TT MATCH VERDICT

Clive Hayward – @Byehorse

Clive reports back from Plainmoor

TORQUAY UNITED 0-1 OXFORD CITY – 17.10.2026

SUMMARY

It was the result we feared. The Yellows exited the FA Cup with barely a shot fired. It was a blow to the morale of supporters wondering whether this quite new and frequently-changed team has what it takes.

It was a tight game right enough, with barely a shot worthy of the name in the first 45 after Deon Moore’s skilful early volley was ruled out for offside.

Scott Pollock delivered the death blow just 6 minutes after the break, running on to finish coolly after finding himself in a world of space down the left inside-forward channel. If he’d got another one, we could have described the game as a load of pollocks. Maybe we still can!

Jimmy Ball rang the changes again, and fielded what looked like a strong starting line-up. Munashe Sundire came in for Dan Hayfield, Deon Moore replaced Cody Cooke and Callum Morton was preferred to Sean Robertson down the left.

City fielded a side brimming with confidence after their 3-0 win at distant Hebbern last week (it’s in South Tyneside, and yes, I did have to look that up). There was no place for Fernando Forestieri or ex-Gull Dillon De Silva, but Tyrone Moore and Pollock provided attacking threat whilst 2 man-mountains in Darnelle Brown and seldom-puzzled Ludwig Francillette kept the back door firmly shut.

I’m writing quite a lot about the build up because there was precious little action to report.

Jacob Beaumont-Clark started brightly but faded fast. Deon Moore never consistently overcame the nightclub bouncers who matched him physically throughout. Morton ran his socks off and Roberts had a few bright moments. Fullbacks Kian Jenkins and Harry Shield put in terrific shifts- Shield’s crosses arguably our only attacking threat until the late introduction of left winger Angelo Cappello- and on loan Centre Back Luke Browne showed classy touches more than once.

But there was no cohesion. In the first half, we relied on breaks through the middle. Later in the game, with 3 big centre forwards on after the introduction of Cooke and then Isaac Westendorf, it was big diagonal balls from Shield which seemed our only hope, although many thought that the cross he delivered from the byline after great persistence was handled by City left back Evan Humphries.

Apart from a decent tip-over from Cooke’s header in the 78th minute, United created almost nothing, and will now just be frustrated observers as the South West media presumably make a well-deserved fuss of Plymouth Parkway’s excellent progress to the First Round Proper. That’s where proper teams play, isn’t it?

PLAYER RATINGS

Savin 6: Almost literally nothing to do. No chance with the goal.

Shield- 7.5: A bright spark on a dull day.

Olufunwa- 6: Did ok. Can pass the ball but also seems to have a mistake in him.

Browne- 7: Easily his best game in a yellow shirt. One piece of class to take the ball down and send his striker the wrong ay had me purring.

Jenkins- 7: Huge effort from the young Welshman on a day when he needed to be at his best

Sundire (Jay 54)- 5: Nash picked up his customary booking for a naughty foul and it was an afternoon to forget

Worthington (Cappello 81) 6: The skipper continues to run hard and attempt to influence the game, but end product was almost totally lacking. Maybe a bit unlucky with his booking from a ref who tried to let the game flow.

Roberts 6: A curate’s egg from the Argyle loanee. Ran his socks off but created little in a role where that was important.

Beaumont-Clark (Cooke 54) 5.5: Not his day.

Moore- 6: Got little change from a robust back line. Finished the game wide right of a deeply unconvincing front four.

Morton- (Westendorf 65) 6: Covered a lot of ground. Got good applause when subbed.

Subs:

Cooke (Beaumont-Clark 54) 6.5: Battled manfully and almost got us back into the game. Will probably be sitting in a hot bath at present.

Jay (Sundire 54) 5.5: The clamour for him to start went unheeded. His introduction changed nothing this week.

Westendorf (Morton 65) 5.5: Put himself about.

Cappello (Worthington 81) N/A

Unused: Hill, Wannell & Hayfield

TUFC PLAYER RATINGS VOTE – Oxford (h) – TORQUAYTALK

PLAYER OF THE MATCH – HARRY SHIELD

A decent performance on a depressing day. I think he keeps Bernard out of the team when the latter is fit, but what do I know?

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Luke Browne started to show why he is at a League One club today, but I expect he’ll be dropped next week to accommodate Jake Wannell.

TACTICS

I am a little usure of the starting formation. Perhaps it was 4-1-3-2, or 4-3-3. With JBC being well-marshalled, there wasn’t a lot of width today. Concession of what was always going to be a massive first goal saw Jay replace Sundire, but our new Head of Youth was unable to affect the game at all. We finished with all our attacking players on the pitch but they failed to combine in any coherent way.

THE OPPOSITION

Big at the back. Strong. Organised. You can see why they are top three in their league currently.

THE OFFICIALS

The referee took a lot of stick, but I didn’t think he was awful. He let a lot go in the first half and was tolerant of (or didn’t see) a lot of wrestling between two sides who were desperate to stop their opponents- which they largely did.

CONCLUSION

This game was a stark reminder of where we are as a football club. Oxford City look a much better bet for promotion than us. We all wanted a cup run. Have we had one? Two victories this season are better than we have managed since the rebirth of the club in 2024, but failing to qualify for a stage which we used to be in as of right doesn’t feel great. On a beautiful October day, it was a big chance missed and a long winter looms.