TT MATCH VERDICT

Thomas Kelly – @tommyktufc

Thomas reports back from The Meadow

CHESHAM UNITED 1-0 TORQUAY UNITED – NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH – 18.10.25

SUMMARY

It was more troubles on the road for United as the Gull’s tasted defeat for the third time this season with a solitary first half goal from Nathan Minhas proving decisive.

Paul Wotton made two changes to his starting XI with Jordan Thomas and Dylan Morgan in for Denzel Akyeampong & Louis Dennis with a welcome inclusion of Sonny Fish on the bench back from injury.

The start of the game was a slow burner with neither side really getting their foothold into the match. The pattern of the game had a familiar feeling with Torquay mainly controlling the possession but being ineffective in the final third.

Dreyer hit over from a free kick which fell to him in a good area and Sonny Blu hit well over from his free kick midway into the half.

Hamon was forced into a fine save after Connor Robert’s effort which preserved his clean sheet….until on 35 minutes, United fell asleep at a Chesham corner and Nathan Minhas slotted past Hammy for 1-0.

Louis Dennis came on to start the second half and was soon joined by Sonny Fish making his long awaited Gulls debut.

Torquay continued to have the majority of the ball but failed to create any meaningful chances, made more so by Chesham’s quite simply embarrassing and excessive time wasting exploits. The referee only really got a hold of in injury time with a booking to the Chesham keeper.

Despite an added 11 minutes of injury time, Torquay never looked like scoring and the General’s took the spoils in a afternoon lacking of any real quality.

Another decent Torquay following head back home disappointment & frustration.

PLAYER RATINGS

1. HAMON – 7: Didn’t have much to do in truth. Made a great save at 0-0 but almost had a scare when a clearance hit the chasing Chesham man. Disappointed not to have kept a clean sheet.

3. FOULSTON – 5: Worked hard but found it tough going against a physical side.

4. DYER – 5: See Foulston.

5. DREYER – 7: Almost got the Gulls ahead. Probably the best Gull’s defender out on the park.

26. THOMAS – 4: Had a chance to stand out but didn’t take it. Got booked and was subbed off early into the 2nd half.

18. WORTHINGTON – 4: Expect more from our leader. Too many times slowed the play which allowed Chesham to get back into shape.

24. EVERTON- 4: Quality is there but struggled to implement himself. Returning from injury but largely ineffective.

10. DOLAN – 6: Runs everywhere, tried to make things happen but personally felt he struggled to impact the game enough.

11. MORGAN – 3: Ineffective. Hooked at HT.

8. YOUNG – 5: Tried to make things happen but struggled to find space to prove a real threat. Dare I say looks a bit tired at the moment?

19. DILLON – 6: Worked hard, not afraid to shoot but still a young lad developing his game.

Subs

7. DENNIS – 6: Took a while for him to get into the game but gave us an outlet to push forward but with not much success.

16. PALMER – 5: Came on to play a more attacking role 2nd half. Designated long throw in taker. Didn’t really make an impact.

17. FISH – 5: Welcome Sonny! Minutes in legs for the 21 year old but didn’t affect things with his inclusion. Will be a few games before he is at full fitness.

27. JAY – 5: Another player with quality but has struggled to make an impact. Came on late on to chase an equaliser which never came. An expensive option to have on the bench every week.

20. HAYFIELD – 5: Came on to celebrate DHAS day. I believe he even went to the DHAS dinner after the game!

PLAYER OF THE MATCH – SAM DREYER

On a day where no one really shone for United, I thought Sam defended well and at least looked up for the battle. So many times he’d win the ball back and try and set us up to push up the pitch in the latter stages.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

The long anticipated debut of Sonny Fish was welcome news to Torquay fans but with the absence of Cody Cooke for at least six weeks, the pressure will be on Sonny to hit the ground running and score some goals, all whilst building match fitness at the same time.

Today was all about getting minutes in the legs and hopefully he can find some form in the coming weeks in front of goal.

A difficult introduction but good minutes in the tank. I expect he’ll get another half hour at Plainmoor on Tuesday.

TACTICS

Many thanks to Chesham native Harry Salvidge for assisting me with this.

When Dennis was brought on, Wotts changed to a 4-2-3-1 with Louis behind Dillon

THE OPPOSITION

I get timewasting to a degree, we’ve done it plenty of times in the past, but I’ve never known a side to do it so obviously and shamelessly more than Chesham.

Unfortunately once we went a goal down, we all knew what was coming. The referee did eventually start booking players but only in the 11 (ELEVEN) minutes he added at the end of the game.

I quite like Chesham’s ground. Old school, close(ish) to the town centre with decent pubs but my god, talk about anti =-football. They got the 3 points however and ultimately we did little to trouble the scoreline.

The views of Tom Kelly do certainly reflect the views of Gulls Eye View and TorquayTalk!

THE OFFICIALS

Fair play to them adding the time on at the end but only starting booking players for timewasting in injury time. A bit pointless really.

I spoke to a few fans after the game who felt the referee was weak, I thought the officials did alright personally. It’s tough when players abuse the head injury stoppages so at least the time was added on for it. In truth however the officials didn’t play a part in us losing the game.

CONCLUSION

Passions run high in football. Torquay fans are hungry for success after coming so close to promotion in our first season under a new ownership.

The away performances so far this season have (in the main) flattered to decieve and despite leaving Chesham in 4th place, the question mark still lies as to when Torquay can start to perform more consistently on the road. If promotion is the real ambition, we have to do better.

Too many times, the ball would be passed wide with no real attacking intent. This allowed Chesham to set back up and were able to deal with our attacks.

I appreciate we are missing key players, but I expect better this season and I feel the lads need to be smarter in their build up play. We gifted Chesham the lead and fell right into their timewasting trap.

Some in the fanbase were sharing their displeasure midway in the second half. A brief heated exchange between some when chants of “Wotton Out” began to garner traction.

Everyone has a right to an opinion and I’m certainly not going to tell you yours is wrong fellow reader.

The away form is poor no doubt but 12 games in we are 4th and still in the mix.

Let’s stay together and move on from this. It won’t be the last time we lose on our travels.

All eyes focus on Tuesday before another tough trip to Dorking awaits, who at least should attempt to play football against us. See you soon Marc!

The Torquay rollercoaster continues!