TALKING POINTS
Dom Roman
@DomRoman
Dom discusses the NLS game
FINDING FORM?
This heading comes with a question mark, as the Welling game gave me Hungerford (h) vibes. Apart from slightly better attackers, Welling were similarly poor (and also gave us two penalties!) and Torquay only had to raise their game marginally to triumph comfortably. That’s not to dismiss the 5-1 win entirely, but the Gulls won’t be given that much space and time every week and have to prove they’ve got the mental strength to win games when the opposition makes life difficult. Weston and Hampton sit in the bottom half of the table, so it’s a great chance for 3 wins on the bounce, but away fixtures this season have already proved tricky, so nothing can be taken for granted that’s for sure.
5 YEARS LATER
The Weston away game on 30/10/2018 lives in our memory banks for various reasons, from the understaffed bar, to the hoard of Yellow Army followers in attendance and the chaotic nature of the 90 minutes, not to mention the bin thrown on the pitch, it was a crazy but fun evening. Some players never got back into Gary Johnson’s plans after it, stricken off as he evolved United into a title winning team. 5 years later and back in the NLS, Gary will be hoping for more control and 3 points, otherwise the away supporters will be voicing their disapproval again and the manager will be getting the brunt of it.
THE OPPOSITION
The Seagulls sit 20th in the National League South with 14 points from 12 games. It looks like, on paper at least, that we are playing them at the right time – as they’ve only grabbed one league win in 9 games and have a squad that’s missing a few players. Over the course of the season so far they did push Yeovil close at home, and have beaten Farnborough and Truro away, but this really is a game that United should win. Anything less would be a disappointment.
ASH TO FIND THE TARGET?
Bradley Ash is a good NLS player, he’s proven that at Weymouth, but perhaps we expected too much from him at Plainmoor after some promising PSF displays (this could apply to the whole team!). The striker’s work-rate is there, but in recent weeks he’s misfiring in front of goal, whilst also over-playing outside the box and giving the ball away too often. I believe the goals will come from the striker, and being an ex-Weston player this could be his night! Score one and usually another follows for players like Ash, the main thing for him is to keep making the runs and getting into the right areas, then the rewards will be his.
THE START
Torquay again started slowly against Welling (those pre-match pep talks need work), giving away an amateurish goal and finding themselves on the back foot with a lot of sluggish play. It’s something they need to put right in the forthcoming games. Weston and Hampton will see the United fixture as a big one and relish the opportunity of putting one over the Gulls. Any dithering could mean us going behind and needing to recuperate once more. Time to throw the first punches lads (not literally!) and show us you’ve got the bottle this season to be automatic promotion contenders.