TT BLOG

Dom Roman – @DomRoman

Dom looks at the key aspects in United’s rise to 1st place

CENTRE BACK PAIRING

We’ve been blessed with lots of quality CBs over the years, and the latest combination at the back is one of the main strengths of the Torquay United team. Jordan Dyer and Sam Dreyer have formed the type of harmonious partnership that Paul Wotton must have envisaged in the summer. Dyer is calm, concentrated and quietly gets on about his business at the back, though one bustling header on Saturday also showed he’s not short of aggression when push comes to shove! Meanwhile we’ve already talked plenty about Sam Dreyer this season, he loves being the main man at the back, someone who takes charge of headers and someone whose outgoing nature makes him such an enjoyable player to watch. Positionally both also score well, and whilst there is the odd lapse here or there, they are becoming sharper and harder to beat as the season goes on.

STRONG FULL BACKS

The right wing back/full back role struggled to settle down in the early months of the season, but Jordan Thomas has arrived and made the position his own. Thomas is quick, has a nice awareness of where to be defensively and is happy to drive up the wing when the opportunity arises. His loan is a very astute piece of business from Paul Wotton. On the left hand side is TT’s guy Jay Foulston, and he has done us proud so far this season. The ex-Yeovil man is not afraid get physical when required, wins more than his fair share of headers, gets tight to the opposition and has the ability to stride forward to support the attack. Overall two positions that look in very good hands, hopefully Thomas is here for as long as possible.

WILL JENKINS DAVIES

Attacking-wise Torquay United had become stuck in the mud, but recent games have seen the goals start to flow and one of the keys to that is Will Jenkins Davies. WJD is improving all the time, and we are lucky to have him back. His busy movement and work rate on and off the ball mark him out as a real team man, and in recent games he’s also started to deliver goals as well. His perfectly timed running off the ball last Saturday and calm finish was an illustration of how confident he’s feeling at the moment, whilst he also chased back defensively on a number of occasions as Farnborough occasionally threatened the Torquay defence. A good lad who will hopefully remain at Plainmoor all season.

TEAM SPIRIT & EXTRA EFFORT

One of the mainstays in our games this season has been work rate and team spirit, meaning that even when the side wasn’t clicking in attack, we could still win points to keep us in contention. There’s been odd downturns in this area, but the squad are highly motivated to do well and unlike last season’s soft outfit, Paul Wotton’s version are regularly putting in the hard yards to help make us contenders. I’ve included ‘extra effort’ in the title because that’s what I saw on Saturday afternoon against Farnborough. Players were pushing themselves to make tackles and block shots into the last minutes of the game, with a clear determination to keep a clean sheet and preserve the 2-0 lead. Paul Wotton will be very content with that blossoming mentality, and will be desperate to keep that spirit going in the coming matches.

THE MAIN MAN UPFRONT

Cody Cooke looks like a 2024/25 version of Danny Wright to me, and I think we’re seeing some similarities in how the team are using him to find success. Much like Danny, Cody is very strong and will always stand up for a battle to win a header and pass, a focal point for the United attack to work around. A perfect example of this was when he managed to win a challenge during the second half against Farnborough, and Omar Mussa should have profited with the goal at his mercy. With 8 goals this season, the striker is also doing his job in front of goal and I’m sure his team mates and Paul Wotton appreciate just how important he is to this Torquay squad.