PREVIEW

Steve Harris

@steveharris84

MATCH DETAILS

Torquay United versus Yeovil Town

Venue: Plainmoor

Date: Tuesday 7th November 2023

Kick-off: 7.45pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Torquay: 8

Draw: 4

Yeovil: 6

FORM GUIDE

Torquay: L, L, W, L, L, W

Yeovil: W, W, W, W, W, W

TOP SCORERS

Torquay: Aaron Jarvis (9)

Yeovil: Rhys Murphy (12)

YEOVIL TOWN FACTFILE

Year founded: 1895

Nickname: The Glovers

Last season’s league finish: 22nd in National League

Yeovil notable honours: Division Four/Division Three/League Two:

Winners 2004-05

Conference/Blue Square Premier/National League

Winners 2002-03

FA Trophy winners:

2001-02

MANAGER – MARK COOPER

Former Exeter City, Birmingham City and Fulham midfielder Mark Cooper took charge of the Glovers in October 2022 following the dismissal of former Gulls player and manager Chris Hargreaves.

As a manager, Cooper made his name in non-league circles with Tamworth and Kettering Town – winning the National League North title with the latter. He was given his first shot at managing in the Football League with Peterborough United in 2009, when he was named as the successor to Darren Ferguson.

His tenure at London Road proved to be short-lived and his next role saw him take charge of Darlington, with whom he won the FA Trophy in the 2010-11 season. He was dismissed by the Quakers early in the 2011-12 campaign and then had a second spell with Kettering before taking charge of AFC Telford.

In 2013, he became assistant manager of Swindon Town under Kevin MacDonald and would later succeed MacDonald early in the 2013-14 season. Under his guidance, the Robins finished 8th in League One in 2013-14 before reaching the Play-offs in the 2014-15 season where they were beaten by Preston North End in the final.

Following his dismissal from the County Ground, he had a short spell in charge of Notts County in 2016 before he was appointed as Forest Green Rovers manager. In his first full campaign in charge at the New Lawn, Cooper led the Gloucestershire side into the Football League for the first time as they defeated Tranmere Rovers in the National League Play-off final to win promotion.

After helping to establish the Green Devils in the Football League, Cooper parted company with the club in 2021. He then had a brief spell in charge of Barrow before taking charge of the Glovers, and he will be aiming to lead them back to the National League at the first time of asking following last season’s relegation.

Cooper is also the son of former Leeds United and England left-back Terry Cooper.

COOPER STATS

Date of Birth: 18/12/68 (54)

Appointed: 28th October 2022

Other Clubs Managed: Swindon, Notts County, Forest Green, Barrow

PLAYER TO WATCH – RHYS MURPHY

After re-joining the Glovers in the close season, former Gulls loanee Rhys Murphy has re-discovered his goal scoring touch – and has found the back of the net 12 times in all competitions so far.

Murphy, who joined the Gulls on loan from Forest Green Rovers in the 2017-18 season, started his career with Arsenal and was loaned out to Brentford and Preston North End. He also represented England at youth level before switching his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland, who he appeared for at Under-21 level.

Following a stint in Holland playing for Telstar in the 2012-13 season, Murphy returned to England to sign for Dagenham and Redbridge. He then moved on to Oldham Athletic in 2015 when Lee Johnson, son of Gulls manager Gary, paid the Daggers undisclosed fee for his services.

Loan spells at AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town then followed before he joined Forest Green Rovers and he was later loaned to York City, Crawley (again) and also spent an eight-match loan spell with the Gulls where he scored once in a 4-0 win over Maidenhead United.

His next port of call was Gillingham prior to signing for Chelmsford City, where his 28 goals in National League South in the 2018-19 campaign alerted the Glovers then manager Darren Sarll to his potential.

Murphy then found the back 20 times in all competitions for Yeovil in the 2019-20 campaign before the Covid-19 pandemic forced the league to be suspended.

In 2021, Murphy joined Southend United, but his time at Roots Hall blighted by injury, and he returned to Huish Park in the summer of 2023.

MURPHY STATS

Position: Striker

Date of Birth: 06/11/90 (33)

Place of Birth: Shoreham

Height: 1.85m

Former Clubs: Arsenal, Brentford, Preston, Telstar, Dagenham, Oldham, Crawley, Wimbledon, Forest Green, York City, Torquay, Gillingham, Chelmsford, Southend

OLD BOYS

Torquay: Donnellan, Dawson, Craske

Yeovil: Murphy, Nouble, Fisher

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

Torquay United (4-3-3)

Mark Halstead

Shaun Donnellan – Ross Marshall – Ollie Tomlinson – Dean Moxey

Callum Dolan – Brett McGavin – Tom Lapslie

Jack Stobbs – Bradley Ash – Lewis Collins

Yeovil Town (4-4-2)

Joe Day

Michael Smith – Morgan Williams – Jake Wannell – Alex Whittle

Jordan Stevens – Sonny Blu Lo-Everton – Matty Worthington – Will Dawes

Frank Nouble – Rhys Murphy

LAST MEETING

Sunday, 1st January 2023, Yeovil Town 2 Torquay United 0 – NL

Yeovil boosted their National League survival hopes after late goals secured a 2-0 success over fellow strugglers Torquay.

Matty Worthington broke the deadlock with just 10 minutes remaining at Huish Park, converting at the far post following fine work from Andrew Oluwabori.

Mark Cooper’s men sealed the three points four minutes into added time when Grimsby loanee Jordan Maguire-Drew dinked over Gulls goalkeeper Mark Halstead.

Victory for the 18th-placed hosts moved them six points clear of the relegation zone, while second-bottom Torquay were two points from safety.