TALKING POINTS

Dom Roman – @Dom Roman

Dom looks ahead to the game at Plainmoor

SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCY

D – W – L – D – W. Torquay’s form is certainly inconsistent, with only 1 loss in the last 6 games, we are definitely harder to beat this season, but the question is can we get on a winning run? A glance at the NLS table shows how tight it is, and how 3/4 wins on the bounce could take us to the top. Being comfortably in the play-off positions ticks the hopes of most Yellow Army supporters before the season started, but with teams so evenly matched and the league title appearing up for grabs, this feels like a big opportunity for the Gulls. Maybe Eastbourne will stride away, or maybe one of Worthing, Dorking or Boreham Wood will push on, still early days in this season, but despite our own weaknesses we have a chance to make this a very exciting season indeed!

HAMON LOOKING TO REWARD WOTTON’S FAITH

There has been lots of debate by the Yellow Army about the problems James Hamon has been having this season, and his error for the 2nd Chelmsford goal did not help his cause. But, to be fair to the keeper, he had a solid game at Salisbury mid-week, dealing with whatever came his way and earning a clean sheet in the process. Going by the mid-week presser Paul Wotton clearly believes in him and hopefully he can reward that belief with more decent showings starting against Tonbridge Angels. The importance of having a solid goalkeeper cannot be over-stated, so we need James to prove his worth.

LINE-UP AND MIDFIELD BALANCE

The first question for this weekend is who replaces Cody Cooke in the starting line-up? Brad Ash or Ben Seymour, or perhaps Wotton will decide on another course of action such as Will Jenkins Davies. Maybe one of Ash/Seymour will prosper more without Cooke, because the team will be forced to keep the ball on the ground, but whoever is chosen could really do with a big performance. Otherwise Jordan Dyer and Finley Craske will be hoping to come back in for Ed Palmer and Finn Tonks, and after struggling at Salisbury Oscar Threlkeld could possibly step aside for Lirak Hasani. The midfield looks fragile at the moment, Threlkeld and Hayfield have struggled to stamp their authority on games and neither is a a natural shield for the defence. Ideally I’d love to see an addition in that area, it just feels like we’re short heading into the winter months.

GAME MANAGEMENT

Our form at Plainmoor has been good, but there’s been too many frustrating draws mixed into the equation. United have had a habit of switching off for periods during games this season, retreating too far backwards and inviting pressure from the opposition, which is what happened last week against Chelmsford. United have good enough players to win any game in this league, but need to keep their focus and concentration, and manage the games well enough to maximise our points. It’s been fine margins at TUFC, every game feels close and every game has hinged on one or two crucial moments – something less stressful would be welcome on Saturday afternoon, fingers crossed!

THE OPPOSITION

Jay Saunders’ Tonbridge Angels team started the season strongly, but their form has tailed off recently so this could be a nice time to welcome them to Plainmoor. They currently sit in 13th place, with 20 points from 13 games, so the Angels do have a couple of games in hand over many of the other teams, but Saunders will need to pull his team together after a 4-1 loss to Harborough Town in the FA Cup in mid-week (this could well be time for Jordan Young to score again). We may see two ex-Gulls in action, with Ronny Nelson a defensive regular and Ryan Hanson returning to Torquay after a tough time with us, elsewhere Sean Shields and Liam Vincent both have 6 goals this season. They are not without attacking threat, so defensively Torquay have to be organised. If we manage that then we should have enough firepower to do the rest.