TALKING POINTS

Ben Wade

Ben looks ahead to the Boxing Day game

FESTIVE PERIOD POINTS

Saturday saw us narrowly beat Hemel Hempstead at Plainmoor courtesy of a Cody Cooke penalty; now we have two more big matches in December. First, we go to bottom of the league Weymouth, then TUFC host Truro in a top-of-the-table clash. We surely have to beat the Terras because of their league position but our Truro encounter is expected to be a whole lot tougher. The Tinners were stubborn and hard to break down in the FA Trophy game earlier on in the campaign. This may well have a positive impact in either side’s promotion hopes if one team snatches all three points. After already beating Hemel, the Yellow Army look to be in for a very Merry Christmas! Could we grab nine points in this festive period?

DYLAN MORGAN

Signing from Yeovil Town earlier in the week, it was a rapid and memorable 48 hours for the 22 year-old. He made the move to The Gulls on 20 December having already spent time with multiple clubs, all situated in the South of the UK. These teams include the academy of Forest Green Rovers and Swansea City. He has also made first team appearances for Taunton, Yeovil, Weston-Super-Mare and now TUFC. His immediate impact versus Hemel was key, bringing him on at half time helped bring energy and aggression to our attacking areas. It will be intriguing to see whether Wotton backs the current line-up or brings in Morgan. This addition to the squad may raise questions about having Jack Wood as well but I think that this squad depth should give us important quality on the bench if someone were to get injured or suspended.

LOOKING AHEAD HALFWAY IN

In February, you would have laughed at someone predicting us top at Christmas. Now, it is the reality. This club has gone through huge problems over the past year but we still exist and the transformation has been fantastic. We will have played 23 games out of 46 after visiting Dorset on Boxing Day. We currently stand top by two points and that can hopefully still be the case at 1700 on Boxing Day (if we haven’t extended our lead!). We have battled through tough spells in our season but Paul Wotton has to be given lots of credit for the exceptional recruitment and shaping this group of players. It’s also worthy mentioning Wotton adding valuable players like Jordan Young, Jordan Thomas, Dylan Morgan and Will Jenkins-Davies. We are in an incredible position, now we’ve got the hard job of maintaining quality. And a quick mention to the Yellow Army who deserve massive credit for the support this campaign and helping the boys and the owners to save Torquay United FC.

ATTACKING DEPTH & QUALITY

Cooke, Mussa, Hasani, Jenkins-Davies, Wood, Morgan, Ash etc. The list goes on! We have amazing squad depth and competent back-ups in every place that Wotton and the Bryn Consortium will certainly be proud of considering the backing that has been given. The current players are building trust with each other and building up their understanding, and this can only bode well for the second half of the season. Main man upfront Cody Cooke should be given tremendous praise for his role slowly cementing himself as a reliable goal-scorer, whilst Mussa has been great considering his disappointing start to life with us.

THE OPPOSITION

The Terras sit bottom of the pile as we speak but they have a game in hand which could propel them all the way to 21st. The gap between 21st and 20^th is looking a bit problematic as there is a seven point gap between the drop zone and safety. The team wearing claret and light blue have picked up two draws and four losses in their last six encounters showing the lack of form that the Gulls would so deeply love to pounce on. They play at the Bob Lucas Stadium which is in the Weymouth outskirts and have become regular foes of ours in recent years. The Terras desperately need to pick up points, it’s becoming now or never.