MATCH VERDICT

Clive Hayward

@Byehorse

TORQUAY UNITED 3-1 WEYMOUTH FC – MATCH SUMMARY

Three points for the home team on an injury-strewn evening which showcased the best and worst of this Torquay side.

They couldn’t have had a better start. Brett McGavin did what he does best: facing the Babbacombe End he stepped up to a central free-kick over 25 yards out and hit an unstoppable shot into the keeper’s top left corner. Chances are he saw it all the way, but he was powerless to keep it out.

In a bright start, Brad Ash was denied at the near post after some nice Crowe, Lapslie and Stobbs build-up down the right.

Weymouth were struggling to make an impact, but on 21 minutes a lovely bit of skill out wide from Roberts left Dylan Crowe for dead and on his return to Plainmoor Keelan O’Connell should have done better with his header.

Half an hour in Torquay doubled their lead. McGavin strode forward with purpose and played a nice through ball to sub Ethon Archer. He took a good first touch but his shot was poor. No matter. The ball eventually found it’s way to Ash and he didn’t need asking twice, slotting a lovely finish to give his former club a mountain to climb.

Two nil up. Happy days eh?

It’s not normally quite that simple for Torquay though, and tonight was no exception. Tom Lapslie had been the victim of a bad foul by Durojaiye, who was rightly booked. There were howls from the Torquay bench, players and crowd but Laps lives by the sword, and he got up & shook the Weymouth player’s hand. The damage was done, however, and 10 minutes later he had to come off.    

Virtually every two minutes a Torquay player went down. Sometimes the victim of a foul, but often not. By the hour mark our dressing room must have resembled a Black Eye Friday casualty unit.

Weymouth got back into the game before half time, with a headed clearance from a free kick falling to Bolton who made no mistake from the edge of the box.

The carnage worsened in the second half.

Bradley Ash failed to shake off a knock and was replaced by Ryan Hanson. Not a straight swap by any means.

Most worrying of all, Jack Stobbs went down badly injured and untouched as he appeared to be about to outpace his full back on the Pop Side touchline. My first reaction was that it was likely a hamstring, but he departed on a stretcher and was in a lot of pain. Get well soon Stobbsy!

A thin-looking bench was by now fully anorexic. Last man standing was young Callum Thomas, who came on for the last half an hour and didn’t let himself down on his debut playing alongside Dean Moxey at the back.

If ever the next goal in a game was going to be crucial, it was the fourth here.

Two much maligned (by me, anyway) players combined to put a smile on 1600 faces. Mark Halstead claimed a cross and then took out the entire Weymouth defence with a fantastic pass to Lewis Collins. The young Welshman took the ball on for a few strides before lashing an emphatic left foot winner.

By now, the referee had lost any control he had ever over proceedings. Both benches were screaming for a card every time a tackle went in, and although many agricultural Weymouth challenges went unpunished Brooks’ second yellow card rubber stamped the outcome.

With a one-man advantage and cramp setting in Torquay were very happy to sit on a 3-1 win which on the balance of play they deserved.

QUICK RECAP – WEYMOUTH (H) NLS

PLAYER RATINGS

1. GK: Mark Halstead – 8

Went wobbly again at one point in the first half and I do wonder if he is fully over his concussion, but he produced the goods tonight. Some authoritative claims and a match-winning “assist” for the third goal. My man of the match.

2. RB: Dylan Crowe – 6

Not his worst game by any means. Takes some really poor touches for a former England under 17 international but another 90 minutes should do his confidence no harm.   

23. CB: Ollie Tomlinson – 6.5

Won his fair share of headers. As a young centre half I would imagine that having Dean Moxey alongside him rather than Ross Marshall should be good for him, and he may be waking up screaming at 3am rather less often now.      

21. CB: Dean Moxey – 7

Centre back must be his best position now, surely? It’s pragmatic, but makes perfect sense, His diminishing pace is less exposed and he is able to read the game and organise less-experienced colleagues.  

26. LB: Archie Harris – 7

I would possibly expect a little more from a Bournemouth youngster, but Archie looked reasonably comfortable on the ball and is an upgrade on either Deano or Dan Martin given the age & injuries that hamper those two.

27. RW: Jack Stobbs – 6

A worrying injury. Always hit & miss with his crosses, but a sad curtailment of what had been a lively start to the second half.

14. MF: Brett McGavin – 7.5

The likes of Ollie Tomlinson normally get a couple of sentences here. Brett’s performances often provide enough raw material for an essay! The lad is seldom dull and he continues to divide Yellow opinion. He did a lot right, notably a high-class free kick to give Torquay the perfect start. He was instrumental in the second goal too, but by contrast he almost let Weymouth back in the game later on. He executed a lovely turn to buy himself time on the halfway line, but then got caught in two minds with what to do with the ball at his mercy. In the end, he did nothing, was easily dispossessed and 2 seconds later Mark Halstead was making a decent save to prevent his team from going in at 2-2.   

4. MF: Tom Lapslie – 6

Half fit before being kicked out of the game but quite bright tonight, looking to get forward.

10. LW: Lewis Collins – 7

Took his goal with real aplomb, bringing back memories of that absolute beauty at Scunthorpe last Spring. As ever, some good & some bad, but after his apparent struggles with asthma on Saturday it was a valuable 90 minutes from Lewis. He was lucky to last that long though. Booked for dissent, he then hauled an opponent down in front of the Pop Side but the referee bottled the obvious decision. 

11. ST: Brad Ash – 7

So pleased to see him score again tonight. It’s a good habit. Brad is clearly a confidence player but he will always endear himself to most fans with his work rate.

19. ST: Theo Williams – 5.5

Played out wide until injuries allowed him a spell in the middle. Lots of pace and a decent attitude, but frankly it was a night to forget from the Fleetwood loanee.

Subs

7. MF: Ryan Hanson – 4

I promise you I am not judging this on past performances. He was, again, dreadful tonight. Gave the ball away with his first touch. Never able to influence the game in midfield.

30. MF: Ethon Archer – 7

Ethon is happy on the ball and enjoys taking people on and trying things. A busy midfield performance. Clearly fairly raw but I think there’s something to work on there.   

24. CB: Callum Thomas – 6.5

A big night for young Callum, and he didn’t let himself down. Notably left footed he looked nervous but did most of the simple stuff well. We won’t mention the one error- a diagonal clip which took out two Torquay defenders and very nearly put Weymouth in on goal.

Rate the TUFC Players Here

MAN OF THE MATCH – MARK HALSTEAD

McGavin with a very good claim here. The sponsors gave it to Lewis Collins, but overall I think Mark Halstead shaded it. He had no chance with the goal and his save immediately before half time was important. He caught what he needed to and his distribution was safety-first (which endears him to me, if also meaning he’s unlikely to be getting a call from Pep Guardiola any time soon). The exception, of course, was his rapier thrust on 79 minutes which allowed Collins to make the game safe.    

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

As I walked along Bronshill Road before the game there were half a dozen young lads ahead of me. Boisterous 14 or 15 year olds. Singing Torquay songs, notably that version of “Allez Allez Allez” which features: “…on the Popside at Plainmoor”. With the game still in the balance in the second half, only 2-1 up and the squad on the bones of its backside, they and a couple of hundred others sang and bounced as if their lives depended on it. Regrettably Torquay United does not hold it’s supporters in high regard at present, alternating between threats and condescension, but that lot are a credit to the club.

THE OFFICIALS

Just awful, I’m afraid. Ref Eugene Robinson looked well out of his depth. It’s often a thankless task but he was inconsistent in the extreme: letting many poor challenges go and lacking any rapport with the players.

TACTICS

Fairly chaotic, thanks to the injuries. It was arguably a 4-3-3 early on, although I also scribbled down 4-1-3-2 at one point in the first half. After half time the plan appeared to be “get it to Stobbs”, but sadly that was short-lived. Brad Ash works incredibly hard, but we couldn’t half do with Aaron Jarvis back.  

OPPOSITION

Brandon Goodship was substituted before the end, He looked mightily hacked-off at that. The Dorset Echo suggests he was injured. I fear The Good Ship Weymouth is also holed below the waterline. Relegation may be looming. Their manager kicked every ball and is clearly massively committed to the cause, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of quality there.

CONCLUSION

With respect to Weymouth and their 60 travelling supporters, Gary Johnson’s first Torquay team would have threatened double figures if they had been on the park tonight.

We are a long, long way from those exciting days when the National League South was a novelty and the title was achieved with something to spare.

Instead, we remain in Yeovil’s slipstream and will travel to Frome on Saturday with- inevitably- a patched up team for an FA Trophy match which promises to be a good day out, but a fixture the squad could probably do without.

A 3-1 win beats the living daylights out of losing- and in fairness we have all seen Torquay come a cropper in games such as this evening’s- but please forgive me if I don’t go looking for that gold flag just yet.

COYY – CLIVE

SOCIAL MEDIA

Something special once again from Brett McGavin as Torquay United make it 3 wins on the bounce!#TUFC @bbcdevonsport

pic.twitter.com/mmoWtlW8ME

— Harry Salvidge (@H_Salvidge14) December 5, 2023

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