......the commitee are happy as it ensures premier division cricket at queens park next season and the extra funding that goes with it.

I've started sneaking my mobile onto the pitch these days....and whip off the gloves and check updates in between overs, much to the disgust of my team mates.
Absolute highlight of the day for me was a text i received at about 3.30 from my Dad - who is not normally one for exaggeration - "We're playing like Real Madrid" .

11 unbeaten, 10 without conceeding......top of the league.

Bloody marvellous.....

A fantastic performance, another 3 points and another clean sheet, what more can you ask for. Long may it continue, but if it doesn’t then let’s make the most of it whilst it does.

Someone from the crowd shouted it’s like watching Brazil, are you kidding me.... Brazil haven’t stroked the ball around like for years.

I have to say that in all my years of watching, I have NEVER seen us pass the ball around as much as we did yesterday. The stats said possession was 60/40 in our favour, but it seemed a lot more than that, mind you their keeper had the ball for half of their possession. Ok they were down to 10 men, but it was just as good before they had a man sent off, besides you can only beat what is put in front of you.

Zebs was outstanding and my Man of the Match. A real threat going forward he had the beating of his man pretty much every time. Also got some great crosses in, which with a taller man up front we may have scored a few more. He is playing as well as he ever has here and whilst Benyon may be getting the attention of a few other managers I would be FAR MORE worried about losing Zebs.

Don’t get me wrong, Danny also had a great game. Another who had the beating of his man whenever he chose. Great goal, picked the ball up in our half, I would say he ran at the defence but there weren’t any defenders in his way, they parted like something even Moses wouldn’t have managed. I don’t think anyone got/went within 5 yards of him and he finished off with a strike from 25 yards and bizarrely the keeper didn’t move. Fantastic start. His confidence grew with the goal and he wanted the ball all the time, which is always great to see, although he did start to go to far back to get it. Link up play with Nicholson was excellent.

Onto Nicholson. I would imaging he needed oxygen after that game. One of the unsung heroes who charged forward at every opportunity, overlapping with Danny and giving their defence another man to worry about and another man to mark and when you are already a man down it creates even more space on the opposite flank, which we fully utilised. Nico’s workrate was awesome, possibly more than anyone else yesterday especially when you consider the ground he has to cover to take the corners, throw ins and free kicks. His defending was also good as well winning a couple of crucial headers and a few timely tackles, he must have been up there in the MoM reckoning. He has obviously been working hard in training because that performance yesterday was a million miles away from his performances in the early part of last season. Well Done to Nico.

Another unsung hero was Robbertson who impressed me throughout the afternoon. Another who attacked well down the flanks and played some lovely balls into the forwards. There was one particular moment where he ran into the box, nutmegged their left back and put it a beautiful cross, which unfortunately no one got on the end of, not least because those that were not there would at least have been able to see it in the highlights.

Mansell was another who had a great game, Mr Consistent. Fully deserved a goal with a strike as sweet as you will see all season that produced a great save from their keeper. Works tirelessly for the team and lets hope he stays fit because we would really miss him in Midfield.

Bevan possibly touched the ball 2/3 times in open play in the first half, such was our dominance. Not an awful lot to do in the second half either, which makes his 2 significant contributions all the more impressive. His save from a header was absolutely top drawer and I can’t wait to see that again on the highlights show. Another who seems to have grown in confidence through pre season and the first few games. I naively thought that Potter was going to be the starter this season but Bevs is definitely back to his best and it shows what the injuries were doing to his performances and confidence last season. I really hope we break the record now as these guys fully deserve it.

I have never rated Peter Taylor that much as a manager. Has he not watched any videos of us play? They play direct (Hoof to the big man up front) and Branston was having a field day. The Big front man might be a bit taller but he wasn’t anywhere near as imposing as Big Guy, who dealt with him perfectly all day. His confidence is also so high that even he tried a couple of Beckhamesque cross field balls. Another very solid game and no coincidence that he has been one of the lynch pins to our clean sheet run.

I have now seen us play 2 teams (Northampton & Bradford) who were tipped among the pre season favourites to go up and we have made both teams look very ordinary. They have either had an off day or we really have outplayed them. I’m going for the second option, exciting times ahead I believe.

That's classic tiki-taka, as practiced to perfection by various Spanish teams, most notably the national team and Barcelona.

Pass and move when in possession to retain the ball and prevent the opposition doing anything with it, and press in numbers when the opposition do have the ball to prevent them doing anything with it, and also to get it back.

Torquay United? Ole!

Did anyone see Bucks at the final whistle waving all the squad over to the Popside? Boy did he have a smile on his face and rightly so - 961 minutes without a goal scored against.

My first look at Torquay this year and an excellent win it has been said. Rarely can a result really never look in doubt from the firrst minute but Bradford looked as hapless as they were last season - the difference now seems to be that we are not chucking games away.
Wroe did not start the game well giving the ball away repeatedly but with Torquay in complete control the red card and the penalty was a clear "gane over" moment.
A real frustration that Wroe again missed from the spot. You have got to wonder why Nicholson just doesn't blast it and if the keeper can save it, well good luck to him.
We had to wait some tuime for the second goal and whilsty it might have been a fluke, Zebroski's work rate is terrific and he deserved it - what an excellent player he is.
I have got to disagree with Dave who must have been watching from Mars if he thought Benyon was a weak link.
Benyon suffered from having Kee alongside him - who for me was the one major disapointment. As soon as Zebs went up front with Benyon we looked far more potent.
Kee needs to work on his fitness which clearly is nowhere near where it should be.
All in all though an easy win - Danny seems to have improved no end, but my man of the match (and you could pick from Mansell,Zebroski,Robbo or Ellis) was Nicholson.
Very good though all round.

Thanks everyoone for the detaýled reports. Stuck ýn Turkey on one of those thýngs wýves called holýdays. It really makes refreshýng readýng.

Ok, I might have missed it, but I have read the reports and not seen any mention of Carlisle.
How did he look? Presumably not match fit, but did he carry on from last season?