TT MATCH VERDICT
Ian East – @Easters86
TORQUAY UNITED 1-3 GRIMSBY TOWN
MATCH SUMMARY
Well it wasn’t great was it? The first 15 minutes we looked ok and took the lead thanks to Armani Little with a free kick that was fumbled into the net by James McKeown. From the moment Grimsby equalised however there was only one winner, as whatever confidence the Gulls had restored at Maidenhead evaporated in about 10 minutes thanks to more hapless defending from those in yellow.
It started so well for the Gulls when Wright was fouled on the edge of the box. Little took the free kick with a decent strike that McKeown in the visitors goal let go through his hands and in. Joe Lewis should have made it 2-0, reacting to Danny Wright’s knockdown before smashing it over the bar from close range.
That was as good as it got as shortly after Lewis failed to deal with a long ball allowing Efete time and space, it was a real weak and half-hearted attempt to redeem the situation and while no-one else thought it was worth bothering to close him down, the full back drilled a shot into the bottom left-hand corner for 1-1.
Then more calamity at the back, Halstead, who’d missed one cross already, came for a ball he was never getting, missing it completely and allowing Giles Coke a free tap-in at the back post for 1-2.
Things should have got worse when more awol defending allowed Grimsby a free run in on goal on their left and when the ball was squared to what was then an open goal, the outcome seemed inevitable, only for Moxey to make an incredible goal-line clearance which ultimately caused an injury that he couldn’t recover from.
Into the 2nd half and things just got worse for Torquay, injuries to Holman and Little compounded things but Torquay just looked bereft of ideas and never really looked like scoring barring one chance for Asa Hall that was brilliantly saved by McKeown.
Late on Grimsby wrapped it up on the break when Torquay were caught out on their right flank again and Harry Clifton made it 3 slotting under a half hearted attempt from Halstead. Game over.
PLAYER RATINGS
Halstead 1 – Horrendous, indecisive, complete liability from any cross that comes in and a massive problem. Time for a change.
Wynter 3 – Struggled albeit without much help from those in front of him, but nowhere near his best.
Lewis 2 – Worst game I’ve seen him have. At fault for the 1st goal and completely dominated by Taylor.
Omar 3 – Slightly better but not good enough in the air for someone his size. We need to improve this position and allow him to be the 3rd centre back.
Moxey 5 – The best of them and the goal-line clearance was incredible. Missed him 2nd half.
CLE 5 – Effort was there, the only one who might do something out of the ordinary but wasted on the flank and can’t influence the game from there enough.
Johnson 5 – Did ok first half, then faded in the second and got a knock that he struggled with. Don’t think he’s physically strong enough to play centrally regularly.
Hall 4 – Not his best game by any stretch, nearly scored 2nd half but when the game was seemingly going the wrong way and it was panic all-around, you look to your experienced leaders to get control of things. Didn’t do it.
Little 6 – Scored the goal, linked with Moxey well first half and showed glimpses of quality but again wasted on the left.
Wright 5 – Effort was there, never had a chance in 90 minutes needs more legs around him.
Holman 4 – Ineffective. Lacks pace to hurt teams and another one I’m not convinced is good enough.
Subs:
Martin 3 – He was pretty poor and looks a squad player at best.
Lolos 5 – Showed some nice touches without looking like scoring. Not sure he’s the answer.
O’Connell 3 – Another one not up to the standard required.
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MAN OF THE MATCH – ARMANI LITTLE
Only played about an hour, but was the only player to show any bit of quality in a yellow shirt and even then he was probably 6/10.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Grimsby fans, over 450 and an outstanding effort. For us I thought Chiori Johnson had a decent 1st half.
THE OFFICIALS
The referee was very good which is rare for this league and I genuinely don’t think he made any head-scratching decisions. Waited as long as he could to get the cards out and overall he was decent.
THE OPPOSITION
Grimsby were above average but nothing that made you go ‘wow they will definitely be up there’. We would have beaten them last season but this season they turned us over very easily.
TACTICS
4-4-2 with no wingers, so our two best players CLE and Little were out on the flanks. No Lapslie, so Johnson partnered Hall. Just didn’t work particularly well and while GJ has always favoured this formation, it just doesn’t suit this group.
KEY MOMENT
For us was the Lewis miss, if it goes 2-0 maybe it’s a different game but it didn’t and shortly after it was 1-1 and the game totally swung in Grimsby’s favour.
CONCLUSION
We’re a bad side at the moment. The players who have been brought in are massively inferior to those we had last year and this squad lacks quality, it lacks depth in key positions and needs 3 or 4 loans in asap because 10 conceded in 3 home games, 14 in 5 total games is horrendous and a recipe for disaster.
COYY – Ian
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