MATCH VERDICT
Joe Uglow
@Joe_Ugs
Joe discusses the Gulls win
TORQUAY UNITED 3-2 YORK CITY – MATCH SUMMARY
A sun-drenched Plainmoor played host to a massive relegation six pointer, as York City made the long trip down to Plainmoor. There was a real buzz about the stadium, with the usual end-of-season boost in attendance, United fans starting to believe safety was a real possibility after a fantastic Bank holiday weekend made it four wins on the bounce.
The York City fans were also arriving expectantly, a sizeable number of them making the most of a sunny April weekend in the Bay.
Perhaps controversially United had decided to pick 20 mins before kick off to announce their Player of the Season awards, Nico Lawrence picking up the Young Player of the Season & Aaron Jarvis taking home the Player of the Season award, both thoroughly deserved!
There was one change from the Maidenhead game for the Gulls, Tom Lapslie missing out, after picking up a knock, in came Kieron Evans to replace him.
The opening 10 minutes were incredibly cagey with both sides cancelling each other out, but it was United who would strike first. After Kieron Evans saw his initial free kick cleared, Moxey released him down the right wing to deliver a lovely stood up cross into the box for Jarvis to hammer home. 1-0 United!
It wouldn’t be long before it was two either, quick thinking from Halstead allowed Stobbs to gain possession on the right wing. He slotted Lewis Collins in behind the York defence. The loanee had a lot to do, and was seemingly on his own, but he held the ball up superbly, beat the York defender and slid a delightful ball across goal for the on-rushing Aaron Jarvis to slide home, 2-0 United and the Great Escape well and truly on!
The Yellows were well worth their 2-0 lead, but York were waking up. Straight from the restart they carved out a real chance, but luckily for United, Mark Halstead pulled off an unbelievable save to deny them. York’s front two of John-Lewis & Forde were starting to come alive and it wasn’t long before they would get a goal back. A long free kick was floated forward by York over to the left hand side, and Lennel John-Lewis was on hand to head home to halve the deficit.
York continued to enjoy the better of the half after that and Torquay were grateful for the half time whistle.
United started the second half well and it wasn’t long before the two-goal lead was restored. A clever ball into Aaron Jarvis on the edge of the area, saw him man-handled by the York central defender, eventually hauling him to the floor once they had backed into the box. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot and Player of the Season; Jarvis had the chance to claim his second matchball of the season. After a long delay due to York’s protests, Jarvis stepped up and hammered the ball home for his hat-trick. 3-1 and 30 mins to close out the game!
Once again the goal seemed to spring York into life and a couple minutes later more Halstead heroics would be needed to keep out them out, ably assisted by a fantastic Dean Moxey block tackle.
The game was starting to become end to end and shortly after in the 71st minute Collins, who had a brilliant game, found himself bearing down on goal down the left wing, he unselfishly slid it across for Frank Nouble who blazed over when he really should have hit the target.
Presumably with Tuesday in mind, Gary Johnson took the opportunity to withdraw Nouble and Hall, Ben Wyatt & Ryan Hanson coming on in their place, and these subs seemed to upset United’s rhythm and United had to stand strong at the back.
They held out until the 89th minute, as sustained York pressure resulted with the ball cannoning off the post and the rebound was duly slotted home to make it 3-2 and an incredibly nervy 5 minutes of injury time.
But United held on, and closed out the game, with every man in a yellow shirt playing their part to secure the win.
3-2 United and a fifth win on the bounce!
PLAYER RATINGS
1. GK: Mark Halstead – 9
Came and collected crosses when needed and made two incredible saves, Great performance!
16. CB: Shaun Donnellan – 7
Solid performance from Donnellan, coped well against a difficult strike-force.
19. CB: Nico Lawrence – 7
Started off a little shaky in the first half but got to grips with John-Lewis in the second half and marshalled him well. Nico is going to have a brilliant career, incredibly lucky to have had him here!
21. CB: Dean Moxey – 8
Solid performance and a brilliant block tackle to deny Forde in the second half.
8. MF: Asa Hall – 7
Typical captains performance from the skipper, won his headers and battled hard.
28. MF: Kevin Dawson – 7
How we could have done with him 6 months ago, calm head in the middle who always knows the right pass to pick, would love to see him sign permanently in the summer!
27. RWB: Jack Stobbs – 7
Decent work rate and neat & tidy on the ball. Very close to grabbing a goal with his second half free kick
11. MF: Kieron Evans – 7
Great assist for Jarvis’ first, looked confident on the ball and played his part in the win.
31. LWB: Lewis Collins – 8
Best game I’ve seen him have for us, full of running and made the right decisions when he had the ball, great play for Jarvis’ second.
45. ST: Frank Nouble – 7
A lesson in hold up play from big Frank again today, won so many free kicks on the halfway line in the second half by pinning the York defenders. Looks after the ball so well, how I would love him to sign permanently in the summer!
9. ST: Aaron Jarvis – 9
Fine performance to cap his Player of the Season award, 3 decent finishes to make it 18 for the season, no mean feat considering some of the (or lack of) delivery he’s had this season.
Subs
5. CB: Ali Omar – 6
Made a couple headed clearances during his 6 minute cameo, did the job he was brought on to do.
14. LWB: Ben Wyatt – 6
Broke up play and made tactical fouls when York were countering, didn’t really get much chance to do anything other than defend.
7. MF: Ryan Hanson – 6
Came on and played his part as we closed out the game.
MAN OF THE MATCH – AARON JARVIS & MARK HALSTEAD
Did their jobs superbly at both ends of the pitch and that’s why we walked away with another 3 points, fantastic from the pair of them.
THE OFFICIALS
Missed a stonewall penalty in the first half when the York defender handled Evans’ cross but made up for it by giving the penalty in the second half. Seemed to be letting the York defence get away with manhandling Jarvis & Nouble first half but clamped down on it second half. Sent off York left back Mitch Hancox after the final whistle following a volley of abuse.
TACTICS
3-5-2, which we’ve tried on and off all season but now we have Stobbs and Collins playing as very attacking wing backs. It’s no surprise the change to this shape with this set of personnel has seen 5 brilliant wins on the bounce!
THE OPPOSITION
Looked dangerous going forward but pretty terrible at the back, John-Lewis & Forde were a real handful going forward and will certainly cause problems for Aldershot next week.
CONCLUSION
Brilliant afternoon at Plainmoor, the types of afternoon that make you realise why we put ourselves through it season after season. It’s been a brilliant April and hopefully that can continue over the next couple weeks, we’ve given ourselves a fighting chance and we are the in-form team in the league who should fear no-one! Two more wins will be enough to stay up in my opinion, and we have every chance of getting those in the next week if we can keep everyone fit and playing to the standards they have set over the last few weeks!
COYY – JOE
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