Oxford vs Torquay - Match Thread

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Fonda
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Post by Fonda »

'Appalling' is a pretty damning verdict. Sounds as though they just failed to break us down - perhaps that was more about how good we were, rather than how bad they were?
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Post by chippygull »

I'd like to think so, but I'm still glad we caught them on a bad day for them and a good one for us!
Fate: A police dog called Bryn bit Torquay player Jim McNichol and the time while he was receiving treatment was added onto the end of the second half.
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Post by Plymouth Gull »

Was out last night but heard about it (obviously). Sounds incredible. :) I loved the 2-0 win in the BSP promotion year, but this sounds better than that!

Great reports, and I was shocked to see 19 pages of this!!
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Post by Awayday »

In fairness, when we had 10 men, Benyon and Kee must have had 6 or 7 chances between them where they were 1 on 1 with the keeper, not once did Oxford have that shooting chance. There was one occasion when it was 4 against 3 and Oxford messed it up. If I was an Oxford fan last night I would have been mighty peeved that they had loads of chances, but to be fair none in open play inside the box. I wouldn't even say Torquay had all 10 men behind the ball, we were good on the counter and excellent in defence.
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Post by eastyorksgull »

hi guys, just read all your superb posts, must have been an amazing night, am so proud to be a gull, well done sir buckle on your shrewd and effective substitutions, keep the good work up guys, good to see billy kee on the scoresheet more please billy more, WELL DONE again to you that made it to the match.
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Post by yellow »

Cracking result.

Enjoyed the report from chippygull. Spot on that man.
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Post by Enzo »

This game will live long in the memory - On several occasions during the drive from London to Oxford I considered not bothering with this one, but am glad I did.

Oxford started like a team with a makeshift defence who had recently been hammered 5-0. For ten minutes I thought it was going to be a breeze - Rose and Zebs had the beating of their men and their defence looked shaky with crosses into their box - hence our first goal which from a whipped in Nicholson free kick after Rose had been pulled back.

Oxford then came back into in and had already cut us apart a couple of times before Macklin got himself sent off. He'd shown a couple of nice turns only to let himself down with poor touches. Then, right in front of the ref he kicked out at an Oxford player after a tussle for the ball near the far touchline. Had an Oxford player done the same in fornt of us we'd have been screaming for him to go - there is no point blaming the ref in that situation - Macklin was stupid to give him a decision to make.

From then on until half time, it was wave after wave of Oxford attack with our left being overun. Anyone who went to the Burnley play off away match years ago or the Wolves sherpa van semi will have a good idea of what it was like . On another night Constable would have scored 4 by HT, but Bevs was suberb with one save inparticular which looked world class. I too was suprised to see Rose go off, but Bucks had to do something and was proven correct in the second half.

The second half was a very open game with Oxford forcing corner after corner, but failing to draw level and us creating chance after chance - we had two on ones, three on ones, but didn't make the most of them - although we at least forced their keeper into saves. It could have ended up 5-5.

I was impressed by the way Kee retained posession and brought others into the game in the closing stages. He had the game on a plate three times and missed each chance - then he put the hardest one of all away and you could see what it meant to him.

It may be that last night will be worth far more than 3 points to the team in terms of confidence and team spirit. To a man every squad member appeared delighted for Billy Kee - Benyon and Potter raced to congratulate him at the final whistle. Wroe also looked fully committed to the cause - I thought he was excellent last night. He was crucial in us retaining posession and give the defence a breather. He looked back to his best last night. \it seems unfair to mention only one or two players - Manse, Branston, Ellis, Zebs Oastler and Benyon all put terrific shifts in. Best game I have been to in a long time.
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Post by Ludlow Gulled »

19 pages on one topic! That's almost Wembley play-off final proportions but I think is a fair representation of last night's game. Like Enzo, I almost gave it a swerve but fortunately the old man was already on his way round when I called to cry off and not being one to disappoint the nearest and dearest...Thank God. After the doldrums of the Southend and Gillingham games, what a tonic this was. There was a thread a couple weeks back 'Why do you support Torquay?' and now I know that last night is why. There is little more for me to add regarding the game - it's all been said elsewhere. I like everyone else was proud of the players, management and performance and, of course, to be part of such a great crowd.

Only one thing that I want to mention, just to check I didn't imagine it: On the final whistle, the team deservedly collect adulation from the crowd and Billy Kee is bundled by various players from the bench. Of this much I'm sure. But when the bundle finally dissapates and young Key is dragging himself to his feet, I'm pretty sure I witness Danny Potter re-enact a cheeky 'Deliverance' moment with the still partially-prone Kee. One for the dressing-room rather than the 18 yard line I'd have thought. Now, did anyone else see that? If not I can only conclude that the spectacle of last night's game produced such sensations of euphoria that I experienced unprecedented homoerotic hallucinations involving a reserve keeper and a coming-into-form but slightly overweight striker!
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Post by Rjc70 »

You didn't imagine it brentwood and you're probably right. Never mind. Just carried away in the moment, I guess. But great to see the togetherness and joy of his teammates that Kee had broken his duck. Still proud of our boys as I write. There is no team in this league that can match us if we carry that spirit into matches. A tough ask as you won't get that every match from any team. But we know what we can do and hopefully we will stick around the top 7 area for a while now.
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Post by Awayday »

brentwoodgull wrote:I'm pretty sure I witness Danny Potter re-enact a cheeky 'Deliverance' moment with the still partially-prone Kee.
If by that you mean "Did Potter look like he was shagging Kee", then yes I saw that as well.
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Post by oxgull »

chippygull wrote::) :) :)

Well well.. what a night!
Turning up early, the empty stadium looked even more like an oversized three sided Subbuteo set than ever! We wandered over to the Priory pub in the wasteland near by, but unlike previous years, it was devoid of Gulls fans, so as it filled up, it became slightly threatening, so we sampled the delights of the greasy bacon rolls, before sloping in to join a great turn out of travelling fans! Strangely, despite the fashion disasters of white shorts and white socks in recent games, we were back to all yellow, which seemed odd, as Oxford were yellow and navy, but as we chanted "There's only one yellow army!"

We started confidently, but an obvious danger was Nico being left to defend Batt who looked their most dangerous player, and as we know, Nico is League 2's Glenn Johnson, great going forward but suspect at times in defence. However, it didn't take long for him to toddle across to the right wing for the free kick which he whipped in. From where we were sitting (it felt like another postcode!), it seemed to fly straight in, and Nico got the congrats, but apparently Batt had covered back and deflected it in!

Our left was proving a problem, as, even when he beat Batt, Nico had little option but to feed Macklin, who showed nice first touches but then immediately gave the ball away, time and time again! He swapped wings, but then in his frustration, kicked out at Tonkin after a scuffle. As it happened in front of the dugouts and the Oxford fans, maybe the red card was inevitable, but even some U's fans thought it was harsh.

It felt like we were going to be in for a long night as the wind blew plastic bags towards their goal, that was the only thing moving in that direction! I take back what I've been saying about Branston, he was immense, despite some comical high slices under pressure. Mans at RB was underemployed and Ellis had the two carthorses, Constable and Craddock in his pocket for a while. When they broke through, Scott made an incredible one-handed stop from Constable from five yards out that in some ways proved the turning point of the game! It was brilliant and obviously instilled massive confidence into the back four as the Oxford Alamo charged and charged again! A twenty yarder was tipped over the bar as Scott arched to the left to prevent another certain goal. Batt was continuing to cause havoc down the left and it wasn't until the increasingly languid Rose was substituted for Robbo and Mans came over to protect the left. This was a match saving substitution and all credit to Bucks for it!

Towards the end of the half, Oxford looked increasingly likely to score, but strangely, Wilder decided to completely alter it around and brought on two wingers who made Danny Stevens look tall; neither of whom could cross to save their lives, and Scott spent much of the second half plucking their ineffective loops out of the air. Meanwhile, Benyon was magnificent up front on his own. Never have I seen a player accelerate so fast over three yards to constantly pressurise their back players in to sending high hopeful nonsense balls into the windy night! Zeb too is a class above.. stridingly mightily across the field, marauding with confidence and style. It was odd that he came off. Possibly knackered or strained, but the Eddie Gray sloping shoulders of O'Kane came on to shore things up quite adequately.

The Oxford fans were well and truly dispirited by now, and low murmurings and boos greeted every failure in attack. Benners was knackered and rightly was taken off for a rest! Kee looked keen, but it was so noticeable that his pace was 20% that of Eliot, no matter how enthusiastically he moved his tubby little body around. I can't really decide if it was a couple of great saves by Clarke or appalling misses by Kee that presaged our second goal, but we didn't half look good on the counter as stupid Oxford went gung-ho with no effect. I feel if he'd chipped Clarke on either occasion, the match would have been over. No worries, though, because minutes from time, he got his breakthrough, and the relief was palpable, not just for Billy, but for the whole team, as there was no going back for the Us now!! Their fans streamed away to our chants of "Is this a fire drill?", and four inexplicable minutes of injury time dragged on till the match was won.

Scenes of great jubilation of course, and it's always great to see the players run across to us. One vignette that speaks volumes for the spirit of the team was Eliot running over to Billy and mobbing him deliriously for breaking his goal-scoring duck. Bucks and the boys came over and applauded and we made our way to the car park scrum and off in to the night!

What a great, great night. To be honest, Oxford were appalling and at this rate their over-sized barn of a atmosphere free stadium will be hosting Histon and Fleetwood soon; but Oxfordshire bragging rights are mine for a while now. " Their boys took a hell of a beating!" To me, it was a crucial game, one that could have made the difference between mid-table mediocrity and a real play off challenge. The substitutions were tacticly astute, the effort and commitment were second to none, and every player (except Macklin and possibly Rose) deserve every credit for a backs to the wall performance that will live long in the memory!

And I ate my pants!!! honest mate :) Great night wasn't it? I was up with the backstep army right at the back along with Dave from Southampton, well, he was a few seats away. On the way out to the car pack around the back, where all the OUFC supporters were, I heard more than one complimentary, if begrudged, remarks about our well drilled defence, that big bald headed thug at the back and our overall physical presence. Got to say they ran out of ideas towards the end and the Boo's started ringing out. Great result and great to have bragging rites as well. :)
Oblivion!!!!
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Post by YellowMurphy »

Just seen Macklins sending off, deserved a warning at most. Horribe decision, suppose the players dug in though. Still annoying to have him suspended! Would have Stevens over him any day of the week
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Post by Plymouth Gull »

Really? I'd have said its a deserved, at that level. Only a game before, Chris Shuker was red-carded for kicking out (I believe) at Oastler/Rose. Macklin has taken a swipe at their full back, and the ref saw it.

Silly, and he'll pay the price.
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Post by Fletch »

And yet ignored the arm around the neck seconds earlier? There's no justification for retaliation but a bit of consistency would be nice from refs.

Oh and watch the attempted tackle (studs first) on Manse when he slips the ball to Kee for the goal. That's an ankle breaker if it connects and far worse intent (IMO) than Macklin
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