MATCH VERDICT
Clive Hayward
@Byehorse
TORQUAY UNITED 1-3 YEOVIL TOWN – MATCH SUMMARY
People talk about the five stages of grief as:
- denial.
- anger.
- bargaining.
- depression.
- acceptance.
As a Torquay fan I should be leaving anger behind and can see no point in bargaining. Truthfully though I think I am now somewhere between depression and earnestly desiring to rip the manager’s head off!
Believe it or not I was looking forward to the game last night. A local derby on a crisp November night between the biggest two clubs in the division and some hope that Torquay might be able to build on a scrappy win against Bath three days earlier. The wet pitch promised some thunderous tackles and Yeovil’s respectable away following gave some welcome atmosphere.
To be fair to Gary Johnson he was missing two really important players in Aaron Jarvis and Tom Lapslie, but what he put on the park was an outclassed, outfought mess of 11 players who must surely be wishing they could move somewhere, anywhere away from Plainmoor. Because, of course, he is going nowhere.
Three minutes in, and Yeovil’s first chance came: the striker scuffed a shot wide of Lovett’s left post when he should have scored. Torquay were second to everything and my 15 minute note reads:
“Yeovil playing all the football. Torquay can’t keep it- very wasteful in possession.”
Time after time we gave the ball away with a misplaced pass or a despairing hoof in the general direction of Theo Williams, who came down to earth with a bump after a bright substitute appearance on Saturday. When the ball was played anywhere near him he was bullied by the centre half and when- more often- the ball was knocked longer for him to chase it was normally over the goal line before he could challenge for it.
The first goal came with sickening predictability after 22 minutes when our one-time hero Frank Nouble was given time and space to waltz through the middle and bury his chance with embarrassing ease.
I thought “Noubs” was excellent all night. He came deep for the ball, won his physical battles and used it well. What a signing he could have been.
Immediately after the goal, our Fleetwood contingent has halved as Callum Dolan gave up the ghost. With that, we lost a player who has so far appeared up for the fight. He was replaced by former Dover Player of the Year Ryan Hanson. Ryan puts the “limited” into “limited company” and he produced exactly what we have come to expect, which is to say he did not have an enormous impact on proceedings.
Yeovil have won their last 11 games and know an opportunity when they see it. We were there for the taking. They missed a massive chance on 28 minutes and saw a Moxey effort flash just wide (our first shot of the night), but they doubled their lead on 33 minutes. Sonny Lo-Everton was given eons of time and acres of space outside the box and flashed a shot low and hard to Lovett’s right.
If that wasn’t game over, a glaring miss immediately afterwards by the hapless Bradley Ash was. Having taken a decent touch to put the keeper out of the game, he scooped his finish high over the gleeful away fans and you could almost feel the acceptance of inevitable defeat seeping across the Pop Side.
There were justified boos at half time. The second half saw some chants of “We want Johnson Out” with louder Yeovil retorts of ”We want Johnson In”. Us football fans do love to rub it in!
There was a very slight uptick. Asa Hall made an instant impact when he came on as sub for the injured Russ Marshall after an hour. Hall made good ground on the left of the box and cut the ball back for McGavin to bury a first time shot. A good goal.
But, this being Torquay, the respite was only brief. On 68 minutes Dean Moxey gave the ball away in the Yeovil half. They moved it slickly and Lovett did well to push a goal-bound shot away for a corner. No worries for the Glovers though, because from the corner substitute Jake Hyde rose unchallenged to plant an emphatic header into the net.
The flicker of light was easily snuffed out. That’s what good teams do. It’s also what poor teams allow.
Little more needs to be said. The closing stages saw a cameo from Torquay’s forgotten man Dillon De Silva who looked relatively bright when it had long since ceased to matter.
Yeovil saw the game out with absolute ease, and 3-1 flattered the Gulls.
PLAYER RATINGS
22. GK: Rhys Lovett – 6
A busy night for the back-up keeper. He generally did well, although arguably at fault for the third.
16. RB: Shaun Donnellan – 5
Never got to grips with it tonight. Never got forward and a tame shot near the end was probably the highlight from him.
23. CB: Ollie Tomlinson – 6.5
I thought young Ollie stood up to counted tonight. The Ivybridge Iceman fought hard and should sleep well.
6. CB: Ross Marshall – 5.5
Not totally abject tonight. Having to play behind that midfield must have been a thankless task.
21. LB: Dean Moxey – 4
Poor, I’m afraid. Although he lasted 90 minutes the veteran’s error led directly to the third goal and his frustration was evidenced by several unnecessary rants at the officials.
14. MF: Brett McGavin – 5.5
Scored a good goal, and shooting from range is his undeniable strength, But so often in open play he either gave the ball away or failed to pick a telling pass. He is showing glimpses this season of what we signed him for, and what we desperately need, but it’s not enough.
20. MF: Callum Dolan – 4
I can’t give him any higher mark. He didn’t impose himself and was very much a part of an overrun midfield.
27. RW: Jack Stobbs – 4
Saw little of the ball but created nothing and barely involved. We needed warriors tonight and he looked miles off it.
10. LW: Lewis Collins – 2.5
I think this will be controversial, but only because many of my Torquay Talk colleagues reckon he had a worse game than Ash. Maybe, but I feel he offered a tiny bit more. We’re talking microns though.
11. ST: Brad Ash – 2
He was given a slightly easier gig tonight, operating on the left of midfield rather than leading the line. He’s got a bit of pace and skill and it should have suited him. He was, quite simply, awful. Everything he touched turned to ash.
19. ST: Theo Williams – 4.5
Harsh on a young lad hundreds of miles from home trying to make the best of a loan opportunity, but he was second best tonight.
Subs
7. MF: Ryan Hanson – 4
Exactly as we have come to expect. When he came on I briefly though he might try to man-mark Noubs, which could have been a smart move. He didn’t.
8. MF: Asa Hall – 6
Made the goal and put himself about. He wasn’t great, but he’s a pro and it showed.
17. LW: Dillon De Silva – 6
The game was gone by the time he crossed the whitewash, but he produced a reasonable cross at the first time of asking and I thought he did ok.
Rate the TUFC Players Here
MAN OF THE MATCH – OLLIE TOMLINSON
In reality, Frank Nouble. I didn’t feel that McGavin did anywhere near enough to justify the sponsor’s award tonight, and for the sake of completing this sentence I will say Ollie Tomllinson.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
I actually thought the ref had a good game. Yeovil’s away support was perhaps a little disappointing in terms of numbers but they sang quite well, taking every opportunity to remind us how well things are turning out for them having pinched a decent player from us and having the momentum that a full time team in this league should be able to develop. They rumbled Gary Johnson years ago too.
THE OFFICIALS
Coped calmly with the standard abuse from both teams. In the first half Frank Nouble beseeched the linesman in front of me to “Put your effing flag up, you shithouse”. What a charmer! The referee was youngish, fairly athletic, wore his poppy with pride and controlled what could have been a feisty game really well. Of course, it wasn’t feisty, because only one team ever looked like winning.
TACTICS
At the best of times I can struggle to identify formations. Tonight the shapelessness and limpness of our front six defied much scientific explanation. There was clearly a back four. McGavin played not far in front of them, with Ash to his left and Stobbs about half a mile to his right. Hanson probably couldn’t tell you where he was. Collins ambled around slightly further forward to no effect whilst Williams chased shadows.
OPPOSITION
Decent. Too good for this level. They should win the league by 20 points. A hard edge and creative enough. Everything we aspire to. That’s Yeovil Town: a club doomed by Easter who finished the season with 8 points less than us.
KEY MOMENT
You might have to go back to whatever conversations Frank Nouble’s agent had with Yeovil and whichever sorry excuse for a football person was in charge of Torquay’s recruitment this summer. The key moment tonight was probably the beautifully played Last Post to mark our last home match before Remembrance Sunday. We double-teamed it this year, with two accomplished musicians. That was about two more accomplished players than we had in yellow.
CONCLUSION
I wrote this in the Chippenham report. It still stands as an explanation for tonight’s humbling:
- The clear lack of investment in the squad
- The “owner’s” indifference to significant and sadly now prolonged failure by Johnson & Downes
- The lack of any meaningful communication or engagement between the “owner” and the supporters
If you care about this stuff, please try to get down to the Livermead House Hotel for the Supporters’ Trust Fans Forum. It starts at 7pm tonight, Wednesday 8th November 2023.
COYY – CLIVE
SOCIAL MEDIA
TT PARTNERS
TWITTER – INSTAGRAM – ETSY – YOUTUBE – FACEBOOK
TORQUAYTALK 