MATCH VERDICT

Joe_Ugs

Joe reports back from Plainmoor

TORQUAY UNITED 2-0 SLOUGH TOWN – 12.04.25

SUMMARY

Paul Wotton rung the changes after last week’s disappointing loss to Chesham at Plainmoor. In came Hasani, Mussa & Thomas & out went Zanzala, Threlkeld & Craske, the latter not making the squad at all. Lining up in a 4-3-3 the big surprise was Mussa operating in a Deep-lying Playmaker role, with Hayfield & Hasani given license to get forward in front.

For all United’s possession in the opening 20 minutes, they didn’t really make it count. One through ball from Jay found Dreyer who smashed it across goal, however Cody Cooke expecting it to be played along the floor as opposed to head height seemed to duck out of the way of it. United continued to control the game with Slough offering very little going forward but it looked like it could be another frustrating afternoon in front of goal. That was until the match changed on the 27th minute after a moment of madness from veteran Slough Centre-Back Guy Hollis. The ball was sent forward towards Cooke in the air, & whilst grappling for the ball Hollis directed the most blatant elbow towards Cooke’s face. The referee wasted no time in sending Hollis for an early bath and Slough were left to play 63+ minutes with 10 men!

United could start to press forward with a little more urgency now, & the numerical advantage afforded Omar Mussa far more time on the ball to get the attacks started. In the 41st minute a cross from the left found the leaping Cody Cooke but his header cannoned off the woodwork. He didn’t have to wait too long to get his goal though. Deep into first half injury time great work from Hasani found Jay who lifted the ball to the back post where Foulston was waiting, his shot was blocked on the line by a Slough defender but it fell to Cooke who bundled his 17th goal of the season over the line. 1-0 Torquay!

Coming out for the second half against 10 men it seemed a real opportunity to get a few goals and improve our goal difference. But Slough were resolute and stuck their 10 men behind the ball on the edge of their area. Jordan Young was enjoying lots of the ball but struggling to break down the stubborn Slough defence. In the 51st minute he so nearly made it 2-0, cutting in off the right wing he angled a 20 yard shot towards the back post, from my viewpoint in the Wollens terrace I thought it was in, but it smacked the post, hitting the scrambling keeper and went out for a corner.

6 minutes later it was 2-0 though, Mussa picked the ball up from deep and sprayed a delightful cross field pass out to Jordan Young. Young carried the ball inside passing to Cooke to tee it up for the on-rushing Hayfield. With plenty of Slough shirts in the box they managed to block his shot but it fell nicely for fox-in-the-box Matt Jay to volley it home, 2-0 and seemingly game over!

Torquay continued to press for a third and should have had just that in the 72nd minute. Good work from Thomas down the wing found Matt Jay at the back post, unmarked and with the goal at his mercy he struck the post. The ball was was cleared and then recycled into the box where Hasani met it with a decent header, but the keeper was equal to it making a great double save, firstly from Hasani and then from Thomas.

United took the opportunity to rest Cooke & Dreyer for the closing moments, giving valuable minutes to Zanzala & Palmer, & Torquay coasted to a well deserved 2-0 win. With 5 out of the top 6 winning it was crucial to get a win and tee’s up an exciting encounter with league leaders Truro on Good Friday!

PLAYER RATINGS

James Hamon – 7: Had nothing to do all afternoon. Did Slough have a shot on target?

Jordan Thomas – 7: Defended well and got forward at will, providing the overlap to allow Young to cut inside.

Jordan Dyer – 7: Solid and dependable, as we’ve come to expect from our number 4.

Sam Dreyer – 7: Won his headers and distributed the ball well out of defence.

Jay Foulston – 7: Solid defensively & was able to get forward numerous times due to our numerical advantage.

Dan Hayfield – 7: Plenty of industry from Dan, did a decent enough job.

Omar Mussa – 7: An interesting selection as the deepest of the midfield three. Struggled with his distribution in the first 25 mins but once Slough went down to 10 men he made the most of the space he was afforded. Delightful ball out to Young for the second goal.

Lirak Hasani – 7.5: Very busy performance from ‘Larry’. I like him and would like to see him in the side more.

Matt Jay – 7: Linked up play well & got his goal, really should have two as missed a real sitter.

Jordan Young – 7: He was lively and busy as usual but lacked that final end product. On another day he’d have helped himself to a goal or two.

Cody Cooke – 8: Ultimately was the matchwinner, agitated their centre half enough to get him to throw an elbow at him which resulted in a red card and then got the all important first goal. 17 goals is a pretty good return and i’m sure there’s a few more left in him this season.

SUBS:

Oscar Threlkeld – 6: Came on and did alright

Ed Palmer – 6: Solid enough, allowed Dreyer a 20 minute rest.

Offrande Zanzala – 6: Put himself about but didn’t have any real chances.

Emmanuel Ilesanmi – N/A.

Will Jenkins-Davies – N/A

TUFC PLAYER RATINGS VOTE – Slough Town (h)

MAN OF THE MATCH – CODY COOKE

Not a match where any particular player stood out but ultimately Cooke had a hand in the sending off (or a cheekbone atleast!) and grabbed the first goal. Won his fair share of battles up top and led the line how we’ve come to expect this season. Solid shift from our No.19!

TACTICS

Paul Wotton switched back to 4-3-3 this week. Young and Jay were more like supporting strikers as opposed to wingers with Omar Mussa given a deep-lying role with the industrious Hayfield & Hasani in front of him. All substitutions were like for like.

OFFICIALS

Complete opposite to last week’s ref, he cottoned on to Slough’s attempts to time waste early on & carded their keeper within the first 10 minutes for delaying the restart. Got the most obvious decision of the day right with the red card and seemed to demand respect from the players as he stamped his authority on the game whenever they tried to argue a decision. Can we have him again please?

OPPOSITION

Incredibly hard to say if they’re any good or not as their gameplan was ripped up within the first half hour following the red card. Seemed solid enough at the back, but with 10 men was always going to be tough to hold out for the full 90 minutes. Their usual centre half is their Manager who decided to spend the afternoon on the touchline so they did fairly well considering their backline was pretty makeshift come the end. Very midtabley kind of team. Won’t go down but likely not to get near the play off’s either next season.

CONCLUSION

Professional performance which was much needed after last week’s result. With everyone bar Dorking picking up three points it was vital to get the win and sends us in to the Easter double header with all to play for. Oh how we will rue last week’s loss!