TT MATCH VERDICT
Clive Hayward – @Byehorse
Clive reports back from Tonbridge
TONBRIDGE 0-1 TORQUAY UNITED – 03.10.2026
SUMMARY
In his post match interview with Patrick Tinkler, manager Jimmy Ball puffed out his cheeks and said: “The game wasn’t a pretty game, but we never thought it would be.”
That mindset was very clear from the moment the teamsheet was released. It showed a back five and of the three wingers that travelled, two were on the bench and Angelo Capello was left out altogether.
Torquay showed the Angels enormous respect, and during a first half where it was pretty much all hands to the pumps only two smart saves by under pressure keeper Josh Savin kept the Gulls in the tie.
There were no changes at half time, and it looked like we were in for more of the same when, on 55 minutes, United hit the hosts with a sucker punch. Callum Morton was released down the left. His control, strength and desire were enough to get him clear of his marker. He cut back a dangerous cross and fellow redhead Matt Worthington was on hand to apply an emphatic finish into the top corner.
It wasn’t a “floodgates” moment- far from it, there was a lot of defending still to do- but the Gulls hung on for their third win at Tonbridge in 6 months.
Into the hat we go. A win’s a win, I guess.
PLAYER RATINGS
Savin 8 – Earned his money today, and then some. An excellent early tip onto the bar was the highlight. It was arguably a match-winning save. He looked safe under ceaseless high balls, catching and punching very effectively.
Shield 6 – Didn’t offer much going forward in his first game back after a broken toe, and Tonbrifge managed to play around him once or twice, but he didn’t flinch and showed versatility when being switched to left back in the second half.
Olufunwa (Scarff 88) 6.5 – Looks as though he can play a bit. An encouraging comeback but appeared to have picked up a knock late on. We need him fully fit asap.
Browne 6 – The young Irishman had a steady game as the middle one of our three centre backs.
Wannell 6 – A baby son, a win bonus, a clean sheet and no booking this week. Great times.
Jenkins (Beaumont-Clarke 72) 6 – Suffers because he’s compared with the departed Jay Foulston. Fine today. His substitution was tactical, as we switched to a back four.
Sundire 6 – A game made for Nash. Get it, keep it, play it simple. Picked up his customary yellow with a crunching foul to snuff out a possible counter-attack.
Worthington 6.5 – Not noticeably better than at Billericay, apart from his invaluable sprint and calm finish for the goal.
Lo Everton (Hayfield 84) 6 – Precious little opportunity to influence proceedings on a “safety first” afternoon.
Cooke 6 – Battled, wrestled, won a few free kicks. He’d still be waiting for a cross now.
Morton 6.5 – Same story as Cooke. Showed his class with the “assist.”
Subs:
Beaumont-Clarke (Jenkins 72) 7- A bright spark. Always looked to beat a man and do something positive. A crying shame he only got a cameo.
Hayfield (Lo-Everton 84) – N/A
Scarff (Olufunwa 88) – N/A
Westendorf, Robertson & Jay were unused subs, whilst Capello and Hill had only a couple of cross-field jogs to show for their day out in Kent.
TUFC PLAYER RATINGS VOTE – Tonbridge(a) – TORQUAYTALK
PLAYER OF THE MATCH – TOBY SAVIN
Savin. With no keeper on the bench (why?) there was no room for error or injury. He was excellent throughout. He looked the keeper we hoped we had signed in the summer. Long may it continue.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
I’m tempted to give this to our young fan who wouldn’t give the Tonbridge keeper the ball back. Or the drummer. Or every single one of our sparse away following today (perhaps 200 in a paltry crowd of 1200).
But really it has to go to the Ginger Ninjas Morton and Worthington for sending us home a bit less grumpy than would otherwise have been the case.
TACTICS
We clearly went into survival mode today after the unacceptable effort at Billericay last Saturday. With the talent available I wanted to see us be much more positive in a game which, whilst not straightforward, looked very winnable.
On another day- perhaps 6/10 other days – we concede first and then have a hell of a job getting anything from the game, but: “look in the book!” Three half decent centre backs and a good goalkeeper got us a clean sheet and it’ll have to do, I guess.
THE OPPOSITION
For most of the game they looked half a yard sharper than us. They were never really able to get through or behind us though and probably ran out of ideas towards the end.
THE OFFICIALS
A young Tonbridge fan informed me at the end that we were “big club cheats” and that the referee was clearly corrupt. From my vantage point I thought he refereed a physical, niggly game pretty well. There were no big penalty shouts at either end. He had the same hair colour as our skipper though, so maybe the kid was on to something after all.
KEY MOMENT
The one moment of quality during 99 minutes of dreck was Morton’s run and cross and Worthington’s finish.
CONCLUSION
When we got promoted on that amazing Friday night at Wembley in 1991, some Torquay fans nodded and said: “Well, that’s bought us at least two more seasons in the Football League.”
My honest first thought when the net bulged this afternoon was: “Well, we should at least get a replay now.”
It was a depressingly pragmatic afternoon from Torquay. It was also another morsel of prizemoney after going hungry for so long. Most importantly, we now have at least another fortnight of “being in the FA Cup.”
On we go. Up the Gulls!
COYY – Clive
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