TALKING POINTS

Danny Burnell

Danny discusses the game against Dover

BETTER…….

Come 16.30 on Monday afternoon, it was looking like a Bank Holiday weekend to forget for the Gulls’, as they were staring down the barrel at two straight league defeats. Luckily for United, a moment of quality from Jordan Young and a toe poke from Matty Jay earned United a valuable three points in their early quest for promotion. There’s no doubt the performance was 10x better than the one many witnessed at Horsham, and boy did it need to be. As we had into the second month of the season, we sit a solid 2nd, knowing there are gears we can go through to improve performances. In truth, it was a game we controlled for the most part, baring one moment of mis-judgement, and one moment of officiating error. 89th minute winners are great ‘n all, but does little for the nerves!

DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES

Torquay’s foundations last season were built on a rock solid defence, conceding just 42 across the 46 league games. So it will be a concern to PW that Hamon has had to pick the ball out of his net 7 times already in the first 5 games, 3 of which against newly promoted sides. The CB partnership continues to be strong, whoever lines up alongside Dreyer, but individual errors and moments of indecision have led to cheap goals being conceded. Whilst we have the attacking quality to ‘outscore’ the opponents, it’s something ex-defender Wotton will want to tighten up ahead of the autumn months.

THE LOAN MARKET

A lively first half home debut from Josh Phillips’ gave United fans’ cause for optimism. The left-footed speedster gave the Gulls’ balance and shown glimpses to prove he could be a useful addition. With the injury concerns mounting up, dipping into the loan market is looking likely, as PW wasted no time last week in bringing in the Luton winger. Central midfield looks a little light, with Worthington & Hayfield the only real recognised senior players, young Aidan Edwards proving he can do a job there too. I’m sure there are options on the table, pending the outcome of Nash’s injury, but a couple of quality additions certainly wouldn’t be unwelcome for the Yellow Army.

THE PHYSIO ROOM

As mentioned above, it’s one in, one out as far as the physio room is concerned. Whilst Louis Dennis was fit to return, Nash Sundire limped off half way the first half to maintain the current injury list at 4. 3 of those come in the afore mentioned CM area, with Dolan & SBLE reportedly several weeks away from full fitness. Gulls’ fans are eagerly waiting on the fitness of summer signing Sonny Fish, who will no doubt want to show his worth in providing healthy competition to talisman Cody Cooke.