TALKING POINTS

Alan Wills – @alanjwills

Alan discusses the game at Aveley

AWAY DAY TRAVEL

Aveley FC’s Parkside ground isn’t exactly the easiest football venue to get to. Despite being within the boundary of the M25 motorway, the village of Aveley doesn’t have a train/tube station.

I much prefer to travel to matches by public transport if possible, and I did hear that you could get a train from Fenchurch Street to Rainham, then get a bus into Aveley, and walk 15 minutes to the stadium.

However, since all four “musketeers” from the Berkshire and North Hampshire area had decided to make the trip, it made sense to drive like we did on our previous visit at the start of last season.

The M25 wasn’t kind though, after weaving in and around the Reading area, and it took almost four hours to complete the trip, enough time to drive down to Plainmoor!

PRE-MATCH IN THE PARKSIDE SUITE

Aveley’s main bar within their Parkside Stadium is bright and airy with a view of the pitch. There were several screens showing the Fulham v Crystal Palace FA Cup match, and a fairly decent selection of beers, including Guinness zero for the driver!

As we gathered with other weary travellers from the South West, we exchanged our tales of the journey and hopes for the game we had all come to watch. Many familiar faces were present, including celebrity podcasters Clive, Matty and Kirsty.

It was poignant for TUFC Co-Chairman Michael Westcott to come over and join the conversation, especially as on our last visit to Parkside, we had received the cold shoulder treatment from a prominent AirPod-wearing member of the previous regime.

We had a discussion about the club’s efforts in requesting as many tickets for final away match at Hemel Hempstead as possible. The sensible and proactive manner in which things are being approached this season are a breath of fresh air, and it’s great to see.

YELLOW ARMY

As we approached kick-off, it seemed rather quiet with not many people gathering in the bar and around the ground. However, it soon became clear that a majority of the people in attendance were there to support The Gulls, with plenty donning yellow in the crowd of around 600.

It felt like summer on the small stepped terracing behind the goal, as the sun shone and was quite warm at times.

Fortunately, we won the toss so the Aveley fans had to change ends, and we retained our sunny spot, keeping our fingers crossed that we would have a good view of some goals for our team.

The drum was present, and there was a decent atmosphere in the small stand just behind the goal, although quieter than our recent game at Dorking.

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THE GAME

On the pitch, it was an unchanged Torquay side from the last game at home to Bath City. The bench was the most surprising with three new loanees arriving this week, goalkeeper Owen Foster, midfielder Cameron Ashia, and forward Emmanuel Ilesanmi, all missing from the squad. Although Ilesanmi was warming up with the rest of the team as he gets back to full fitness after injury.

Torquay started well, putting some good passing together without making many clear cut chances. The best one being when Zanzala hit one narrowly wide from a Matt Jay cross.

Aveley didn’t seem to offer much, and the Torquay back four who hadn’t conceded a goal for two matches held firm.

For the second half, we moved to right behind the opposite goal, which was out of the sun, and it started to get colder as the evening approached.

Torquay came out much more energised and started to move the ball quicker, with Jordan Young getting the lion’s share of the ball on the left wing.

Four substitutions were made with the introduction of Cody Cooke, Omar Moussa, Lirak Hasani and Jordan Thomas. Each had a part to play. First, Moussa forced McDowall into a rash tackle to receive his second yellow card and send Aveley down to 10 men. Then, Cody Cooke was again the hero with a tap in from a short pass in the penalty area from Matt Jay. This was after two attempts were cleared off the line moments earlier.

So, the Yellow Army behind the goal erupted after the seven minutes of injury time to celebrate a third successive 1-0 win as Torquay rise to fourth in the table with five matches to go.

HIGHLIGHTS ON YOUTUBE – COOKE GOAL

KEEP ON GOING

A round of celebratory drinks was called for following a vital win before we tackled the M25 again, as we chatted with Tom Diamond on Radio Devon comms duty today.

It was good for us to have some brief banter with goalscorer Cody Cooke who was clearly delighted, but insisted that he didn’t want the label of a supersub. Then, a short conversation with manager Paul Wotton, whom was pleased with the days work, despite giving them a rocket at half time.

All in all, a successful away day, which sets us up quite nicely for two successive home matches.