MATCH VERDICT
Dom Roman
@DomRoman
MAIDSTONE UNITED 3-2 TORQUAY UNITED – MATCH SUMMARY
We all expected a 13th loss of the NLS season didn’t we? And so it proved after a rollercoaster of an evening at the Gallagher Stadium. United made a number of changes to the line-up, with big Duane finally getting a 2nd start on his 2nd coming as a Torquay player, whilst yet another new boy Arkell Jude-Boyd slotted straight into the line-up and Marshall replaced Tomlinson. This was a team bulked up to counter a physical Maidstone outfit, and also one bulked up in double-barrelled names, what could go wrong!
After only a few minutes Torquay’s defensive jitters resurfaced yet again, with Austen Booth caught ball watching, Stones dashed into the penalty area and Rush finished comfortably into the bottom left hand corner of Halstead’s goal. To Torquay’s credit their heads didn’t drop after this early setback and Asa Hall, who played in an advanced role for much of the night, poached a goal after a DOA flick on. It looked like off side and you could sense everybody in the ground expected a flag to be raised, but maybe Hall was just on. 1-1.
The rest of the half was not pretty to say the least. United’s main gameplan was to swing high balls forward in the direction of Duane and feed off him, whilst Maidstone also went direct and quite often the ball would end up out of play. Too much watching the Six Nations over the weekend? Then the Stones came alive at the end of the half, but Halstead made a sharp save to deny Sole. Would it be a big moment in the game, time would tell.
Soon after the interval Halstead’s fortunes would turn, with Faal outmuscling a United defender (this could have easily been a free kick), the big striker weaved into the area and somehow squeezed a shot past the keeper and into the net. United’s soft under belly had been tickled again and another fight back was required.
Two gilt-edged chances presented themselves to either team, with Jude-Boyd failing to beat Covolan at his near post and Berkeley-Agyepong somehow failing to find the target when 3-1 looked inevitable. By this time Ethon Archer had arrived in place of Dean Moxey and his busy running caused Stones some problems, and with United pushing, they bagged a deserved equaliser. The unmarked Marshall flicking in a McGavin free kick to make it 2-2.
Torquay could sense the game was theirs for the taking at this point, and some dangerous set pieces tested the Stones defence and of course our old friend Lucas Covolan. But then with Archer dallying with the ball outside his own box, Stones swooped and before you knew it Sam Corne was belting a strike into the top left hand corner. 3-2 and United had no response on this occasion. A performance with more work rate and passion than Saturday, but in the end still not good enough. 1 win in 9 games in the National League South, what a sad state of affairs.
PLAYER RATINGS
1. GK: Mark Halstead – 6
A tale of two moments, one fantastic save before half time, but a 2nd goal seemingly straight through him. Clean Sheets? Not at TUFC!
5. CB: Austen Booth – 5
Booth was caught badly for their first goal, but did okay after that – likes a long lofting ball down the channels more than most!
6. CB: Ross Marshall – 6
Torquay’s defence remains horribly shaky. Marshall wasn’t too bad tonight, gets an extra mark for a goal.
21. CB: Dean Moxey – 6
Mox was subbed just after half time after swinging umpteen balls forward to Duane.
3. WB: Dan Martin – 5
Not convincing in defence or attack.
14. MF: Brett McGavin – 7.5
This was Brett’s best display for a while. Tidy in possession, good set pieces, smart control. MOTM.
4. MF: Tom Lapslie – 6
Tom was busy but didn’t get involved as much as he would have liked. Watched a lot of long balls go over his head!
2. WB: Arkell Jude-Boyd – 6
Arkell was aggressive from the off and looks a decent option at wing back, definitely a better option than DDS anyway.
18. MF: Will Jenkins Davies – 4.5
WJD had a few touches of quality but flattered to deceive and just didn’t impact the game enough.
8. MF/ST: Asa Hall – 6
Asa spent a lot of time trying to win knock-ons as United went route one. Tucked away a nice goal and lasted the 90 mins (just about!).
19. ST: Duane Ofori-Acheampong – 6
Duane did what was asked of him, scrapping for long balls and putting himself about.
Subs
30. LW: Ethon Archer – 6.5
Archer played well on arrival, making a nuisance of himself and hitting the post. He loses half a point for giving the ball away before the 3rd Maidstone goal. Needs to learn to move the ball quicker, but a rough diamond worth persevering with.
11. ST: Brad Ash – 4
Barely got a kick after coming on.
MAN OF THE MATCH – BRETT MCGAVIN
If the St Albans game was the very worst of Brett McGavin, then this was amongst his best. Brett’s touch was nimble and decisive, the only United player showing true ability on the ball, whilst he also put in a number of threatening set pieces. He desperately wanted the chance to hit one of his trademark long range shots, but the moment (and the game) was snatched by Sam Corne instead.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Archer gave United more attacking threat on arrival, whilst Hall and Acheampong worked hard to make the best of the scraps thrown their way.
TACTICS
A 3-5-2, with Asa Hall the closest to Duane. Tactically it worked okay for much of the game, United’s pressing was better than in recent times and Jude-Boyd gave an energetic balance on the right hand side. United had more sparkle when the tactics became less direct in the 2nd half after Archer’s arrival, and they started to move the ball around with some precision. Still not enough chances created and a lot to work on, but compared to the horror of St Albans (h), it was at least a performance that had pride about it…if no points (again).
OPPOSITION
Maidstone came to life in moments throughout the game, and Rush/Faal are a handful upfront, but overall they struggled to impress and had Torquay possessed enough confidence in their own ability, then the result could have gone the other way. The winning goal was an absolute stunner good enough to win any game, let alone this often ugly but eventful NLS scrap.
THE OFFICIALS
The referee had a very little to adjudicate, the only moment of controversy being Faal’s challenge before their 2nd goal, which had it been called up for a free kick, would have surprised no-one. The other big decision for the officials was the offside/onside call for Asa Hall’s goal, tough to tell but the skipper may well have been on.
CONCLUSION
It could not be as bad as St Albans (h) and it wasn’t. United competed well for loose balls from the off and made life hard for Maidstone around the midfield areas. Unfortunately when your defence leaks as many goals as ours, you can put in a decent performance, score two goals and still end up the losing side. A squeaky win at home to lowly Dover remains our only victory since before Xmas, and the low number of Yellow Army who turned up for this one, illustrated how little belief they now have in their team and especially their manager. Even if attendances dwindle, Gary Johnson’s job still looks like the safest in the land under this ownership and supporters will no doubt make their voices heard again on Saturday (those who still decide to attend). “Next season could be fun” said some when we dropped down to the NLS after the last day draw in April against Wrexham. It is anything but.