FL2: Torquay Utd v Barnet 9 Dec 2011

Well there are only two teams that can overtake us tomorrow and as they are playing each other both of them can't! Happy days are here again!! All these wins ... it's like Christmas has arrived already!

Pleased to see Mr Meerkat enjoyed the game and didn't mind standing with the riff raf on the Popside. He's an amiable and decent bloke really and his internet persona belies him!

It is a very rare treat to see a Torquay winner that late(unfortunately not vice versa, ) and the sheer quality of it was enough to send the crowd home in rapture. A hard fought win then but maybe should have been settled a bit earlier with a number of chances going begging making you think it was going to be one of those days.

In an even first half, both sides managed to hit the woodwork. Eunan burst clear and from a tight angle saw his fierce shot ricochet off the post by the same player. Later in the half, a goal mouth scramble saw the ball bobble off our post so all square on that score. Earlier, a good sequence of play saw Danny cross the ball and appear to hit the defenders arm (I was at the wrong end to really see) but the ref turned down the vociferous appeals! Marshall was a constant threat down the left wing and Oastler had to be very alert to contain him. Olejnik had a very good game and managed to palm a cross/shot away from danger. Just before the end, a full blooded tackle saw Mansell pick up his fifth yellow which gives him the opportunity to finish off his Christmas shopping next weekend! ;D

In the second half we certainly seemed to raise our game attacking towards the family stand and after being put through by Rene, Danny slotted the ball past their keeper but it was surprisingly given off side by the lino whom in the first half had seemed oddly reluctant to use his flag at times. A cross /shot from Nicholson was later just steered the wrong side of the post. Eunan also had a good chance when given a bit of space on the edge of the area and the keeper well saved but with the ball then spinning and bouncing dangerous was just touched over the cross bar by an under pressure Barnet defence.

The last few minutes saw a number of long throws from Nico desperately scrambled away by Barnet but the final act was a long throw from Nico on the right wing and when the ball came out again, he unleashed a thunderbolt from 20/25 yards right into the top right hand corner of the net giving their keeper absolutely no chance and some Christmas cheer to the home support!

So our momentum continues with our fourth consecutive home win after only coming out on top once in our first seven. Only 19 points to safety or more relevantly, we are edging ever closer to a play off position!

went to the game last night as usual,me and the kids,but for some reason the other half didnt think i had gone.When i got home she asked me the score and i obviously told her one nil to us,i then proceeded to tell her what a cracker stevens goal was.I was on the phone when stevens scored,but i didnt notice it was cancelled and left at 90 minutes so didnt see nicholson score!she wasnt having none of that as she checked the net to see nicholson had scored lol we cleared it up eventually and had a right giggle about it.We played very well last night and thoroughly deserved the 3 points,makes for an interesting christmas period now,i will just make sure i stay to the end something i normally always do

Shame on you for missing the goal. The only game I have ever left early was the Crawley cup tie as my son had to be back for work at hal;f six.
Actually managing to get ejected whilst I was leaving anyway was quite some feat and then being prevented from leaving once I had left was another one!
On the subject of the stewards they were at it again last night. On entering the ground at quarter past seven I was stood next to a lad about sixteen who was with his father. The lad was taking a picture of the empty side of the ground on his mobile when he was pounced on by a steward and abrubtly told to put his phone away.
Quite ridiculous.

an excellent 24 hours at the office,apart from crawley and cheltenham winning,shrewsbury and burton lost and morecombe poxford and gillingham drew,cant complain at that

Could've sworn there was one more recent than that, when we won 1 or 2 in succession quite late on but then lost a couple in similar circumstances

Nicholson showed his (ex-)Premier League class again. Deliveries into the box were a problem all night so it needed a moment of magic like that to get the win. Dad ended up looking like a tit having already said "looks like it'll be 0-0 then" a few seconds before he scored, although admittedly I'd thought it had gone into the side netting for a good few seconds after it went in!

Perhaps you're thinking of Gillingham away last season? Nico again...

Or Northampton with one scored and one conceded in injury time