TALKING POINTS

Ben Wade

Ben discusses the NLS game

DEFENSIVE ERRORS

One thing that was obvious from the 3-0 defeat at Yeovil was the individual errors that lead to all three goals respectively from Booth, McGavin and Moxey. When The Glovers piled pressure on us and closed us down we struggled to find a route out. Austen Booth was caught dawdling with the ball unsure of when to play out. It was a decent first half defensive display but as soon as we conceded the second our heads dropped and the reason Yeovil are top is because they are clinical; that is exactly what they were on Good Friday. Dean Moxey did not have his finest match either and was too weak and pushed off the ball leading to threatening attacks.

ETHON’S EFFORT

Ethon Archer was an improved player from other games in a Torquay shirt. He was lively on the left hand side but often ran himself into traffic and ended up going backwards. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was handed a second consecutive start for our Easter Monday game versus Weston-super-Mare. With Jack Stobbs on the other side (who later came off injured) the pair combined in different intervals to try to get at the robust defence, but had little joy. Ethon gave us the bit of energy that you like to see, but overall we didn’t have the creativity that you need to break down a team like Yeovil. He definitely gave us a glimpse of his fiery abilities (just like his boots!).

LOOKING FOR CUTTING EDGE

Hopefully we shall have more opportunities to express our attacking qualities on Monday but the chances we managed to salvage at Yeovil were squandered. WJD and Brad Ash both had snap shots that were comfortably saved as well as Ethon Archer’s effort that deflected wide. Ash’s moment came from a clever bobbling ball and the chance to score was immediately after his first touch as Joe Day came way off his line and Brad could’ve lobbed it straight away but he took it down instead, and was quickly dispossessed. Plymouth loanee Jenkins-Davies curled a shot narrowly past the far post also in the first half. Our final half chance was mid-way through the second half when Archer found himself in space and drove the ball towards the far corner but a Yeovil player headed the ball out of play. Chances need to be taken against Weston-super-Mare, otherwise we could pay for it again.

THE OPPOSITION

Weston-super-Mare (The Seagulls) are currently 15^th in the NLS table with about 2 or 3 games in hand on surrounding teams. The Seagulls are comfortably nestled into mid-table territory and aren’t in brilliant form of late, losing four in a row before a 4-0 beating of Taunton Town on Good Friday. Opponents like these have proven stubborn to us and the away game at their place was just one of many disappointing defeats we’ve suffered this season. But hopefully we’ll have the quality to defeat them this time around in front of the loyal and noisy home support.

NEED HOME COMFORTS

It goes without saying the importance of our games on home turf. Only two of our remaining six league fixtures are at Plainmoor which is slightly concerning due to our non-existent away form. This game on Monday and the game on the last day of the season vs Havant are our final hopes of home victory, and ideally we do not want anything resting on Havant (h)! A win on Monday would ease concerns, then we can hopefully pick up as many points as possible from those four away fixtures; three of which against surrounding teams, one against a play off contender. Four points from the relegation zone is hopefully enough leeway, but we cannot take anything for granted and need to give this game everything we’ve got.