TT PREVIEW

Josh discusses his team

SEASON SO FAR

So far our season has obviously not been what we all anticipated after finishing 2nd last year. However, it has not been all doom and gloom and we’ve played some really good football at times and come away with some great results. At the time of writing we’re sitting in 9th, 11 points off Maidstone in 7th and 14 points clear of Welling in 21st. Relegation is no worry but looking up, if we can get a bit of luck, string a few results together who knows. Our next 4, including this game, are incredibly tough, facing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. But i’m sure it’ll be a great challenge.

RECENT FORM

In our last 5 we’ve picked up 8 points, beating Farnborough & Salisbury while drawing with Chesham & Hemel with our only loss away to Bath. However all of those performances have been fairly pleasing.

Out of them all, the Chesham game was the one where we weren’t at our best, but we still came away with a point. Arguably they should’ve taken the 3, with Ted Collins pulling off a great penalty save.

The Bath game was a really tough one to take, heading down there on a Tuesday night. We took the lead through a really well worked goal but in the end Bath were more clinical in the second half and that saw them take the points.

After that a brilliant win at Farnborough. It was the worst pitch I’ve ever seen, but I’m glad in the end we played it! The linkup play up top was absolutely brilliant and Kane Crichlow netted a deserved hat trick.

Then we drew with Hemel on the subsequent Monday night. That was a tough game, you could see the lads giving it everything but then again the impacts of back-to-back away trips was taking there toll. Hemel have been going well under new manager Lee Allison, only losing 3 of 12 so a point was a decent result.

Then onto another great away performance as we beat Salisbury. We were outstanding the whole game and it only took a bit of magic for the hosts to get a consolation goal. I think that’s up there with one of our best performances of the season so that was a brilliant away day. Also very nice to see former Claret Callum Watts who was great for us last season.

Finally we were eliminated from the BBC Essex Senior Cup on Tuesday night, in what was a horrible game. Away to Canvey Island, it was very much a wind & pitch affected game. Neither side broke the deadlock and we fell short when it came to penalties. A massive shoutout to Ted Collins though, who saved 2 penalties brilliantly in the shoutout.

Something else of note is that we are unbeaten in our last 6 home league games. The last time we lost at home in the league was to Boreham Wood on December 2nd. Looking all the way back to that game as well, we’ve only lost 3 of our last 13 since that game. Hopefully we can build on that and push on towards the end of the season.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES

In terms of strengths I’d say we always look threatening going forward. When the front 4 are all on the same wavelength and get going, they look dangerous. As well as that, we have some good depth up top. The front 4 in my probable lineup is without mentioning the likes of Jordan Greenidge, Finley Wilkinson and Jacob Bland!

In terms of weaknesses i’d say we’ve conceded too many goals. Only 7 teams have conceded more than us. However, goalkeeper Ted Collins has been in great form so hopefully we don’t concede many more between now and the end of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS

There has been plenty of good moments this season. The game at Plainmoor is definitely up there. 2-0 down after 15 minutes it looked as if that was it and we were going home empty handed. However to fight back and take a point was a brilliant moment. I think we then did the exact same the following Tuesday, when Osman Foyo scored a 99th minute equaliser at St Albans.

I think that is the main thing that has stood out to me this season, desire and effort. The lads never seem to give up and, as someone who works with them, they are always disappointed if results don’t go our way. We have a good group of players, it’s just a shame we’ve had a really injury interrupted season.

Off the field, much like Torquay, we’ve got new owners. Spencer Gore took over the club and that definitely has to get a mention! The position that we are in off the field compared to last year is astonishing. It’s been such an improvement and it’s great to be involved!

KEY PLAYERS

Joe Rye – Defender – Since joining on loan from Barnet, Joe has been ever so good. He came on away to Chesham but since then I don’t think he has missed a minute. He is so calm on the ball, and always able to find the right pass. His partnership with Harry Barbrook has gotten stronger every game. It’s also crazy to think that they’re both 20 years old but look like they’ve been in the game for years!

Kane Crichlow – Midfielder – After losing Osman Foyo in January Kane Crichlow has really stepped up. He is out top scorer with 10 goals and has put on some fine performances as of late. His hat-trick at Farnborough was 3 brilliantly taken goals. And then he followed it up at Salisbury with a brace before being subbed off; I was so hoping we’d see back-to-back hat-tricks!

Nico Valentine – Midfielder – Although he is our most recent addition, Nico has impressed a lot. He is a fast, tricky winger who will no doubt cause full backs problems. I have been impressed with him since he joined but, annoyingly, his minutes have been limited by his parent club Ipswich as he’s coming off the back of a hamstring injury.

THE MANAGER

Robbie Simpson is one of the nicest guys i’ve ever met. If anyone doesn’t know, he will be stepping down at the end of the season, which brings an exciting new chapter. However, hopefully we’ve had a good end to the 24/25 season and the Simpson reign before we look into that.

Robbie has tended to use the 4-2-3-1 over the past couple of years, it brought us immense success last season. The team can be very versatile, often playing a back 3 this season which is down to our defensive players being able to function anywhere across a back 3/4 really.

Simmo likes his team to be defensively solid. I think last season we had the second best defence in the league, with some other team in Essex only bettering us. I think this season he’d be disappointed with our goals conceded tally, but I think when it comes to goals scored only 3 teams have scored more than us.

Overall, a nice guy and just as good a football manager. I’m hoping we end the season as well as we can and give him a good send off.

POSSIBLE LINE-UP

Most likely we’ll look to employ at 4-2-3-1. We’ve played this for a few weeks so I’m sure the Torquay staff will be well-equipped heading into this game.

Ted Collins has got better and better as the season goes on, saving his last 2 penalties faced in league games and having 7 clean sheets.

The back line has been very consistent as of late. Former Torquay man Jazzi Barnum-Bobb on the right with loanees Joe Rye & Harry Barbrook in the middle. As mentioned the pair have been ever so good. And on the left Sam Oguntayo, who poses a great threat when he’s able to get down the left.

In the middle it’s been Ryan Blackman and Archie Tamplin. Ryan is experienced, tends to sit back a little and control the game from that point of view. Archie on the other hand can run forever it seems. He has got a creative spark to him, picking up a few assists this season. They make a really good pair.

In the 3 attacking mids it’s been Valentine and Crichlow either side of Ruff. I’ve spoke about the other 2 so I suppose I ought to wax lyrical about Ruffy. Charlie Ruff is normally the one who pulls the strings. His goal and assist tally may not be what he hoped for this season, but he has still showed his quality on numerous occasions. In the back end of last season he scored 15 goals in the final 22 games so there’s no doubt any the quality that Ruffy holds.

And finally up top Jake Hyde is a real asset. Much like Charlie I think he’d be disappointed with the number of goals he’s scored this season, but he has been excellent in plenty of games. I often find myself saying that he’s done everything in a game other than score; his off the ball work and linkup play is brilliant.

PRE-MATCH

The Manhattan grill is your go to. They offer a great range of food but my favourite is the loaded fries. They’re new this season but they are top notch. You can’t go wrong with them and they got 4/5 different options as well. Alongside that there is plenty of drinks options, hot or cold and chocolate if that’s what you fancy!

ATTENDANCE

I think it’ll be 1000+ that’s for sure. We’ve hit that only once this season so it would be nice to see 4 figures. I imagine they’ll be a good set of away supporters at the game so that will help. As mentioned our league form and home form has been picking up so hopefully they’ll be plenty of Clarets fans backing the boys.

BEST OPPOSITION

An obvious answer for me is Barnet. We faced them in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round and they showed their class. They’re 7 points clear at the top of the National League so I think that’s an easy answer.

But, in terms of our league, I think Dorking are most likely the best. When they came to our place they were outstanding. Charlie Carter absolutely ran the show for them, and picked up a hat trick. In their all round game as a unit they were top notch and no surprise they’re up there with Torquay in the title fight!

One of the best players we’ve faced is a Torquay player! Jordan Young was unreal when we came to Plainmoor, on what was his debut I believe. He picked up a goal but aside from that he looked so classy on the ball and made it seem easy. He’ll be a real threat on Saturday too, that’s for sure.

An outside one which I think people may not be appreciative of so far is Hampton’s Mauro Vilhete. He scored a really good goal against us in December and ran the show for the most of things. A quick search has told me that in 31 games he has 11 goals and 7 assists. He was January’s player of the month as well, so perhaps not as under the radar as I thought!

PREDICTION

I think it’ll be close and probably end in a draw much like the reverse fixture. I’m going to say 1-1, Torquay to take the lead only for us to draw level. Hopefully regardless of the score it’s a good game and I hope the away fans have a safe journey to and from Essex!