TALKING POINTS
Dom Roman
@DomRoman
SWEET FA?
It’s hard to take positives from last weekend’s game, sure we fought hard after going down to ten men and opportunities were created, that could on another day, have changed the outcome…but any loss (however spirited) at National League South level is hard to stomach. A week later and the Yellow Army (the right ones at least..) are summoned once more to Plainmoor in the hope of turning the tables against the Mighty Stones! This time it’s the FA Cup, a chance to earn a place in the 1st Round and perhaps gain a decent tie similar to last year. A pick me up victory is needed from Torquay United to boost morale before a busy period. On last week’s showing it’s a 50/50 game, lose again and the manager will suffer more unwelcome criticism, whilst questions will be raised by supporters about where this season and their club are heading.
START LIKE YOU MEAN TO GO ON
For one reason or another Torquay have been slow starters this season. Gary Johnson said they went from ‘Caged Lions’ (or something like that!) to ‘Damp Squibs’ at Plainmoor last weekend, and he couldn’t explain why. Why are Torquay United not ready for the battle? Is it down to poor management, a lack of leadership around the park or nerves? Whatever it is, they need to shake it off and get their game faces on. Since the Dover (a) opener there’s barely been any first half goals from United, except for the Wimborne/Hungerford victories, and we can’t keep counting on opposition teams tiring and second half comebacks. Maidstone will be confident of dictating proceedings again in the Cup tie, so we must be ready to push back, win loose balls and hopefully win the tie.
THE OPPOSITION
I saw a number of comments saying that Maidstone were poor last weekend, and despite the Gulls’ own woes, I think that’s unfair. They were strong, had width and pushed forward, making United wish that they were facing Hungerford again instead. Central to that was Sam Corne in midfield who impressed me with his speed of thought on the ball and his ability to transition them onto the attack. No doubt he was far better than Brett McGavin on the day. Upfront Levi Emantchi is a handful and with more poise they could easily have scored more goals at Plainmoor. I’d imagine they will be around the top 6 in the NLS this season, and it looks like George Elokobi is making a positive impact in his first managerial appointment.
THE LINE-UP
Ross Marshall drops out after his red card, so Gary Johnson has to decide on his best course of action. This could mean a shift to 3-5-2, with Moxey and Donnellan dropping into the CB roles, or keeping the same formation with the Mox taking Marshall’s spot, whilst Dan Martin slots in at left back. The squad needs reinforcements, so maybe one or two loans will arrive before kick off in typical Torquay United fashion. As a team we have to be calmer in possession to beat the Stones press and if gaps are found then they can be got at. Meanwhile out of the possession we should do our own pressing to put a strong Maidstone team on the back foot. As we showed occasionally with 10 men last week, with better effort and quality United do have the tools to hurt the Stones and create chances. We desperately need this sequel to be an improvement on the original…well it wouldn’t be difficult would it?
HOME SUPPORT
Gary Johnson wants the ‘right supporters’ coming to Plainmoor I hear. Beggars surely can’t be choosers GJ! Let’s be honest the club are lucky to get the numbers we have been getting after such a shambolic period, so anybody who decides to pay for a ticket to see Torquay United is the ‘right supporter’. In surveying other supporters about whether they are coming along to this one, the answer has often been negative, so I can only see a fair drop in attendance from last week’s 2436 and tensions will be high. More disappointment on the pitch and Gary will be hearing plenty of grumbling from the Plainmoor punters (maybe the club could fetch him some headphones to block out comments). But (as always) let’s hope for a home win, a Aaron Jarvis goal from open play and a 1st Round draw to look forward to. See you at Plainmoor…well some of you!
COYY – DOM
OPPOSITION CHAT – JAMES MARSHALL
On Saturday I came to the Torquay v Maidstone game. This is not the first time I’ve been down to Torquay and yet again I wasn’t disappointed. From the moment we arrived everyone was so friendly and this has been the case every time we have visited.
We were expecting a tough game with both teams only being a point apart and high up in the table. The game started well for us. I think Maidstone really came out of the blocks well and we’re playing some really good football. Not sure about the time but when Ross Marshall gave away a penalty and got himself sent off and us Maidstone fans thought this was our opportunity to take the lead and take a huge step towards 3 points. Unfortunately the penalty was saved and it remained 0.0.
Maidstone continued to play some really good football in the first half, but couldn’t capitalise on the extra man and the half finished 0.0 Maidstone came out a bit slower in the second half and it took us a while to take the lead with a great strike from Sam Bone. We managed to hold on to the lead and get the 3 points.
I think Torquay will learn from their quite frankly poor and below average performance to say the least and will give us a much better test Saturday. I previously said we would nick the cup game 1-0, now I’m not too sure. It could go to a replay or I hate to say it, Torquay could beat us 2-1 Good luck for the rest of the season and thank you for all your hospitality. Special mention to Tim and his boy I met in boots and laces. Lovely lads.