TT TALKING POINTS
Tom Beddows – @BeddowsTom
Tom looks back at the key points from Saturday’s win
A journey to the far reaches of England for the mammoth away trip to Dover. Thankfully for me and the Hampshire/Berkshire contingent of BWAS, only half the distance that faced the other members of the Yellow Army travelling up from the bay. A game that some expected would be a typical Torquay banana skin slip up, however the lads in yellow (turquoise) stepped up and gave a fantastic performance against a pretty much already relegated Dover.
Joe Lewis
WHAT. A. MAN!!
His consistency, his attitude and his love for the club really are things to marvel at. It is always enjoyable watching him play, working with Moxey to always be aware of what is happening on the pitch and be in the right place at the right time, as shown by his stunning header yesterday! That wasn’t his only chance of the game, with another header drifting wide amongst one of the many chances that we should’ve taken advantage of in the first half.
I think it is easy to forget that Joe is still only 22, when he looks like such an experienced player on the pitch. He’s got a fantastic career ahead of him, one day he’ll be playing league football, I just hope we’ve got him signed on the dotted line for next season, so that he can win promotion and be playing league football with us!
Striking Options
This has been talked about often this season, have we got enough options or at least one consistent reliable striker?
I think the answer is still probably no, to the latter….our goals this season have come from all over the pitch, which can be seen as a good thing. However I think we all agree that having someone who can put 15/20 in the back of the net each season, would not go amiss.
Yes, when fit and available Danny Wright should always be on the pitch, and I would always want for his knowledge and playing experience to be a part of our match day squad! Unfortunately, when footballers reach the age that Danny is, it is likely that a small knock here or there will have an impact and can soon result in a lengthy spell out, as we saw last season, and as has been the case at times this season!
The rumours earlier this week about the return of Sinclair Armstrong, turned out to be just that, rumours. I personally don’t see him returning to us, which is a shame, but he is destined for a long and successful career and when we see him at the heights of the Championship/Premier League, I’ll be proud to say I saw him play for Torquay.
Holman and Lolos are still to prove their goal-scoring knowhow, but you can see that it is there, somewhere! If we’re to continue the good run that we’ve found ourselves on, they could really do in finding their scoring boots quickly, so to make it even more of an interesting end to the season.
Last climb to the Crabble?
Yellow Tinpot Minnows, three words mentioned by a distraught Wrexham fan, after their mind-blowing transfer window expenditure, failed to turn over little old Torquay United.. again! It’s not often we find ourselves at the receiving end of the word “tinpot”, I wouldn’t say you could describe us as a tinpot club, or a minnow. Especially when you look at our record from the 15 league games we’ve played against Wrexham in the Conference Premier, where they have only beaten us twice, the last time being back in 2018.
We’ve seen over the years some real corkers of non-league clubs and grounds, some more worthy of the word “tinpot” than others. It has certainly made life interesting and has shown the fun that non-league away days can be, something I’d definitely take, over away trips to the soulless bowls at the higher end of the football pyramid.
Yesterday, was another fine example of that, the last time I went to Dover we faced a climb similar to that of Mt. Everest to reach the turnstile. Now being from Torquay, I’m quite used to hills and steep inclines but that walk is something else.
Thankfully, due to there being no segregation at Crabble, we only needed to climb Dover’s version of K2 to reach the home turnstile. For those who couldn’t manage that, the club offered a lovely service of a “courtesy car” (actually a well used golf buggy), to carry you up to the ground. I’m not sure when or if we will ever see another trip down to the very edge of England, but for all their problems and for the annoyance held against them last season for having their results expunged, I hope the club survives the drop down and perhaps one day will again be seen in the National League.
A Play-Off Push?
Is it possible? Who knows.. but all that needs to happen is for us to reach 7th place, we’re currently 6 points away with 17 games to go. It is a big ask, but still possible and with Gary Johnson at the helm, no-one would doubt that possibility.
Looking at the table and those currently in the play-off places, all four teams 4-7th are either still involved with the FA Trophy, or in Boreham Wood’s case the FA Cup, meaning at least 1 extra game to add to their tally. With the Covid postponements from earlier this season (something we’ve managed to avoid) on top of that, the fixture list for some looks quite congested. This congestion has the potential to only benefit us, if those above are unable to take advantage of their games in hand, and if they become tired and begin to drift off in the last third of the season, our push up to 7th could become that ever so slightly bit easier.. who knows!
All I know, is that Sunday 5th June is to be kept clear in the diary in case of an unexpected trip to see the Wembley Arch (or wherever the final may be!).
COYY – Tom
“So all in all it is very satisfying when you come as far as we have come. It’s sweet when you get a result and we can enjoy our trip back – it’s a lot quicker when you have won” – GARY JOHNSON
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