TUFC v Burnley

[tufcbrett]

Ooh a bad knee is a horrible thing. I hurt my knee once when drunkenly believing I could show the young folk in my former fave rock club how moshing to Rage Against the Machine was really done.

Never again. :Oops:

[HRG]

That is the very least I deserve Brett.

[cambgull]

Ooh a bad knee is a horrible thing. I hurt my knee once when drunkenly believing I could show the young folk in my former fave rock club how moshing to Rage Against the Machine was really done.

Never again. :Oops:

Brilliant, apart from the embarrasing knee thing. Back to the zimmer frame for you?

[HRG]

Not quite yet Camb, haven't even hit 30 yet. Course if my alcohol soaked brain decides to make a fool of me again it would be quite handy to have one on stand-by.

[cambgull]

I'm not far behind you then, hit the ripe old age of 25 less than a week ago. I start feeling old when I see the bunch of 18 year olds fighting outside the pub on a friday night and start to reminisce.

[yellowmonkey]

What was final score?

[Yellow4life]

3-1 burnley. howe scored

[SteveDeckchair]

Wow! What a match day thread....

[wodger of awabia]

Ooh a bad knee is a horrible thing. I hurt my knee once when drunkenly believing I could show the young folk in my former fave rock club how moshing to Rage Against the Machine was really done.

Never again. :Oops:

How interesting, not enough detail 'though.

[yellowforever]

Howe's goal was top class..

[Colorado Gull]

Torquay United 1-3 Burnley

Goal Scorers
Bartley - Burnley (8 mins)
Rodriguez - Burnley (33 mins)
Howe – Torquay (61 mins)
Rice O.G – Burnley (79 mins)

Referee
Oli Langford

Attendance
1,759 (390 Burnley Fans)

Torquay United lined up as follows: (Bobby Olejnik not used) 4-4-2
13 Martin Rice
5 Chris Robertson
4 Mark Ellis - (18 Joe Oastler 60 mins)
6 Brian Saah
3 Kevin Nicholson - (2 Lathenial Rowe-Turner 60 mins)
16 Chris Mcphee - (17 Saul Halpin 68 mins)
7 Lee Mansell - (27 Ray Spear 84 mins)
22 Damon Lathrope - (10 Eunan O’Kane 60 mins)
11 Ian Morris - (19 Danny Stevens 60 mins)
9 Rene Howe - (14 Lloyd Macklin 68 mins)
23 Taiwo Atieno - (8 Billy Kee 60 mins) - (24 Ashley Yeoman 77 mins)

Burnley lined up as follows: 4-4-2
12 Brian Jensen - (27 Jon Stewart 78 mins)
2 David Edgar - (16 Kevin Long 78 mins)
4 Ben Mee - (14 Michael Duff 72 mins)
5 Andre Bikey
3 Brian Easton - (15 Danny Fox 72 mins)
11 Wade Elliot - (19 Alex MacDonald 72 mins)
6 Marvin Bartley - (18 Chris McCann 63 mins)
8 Dean Marney
7 Ross Wallace - (20 Wes Fletcher 78 mins)
9 Charlie Austin
10 Jay Rodriguez - (17 Steve Hewitt 78 mins)

Burnley was our 3rd out of 3 home friendlies and manager Martin Ling was 100% correct in saying that Burnley was our toughest of opposition. A very good Championship side club with a great manager was much too strong for us. The fans knew from the very start that Burnley was going to live up to Martin Ling’s prediction when they were awarded a corner at the very early stages of the 1st half. After that dangerous corner Burnley pressed on and was awarded with an early 8 minute goal from Marvin Bartley. A too bigger hole was made in the defence and the midfield and a goal from Burnley was rightly scored. Burnley kept on top in the 1st half and that showed with a nice flurry of passes to lead to a 2nd goal from Jay Rodriguez on 33 minutes. Torquay gave a strong high league team too much space and too much time on the ball. When we got on the ball and looked for a pass we were a little too slow and gave the ball away some of the time because of this. Good high tempo passes were made from Torquay at times and which lead to the wingers and centre midfielders linking up with Taiwo and Howe. Robertson was played weirdly out of position at right back were former boss Paul Buckle used to play Robbo. This was obvious to all fans that it didn’t work. He did not link up with Mcphee (right midfielder) well at all and didn’t look comfortable at all coming up the pitch. When Joe Oastler came on for Ellis, who had a mini shocker today, Robbo went back to his original position Centre Back and looked more comfortable playing alongside Brian Saah. Brian cleared the ball and he is a no messing defender which is a great replacement for ex gull defender Guy Branston. Nico and Morris played pretty good together and linked up well. As always Nico was very verbal with Morris while Morris was quite quiet and tried to do things too complicated instead of doing the simple things which is really what you have to do when the opposition is a Championship team. Nico had a few dodgy moments but he kind of put it altogether when needed. Martin Rice was a little on the quiet side and had a few dodgy moment with his kicking and saving and that showed later in the 2nd half with an own goal at 79 minutes. Taiwo Atieno, now that he is all signed up, didn’t play as good as he did when he was on trial. He was a little lazy at times letting the ball come towards him and was pushed off the ball easily at times. Having said that the new Torquay striker Atieno worked very hard and chassed the ball constantly. He jumped up well at connected with the ball most of the time. Having turned the Burnley defence inside out he then ran on, cleverly dodged the Burnley goalkeeper Brain Jensen but then couldn’t direct the ball into an open goal instead his shot hit the side netting. That was the best opportunity for the Gulls to get a goal in the 1st half. Prior to Taiwo’s golden opportunity to put United only one goal behind Burnley he linked up well with Chris Mcphee. Mcphee was a little out of position at times and turned lazy with his passes, tackling and positioning but he did not slack throughout the whole game. He worked as hard as he could playing with an unfamiliar partner (Chris Robertson) and had a great little outbreak run through the Burnley’s defence into the box laying off a pass to Damon Lathrope who couldn’t find a shot. Damon played well when he got the ball down and tackled well. He couldn’t seem to perform with fellow midfield partner Lee Mansell, who didn’t have a great game himself. Lee Mansell was a different player when Torquay beat Devon Rivals Exeter last Wednesday night. Manse was a bit wild and was too slow on the ball and that was not good. He lost the ball a lot of the time and a gap was made in the midfield and that let Burnley players to play through Torquay’s defence and not to mention the midfield. Chances were still being made by Burnley. A close free kick by Ross Wallace was inches close just going over the bar. In the 2nd Half Ling made 9 changes in the 2nd half with 5 of them coming on at 60 minutes. This completely changed the game, Torquay were much slicker and quicker and players like Oastler, O’Kane, Kee and Howe linked up well. This showed by Howe scoring a screamer on 61 minutes of the 2nd half. A great turn by Howe and the ball clattered off the cross bar and then bounced up and down until the ball went across the white line. United looked much more in control and looked like getting an equaliser. Lloyd Macklin was another one of the 9 subs that Martin Ling used and Macklin continued to impress the fans and show a completely different player. But sadly on 79 minutes Alex MacDonald (who came on as a sub) turned passed Chris Robertson and Brian Saah, shot with some power only to be saved by goalkeeper Martin Rice.....only the fans thought it was saved. The ball then hit off the post and hit Rice’s back to trickle into the net to make the score 3-1 to the clarets. Torquay played well and it was a good test of strength, stamina and skill to face a very good Championship side Burnley. Martin Ling next takes Torquay to take on Weston Super-Mare on Monday, kick off at 7:45pm.

(edit: I realise that Friendlies aren't really the important matches to make a report on but I thought I should to get in practice for the season.)

[Father Jack]

Just for those that missed the game, we started the game off with a plan B of playing with wingbacks. Ellis, Saah and Robertson the 3 central defenders with Nico and McPhee as wingbacks. Plainly didnt work as it was changed during the 2nd half to a straight 4-4-2 with Saah/Robertson in the middle and Joe Oastler/LRt as the full backs. Looked a lot better balance once it was changed.

[bc-gull]

Just for those that missed the game, we started the game off with a plan B of playing with wingbacks. Ellis, Saah and Robertson the 3 central defenders with Nico and McPhee as wingbacks. Plainly didnt work as it was changed during the 2nd half to a straight 4-4-2 with Saah/Robertson in the middle and Joe Oastler/LRt as the full backs. Looked a lot better balance once it was changed.

We never played with wing backs.

We played 4-4-2 the whole game.

[Father Jack]

We never played with wing backs.

We played 4-4-2 the whole game.

You must have been watching a different game. We started off with the three central defenders spread across the penalty area with McP as right wingback and Nico as left wingback and a 3 man midfield of Morris, Lathrope and Mansell. It was seeing how a plan B would work and the answer was not too well.

[ferrarilover]

Currently losing 0-2 we do not look very convincing in midfield. This is the second tine I have seen 45mins of mansell and laphrope and it dosent work. They are too similar In How they play and we sit too deep. As for the goals, not sure what rice was thinking but ge should have stopped both, but in particular the second goal. We look ok with Taiwo and Howe causing problems up top and Morris started to get more involved as the half wore on.

What total rubbish. For the first goal, Rice was beaten by an unattended, Championship/Premier League class striker, 18 yards out, front and centre, the type of situation which bests the likes of Petr Cech every week.

The second shot was struck nicely enough, and it may have been nice to have seen him get finger tips to it and turn it past the post, but then, if it takes a shot of that accuracy and power to beat him, them I'll be happy, because there are precious few of those seen in L2 every season.

Just because you've a bee in your bonnet about him being back because he wasn't particularly good last time he was here, a million years ago, don't tell flagrant lies to support your baseless argument that he is still not very good today.

Matt.