TT MATCH PREVIEW

Clive Hayward

@byehorse

BUCKLAND (A)

Us Brits love to talk about the weather don’t we? In truth, it was a much bigger topic of conversation tonight than I had hoped. Sarah Keith-Lucas, Stephen Dixon and other meteorologists were pretty confident that Friday night in South Devon would be characterised by intermittent heavy rain. They were spot on. It was a night when it most definitely did not rain goals but intermittent precipitation became steady, then heavy and, for a while, torrential.

Paul Wotton sent out a team which even I was able to spot was a 3-5-2, the starting eleven being:

So, what did we learn from the first half?

Goalkeeper James Hamon has a voice that would be useful for a Sergeant Major or a foghorn. If the Oscars ceremony ever had microphone issues he could earn a fortune in LA, because he spent the first 15 minutes bellowing positional advice to his captain Oscar Threlkeld who- I suspect- probably already knows where to stand in midfield.

Lirak Hasani is a bright young midfielder who may break some female Devonian hearts. He’s got bad boy looks, floppy hair, doesn’t mind a tackle and wears his socks only a little higher than Jack Grealish. He hit the post with a bicycle-kick which was more Penny Farthing than Jude Bellingham

Ben Seymour is lively. Wants the ball at all times, likes running at defenders; won’t die wondering. Lowish centre of gravity. Like a slightly fitter Elliott Benyon.

Austen Booth may just be a better footballer than I have previously given him credit for. Admittedly he had loads of time, but tonight he looked quite good on the ball. He became frustrated a couple of times when he didn’t get it in the opposition half and that strikes me as a sign.

Any thoughts on tonight’s game Yellow Army, and who’s making the trip to Tavistock?! pic.twitter.com/hIAOaMFUpq
— TORQUAYTALK (@TORQUAYTALK) July 12, 2024

The second half was a slog for roofless spectators as the rain got its act together. There wasn’t much ruthless about Torquay though. A slightly more direct approach by a much-changed team did see an abundance of balls into the box, but there were few clear chances and nil-nil was probably about right.

Buckland were well organised, scrapped for every ball and didn’t panic when they got it themselves. Their fitness held out very well. If you got points for friendly results they would have been delighted with one of those and their clean sheet

The new away kit looked good, and sales in the first week have clearly been brisk.

Was tonight as much fun as Charlie Baker’s stand-up? Perhaps not. Would it have been nice if the sun had shone? Yes. Will this squad get us promoted? It is ridiculous to try to judge that on 90 minutes at Homers Heath.

Nothing matters until the serious stuff begins on August 10th, but tonight was a start. There is huge goodwill for this new project and we will move on to Tavistock on Wednesday with a song in our hearts and an umbrella in the car!

COYY!