FL2: Torquay v Accrington Stanley - 13 Oct 12

2-1 to the Gulls, Howe with both, att 2357

I find myself travelling down for this due to booking a train ticket several months ago for a knock down price. Wouldn't have done so had I booked after last weeks performance so travelling in expectation of an improved performance and the players 'turning up,' 'tuning in,' and 'are at it from the off'.

Still not going to Rovers.

We are making the long trip down from Northamptonshire for this game.

The last home game we saw was against Burton which was very disappointing.

Hoping for a better all round performance.

Would like to see Jarvis start to show our attacking intentions.

I hope you have a safe trip down and home again and enjoy the game. Its hard to know what to expect or what team will turn up tomorrow. Will it be the team that frilled the fans at the last home match against Aldershot. Or the one that seemed to disappoint some of our fans last Saturday.

I think the pitch might be a bit heavy, there has been some heavy showers around today and everywhere I have been the ground has looked swamped.

I hope we get lots of good match reports and thoughts and views on the game. I hope all those that go, gets to see a great game with the right result for us, a nice convincing win.

Exactly six years ago, not only were we looking forward to a home game with Accrington Stanley, but to welcoming our new owner / Chairman who was lauded by some as our saviour to the extent that those that said they were "cautiously optimistic" were derided for not bowing down to the new messiah.

It did not go exactly to plan, but six years ago I would have bitten your hand off if you had offered me where we have got to as a football club as of today. I'm not just talking about the first team's league position, but the wider picture.

Listening to live commentary on this one on radio Lancashire - from what they say it seems like a poor game. They certainly seem to think Gulls are negative, pointing out how quickly we are getting nine men behind the ball and suggesting Torquay's plan is "to stop Stanley playing". This was underlined when we had a two-on-one and "didn't manage to get a shot on goal - that sums up Torquay's attacking intentions !" They seemed to think the pen was a little harsh. All this could be sour grapes, of course. Would be nice to see a second goal go in.

So glad to hear the third one go in - Radio Lancashire were predicting their equaliser as we had missed so many chances and then continued to do so ! Sounds like we could have scored six !

A pleasing win and performance and in the end Torquay ran out comfortable winners. But that does not tell the whole story. Torquay had the perfect start with an early Rene Howe penalty but should have put the game out of sight before Accringtron equalised. Luckily Torquay did score shortly afterwards their equaliser which was the significant turning point of the match. Otherwise it could have been a nervy second half and possibly yet another draw. Crowd 2,400+, 80 odd from Accrington. Sponsors MOTM Lee Mansell who was free to attack more due to the return of Lathrope.

Torquay started brightly and pressed Accington back well. After just 5 minutes the ball was struck against an Accrington hand for a rather harsh looking penalty. It was debatable if the defender could get his hand out of the way as the ball was hit very close to him. Howe stepped up and calmly side footed the penalty sending their keeper the wrong way. I thought the first 20 odd minutes Torquay played confidently. It was good to see Lathrope back and the team looked balanced. Accrington threatened a bit and Poke had to make a decent parried save. But Torquay deserved their half-time 1-0 lead. Torquay did not create too many clear chances but were the better team and had the lion share of the game. There were some impressive performances with a lot of good patient build-ups spreading the ball around neatly. Howe himself laid the the ball off so well and got involved in the moves bringing in other players and Craig seems to be filling the void left by O'Kane with his passing vision. At the back Torquay looked solid and Downes was in dominant form.

There may not be that many clear cut chances in the first half but there certainly were in the second half. Torquay had two glorious chances to extend the lead with just the keeper to beat. Howe went for power but the keeper was equal to his shot. Then it was Bodin's turn but he did not seem confident and the keeper saved. Accrington had spells of pressure and punished Torquay for their missed chances. A neat move ended with a cross from their left that was headed in at close range.

How would Torquay respond as they should have been a couple goals clear? Just 2 minutes later a superb cross was floated over by Craig and Bodin timed his run brilliantly and powered home a diving header past their keeper. The cross and finish was sheer quality and will hopefully do Bodin's confidence good. Torquay had more excellent chances to wrap the game. It was a mixture of wasteful finishing and good goalkeeping as Torquay had a couple more 1-on 1's. With 10 minutes to go a corner went to the far post and Mansell headed his first goal of the season. some Accrington supporters walked past me to leave the ground looking very dejected. I could finally relax and enjoy the rest of the match as Torquay stroked the ball around with confidence. There were plenty of smiles at the final whistle including from Martin Ling who congratulated his players off the pitch.

This was a confident display by the Gulls with their patient build-ups. There were some excellent moves passing the ball on the ground with good off-the-ball running. There was a lot of wasteful finishing but it was encouraging Torquay fashioned so many chances. It was sad to see substitute Macklin go off injured. Easton and Cruise did good jobs when they came on.