TALKING POINTS
Chris Wade – @TufcChris
Chris discusses the dramatic game at Plainmoor
MAGIC OF THE CUP
What an unbelievable afternoon at Plainmoor. Another game that had absolutely everything. I’ve never been totally convinced of the magic of the cup and this romantic notion that ability goes out of the window. But it felt like that on Sunday. 2-0 down and conceding a poor second right at the beginning of the second half, it logically should be all over. But the passion and desire for our club that these players are showing got us back into it.
TURNING POINT & THE RED CARD
I have never gone with this luck evens it’s self out idea. It doesn’t as events in matches happen as they do, with nobody ever thinKing, “Oh they are owed one”. But this week has seen a real turn of fortunate. Some decisions and goalkeeping went our way in midweek and the red card in this game is very contentious. It was certainly a foul but there was a covering defender alongside the perpetrator. And the moment changed the momentum of the match. Asa stuck the penalty away and Derby rarely got out of their own half again.
THE FRONT TWO
It has been a pretty turbulent first three months to the season with consistency of selection being one of the key issues. But Gary was able to name an unchanged team today for once and they played to an excellent level again. Pivotal to that and particularly in the second half were Will Goodwin and Aaron Jarvis. The latter in particular was outstanding, holding the ball up, winning headers and bringing others into the game. The power of that combined with Goodwin buzzing around him is key to our attacking play. We also got bodies into the box in the last half an hour and that paid off ultimately.
QUALITY INFUSION
What we have been crying out for is a bit of extra quality in the squad, and that has arrived in the last ten days. Mark Ellis was again strong at the back alongside the impressive Lucas Ness, and the addition of Stephen Wearne has allowed us to be able to play in a different way. Wearne has the ability to travel with the ball. This enables the team to get up the pitch quicker and both ease the pressure on the back line and get us into scoring situations. That’s 14 goals in 4 games at home now. Those three players have just taken the squad onto the next level.
REPLAY & FINANCE
Travelling to the game with my son today, he said that a win would be amazing. I said that it would be, but a draw would be better! The finance of the day with 4269 inside Plainmoor and the revenue from ITV broadcasting the game live is already a massive boost. But the replay at Pride Park (and who knows, TV coverage again) is huge. The finance that the FA Cup brings is so important to clubs like us and this can enable the club to be more secure moving forwards and hopefully add some more quality to the squad as and when it is needed.
BACK TO THE BREAD & BUTTER
I am a big believer of momentum in team sport and we need to ride this momentum for as long as we can. Tuesday was huge, Sunday was awesome but we desperately need three more points at Plainmoor against Dorking on Wednesday night. Getting ourselves up the table is the number one priority, and two more games at home this week give us an excellent chance to keep the upward trajectory going. Let’s keep this going and get up that table!
COYY – CHRIS
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TORQUAYTALK 
You mention a covering defender, wrong, this means nothing. Read Law 12
DENYING A GOAL OR AN OBVIOUS GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY (DOGSO)
Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball; in all other circumstances (e.g. holding, pulling,
pushing, no possibility to play the ball etc.) the offending player must be sent off.
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