TT PREVIEW

Josh discusses his team

SEASON SO FAR

It hasn’t been the best, but it definitely hasn’t been the worst. We’re sitting 10th, just four points behind Dorking in seventh. Our target has to be the play-offs and, with 28 games to go, I’m sure that’s going to be achievable. The best is definitely still to come.

RECENT FORM

Our last five in the league has seen us pick up nine points from 15, which isn’t too bad. Wins against Tonbridge, Hampton and Hornchurch were all brilliant performances. However, back-to-back defeats to Salisbury and Hemel kind of stopped us in our tracks. We need to get the train moving again.

The performance against Tonbridge was brilliant. After beating our biggest rivals Braintree 4–1 in the FA Cup, we scored another four and took the three points. There were some brilliant individual performances, and it showed, as we could have scored six or seven in the end.

We then followed it up with a typical 1–0 victory. Again, we should have scored more, but we did everything right to keep that clean sheet. If you keep a clean sheet, you can’t lose. We put bodies on the line and, although it should have been much more comfortable, secured the victory.

Forty-eight hours later we played Hornchurch on Monday night football and handed them their first league defeat of the season. Jason Adigun made it four goals in four games before Lyle Taylor scored one of the best goals I’ve seen live. After that, it was another solid defensive performance and we once again deservedly took the three points.

Unfortunately, nearly two weeks later we suffered defeat in the league. On what was an unbelievably soaked pitch at Salisbury, they got the better of us and handed us a tough defeat. They were good on the day and ultimately deserved the victory.

We then played midweek and improved from the defeat to Salisbury. However, Lyle Taylor missed a penalty just before the break and it all seemed to go downhill from there. Hemel scored twice inside the opening 15 minutes and then took control. Our goal came in the 99th minute as 17-year-old Jett Murphy came off the bench to grab his third goal of the season.

In between the Hornchurch and Salisbury games we had FA Trophy and Essex Senior Cup action. In the Trophy we played Hemel. It was a horrible draw, as you never want to face a fellow league side in the early stages. It’s a tough place to go too, but it was a positive result as we made seven or eight changes and saw the game end 0–0. However, Hemel were able to progress as they pipped us 6–5 on penalties. We then ended on the right side of a shootout, beating Bowers & Pitsea 5–4 in the Essex Senior Cup to progress to the quarter-finals.

It’s been up and down over the past few weeks, but we’re in a decent league position, in the quarter-finals of our county cup and in the FA Cup Second Round. This season still has masses of potential.

HIGHLIGHTS

Braintree (H). FA Cup First Round, live on TNT, record attendance, 4–1 Essex derby win. That’s all I really need to say!

Aside from that magnificent FA Cup win, we’ve had some great results in the league. Beating Horsham on the opening day was great. A whole new squad, backed by 1,000+ fans, and Harry Barbrook scored quite possibly his first ever goal to win it late. We’ve had away wins at Bath, Dover and Tonbridge, and of course a solid weekend a few weeks ago, beating Hampton and Hornchurch.

The players are gelling and bonding, the team is coming along nicely and we’re slowly starting to see our plans work.

KEY PLAYERS

At the moment I’d say the four key players are Ben Tompkins, Dom Odusanya, Ricky Holmes and Lyle Taylor.

Ben Tompkins has been brilliant at the back. He didn’t start at the beginning of the season, with Joe Grimwood and David Longe-King playing. However, with injuries and suspensions he’s got his chance and has easily been a top performer. At just 21, he’s certainly got a bright future, hopefully playing in claret.

Dom Odusanya is important both as captain and as our holding defensive midfielder. He offers so much stability, as he allows the forward players to push on knowing there is always another line of defence ahead of the back line. He won’t shy away from a tackle and leaves it all out there.

Ricky Holmes’ return to the club has been magical — the story is an absolute fairytale. In his player-coach role he is hugely beneficial on the pitch, using his 20+ years of experience to help others. He’s been putting in tackles and setting up goals; all that’s left is for him to get his first goal since returning.

Lyle Taylor has been immense up front, scoring plenty of crucial goals. But he’s not just about goals; he links play brilliantly, holds the ball up and allows others to come into the game. Like Ricky, he brings years of experience which rubs off on those around him.

TOM LAPSLIE

I actually interviewed Tom Lapslie for our programme for tomorrow’s game and he described his time here so far as ‘a frustrating, stop-start season’. Obviously he joined us off the back of a year out of football, so that was to be expected. He’s been through so much in the last 18 months, but he’s never given up. He’s very experienced and helps out with the coaching side of things as well, and when he has got on the pitch he’s been a joy to watch.

THE MANAGER

Angelo has been great since he’s taken over. It was obviously strange seeing someone else in the dugout after over five years of Robbie Simpson, but I feel he’s really hit the ground running. He’s extremely ambitious and wants to take the club forward, which is what we all want to see.

Recently it’s been a 4-1-4-1, but we’ve played a number of different systems this season. We played, and perfectly executed, a 5-3-2 at Dover, which goes to show his and the squad’s versatility.

His team is always extremely hard-working. He demands 110% from his players and will almost always get that. Defensively, bar a few games, it’s been solid. We’ve picked up a few 1–0 wins, which shows the solid groundwork we’ve put in.

Overall, it’s been a great first few months. I’m sure the best is yet to come and it’s exciting times under Angelo.

POSSIBLE LINE UP

As of late we’ve been playing a 4-1-4-1 and I’d imagine we’ll look to go similar again.

Chris Haigh has really solidified himself as number one in recent weeks, after some impressive performances from Bromley loanee Dillon Addai.

Across the back line we’ve had Paul Appiah at right-back recently, but Kian Ronan is back from international duty so he could come in. In the middle it will most likely be Ben Tompkins and David Longe-King. Unfortunately, DLK was sent off on Tuesday night, meaning he’ll miss next weekend’s FA Cup Second Round tie against Weston-super-Mare. At left-back it’s been Harry Barbrook, who is one of two players who featured in our 3–2 win over the Gulls last season.

In midfield, Dom Odusanya is the ‘1’ and does most of the sitting. He’s been really key and is also the skipper. Ricky Holmes and Jason Adigun are part of the four, but play box-to-box, supporting both ends of the pitch. Ricky Holmes, at 38, has been excellent, constantly running and putting tackles in.

On the wings it’s Sam Folarin and Jesurun Uchegbulam. They’ve both signed fairly recently and added real pace, which has helped us a lot. Folarin has picked up goals and assists primarily through his pace, and even set up Uchegbulam, who scored on his debut.

And up top is Lyle Taylor. Lyle is Lyle — he has been unbelievable. From his first touch in our kit you could see the pure class he brings. He’s scored plenty of goals and I’m sure he won’t be stopping any time soon.

BIG CROWD?

Most definitely. We’ve not had a league crowd under 1,000 so far this season, which is massive. We really struggled to get the ground full last season, which played a part in our results. However, this season it’s been incredible, so I’m hoping there’ll be plenty of Clarets fans in attendance.

And I’m of the opinion that Torquay have one of the best travelling fan bases in the league too, so I’m sure they’ll show up in their numbers.

FOOD AND DRINK OPTIONS

Inside the ground we’ve got a new burger van that was introduced last season, serving a larger variety of items. There’ll be plenty on offer, and elsewhere around the ground you’ll also find a pizza van. I finally managed to have a pizza at our recent home game against Hampton & Richmond and it didn’t disappoint!

BEST OPPOSITION

Despite them sitting 22nd in the league, Farnborough were probably the best side I’ve seen us play this year. They executed everything excellently and deservedly ran out 5–2 winners. Mason Bloomfield and Dom Poleon seemed unstoppable up front. They came at us very directly and punished us whenever they got the chance. I think they must have had six clear-cut chances and ended up scoring five.

It was a shame to be beaten like that at home, but it was a crucial learning point and definitely helped us more than we may realise.

A side who also deserve praise are Hemel. We played them twice in ten days, drawing 0–0 (before being eliminated on penalties) and then losing 2–1. In both games they defended exceptionally well, and it was clear why they boast the best defensive record in the league. Lee Allinson has done an amazing job there and that was on show both times.

A player who was an absolute handful recently was Noah Coppin, Salisbury’s striker. He took his goal extremely well, timing his run perfectly before lifting his effort over Chris Haigh. As well as that, he put himself about all game. He was a real thorn in our side and a big reason why Salisbury got such an impressive result.

An outside shout for one of the best players we’ve faced is, at the time, Totton keeper Matt Hall. He has since moved on to Ebbsfleet and unfortunately for us, we saw why. Lyle Taylor got the better of him in the fifth minute, but apart from that he seemed unbeatable. The Totton game was one of those where we must have had four or five chances late on and he saved them all. He definitely deserved his plaudits and must have done enough to earn that move to Ebbsfleet.

PREDICTION

I’ve got to back us to win — I don’t really feel like I can do anything else. It’ll definitely be a very close game, so I’m going to say a 2–1 victory for the Clarets, with Lyle Taylor and Sam Folarin on the scoresheet. Hopefully, regardless of the score, it’s a good game and I wish the away fans a safe journey to and from Essex.