Morecambe vs Torquay United

[Plymouth Gull]

Globe Arena
Saturday 15th January 2011
KO: 3pm

It's been a good week for Gulls' fans, with the cup success being followed by three points when Crewe came to town. I am sure we will all be hoping that we can continue our good form with 3 points from a tough encounter at Morecambe. Morecambe haven't really settled in their new ground, and the club are struggling so far, after a very successful season last time around, which saw the Shrimps finish in the top 7, but a two-legged defeat to Dagenham ended that dream. The club moved into the new Globe Arena in the summer, replacing Christie Park, which was their home for so long. Kieran Charnock is currently on loan at Morecambe, and it is thought that a permanent deal could be struck which would see the centre-half stay up there.

GULLS NEWS.

I don't think there is anything new to update from after Tuesdays game. Danny Stevens picked up a knock in the game with Crewe, but continued for a bit before being substituted. I haven't seen that that became serious, so I believe he'll be in contention.

LAST 5 SEASONS.

2005/06 - Conference - 5th place - 74 points -LOST IN PLAYOFFS.
2006/07 - Conference - 3rd place - 81 points -PROMOTED VIA PLAYOFFS
2007/08 - League 2 - 11th place - 60 points
2008/09 - League 2 - 11th place - 63 points
2009/10 - League 2 - 4th place - 73 points - LOST IN PLAYOFFS

They have gone from an established Non-league side to an established League 2 side in recent times, where in 5 years, they have had 3 playoff seasons. They achieved promotion to the Football League with a 2-1 victory over Exeter City at Wembley. They have done well in League 2 since the promotion, and they are now pushing to progress up to League One.

HEAD TO HEAD.

Torquay wins - 1
Morecambe wins - 1
Draws - 1

Last season was the first time that we met with Morecambe. As you can see, they had the better record against us, as we lost 2-0 at Christie Park, and drew 2-2 at Plainmoor. A 3-1 victory for us at Plainmoor in October saw us record our first win against the Shrimps.

FORM (LAST 6 GAMES).

DLWLWW

This run of six games started off with Morecambe picking up a point at Cheltenham. Followed up by a home loss to Crewe, and a home win over Port Vale, before they lost at home to Accrington on New Years Day. Two consecutive away wins, at Stockport and Shrewsbury, have given them a big confidence boost ahead of this game.

PROBABLE LINE UP.

This is the side that won at Shrewsbury:

Barry Roche

Andy Parrish
Kieran Charnock
Chris McGeady
Tony Capaldi

Mark Duffy
Stewart Drummond
Craig Stanley
Laurence Wilson

Chris Shuker
James Spencer

Subs: Walker, Bentley, Wainwright, Fleming, Hendrie, Brown, Mullin

PLAYERS TO WATCH.

Mark Duffy was a very good player, from what I remember, in our encounter earlier in the season. He was their most potent attacking threat, so he will need to be well looked after. Paul Mullin should be well known to us now, the former Accrington man has played against us alot since our return to the league.

CONSEQUENCES.

Another new feature that I decided to bring in; this will tell you what could happen after this match. For example, Morecambe could move up 4 places to 12th in the table, if they win, and teams like Stevenage, Bradford, Northampton and Accrington all fail to win. A draw could see Morecambe move up to 13th, while we could overtake Gillingham to go up to 9th with a point. A victory for us could see us jump back into 6th, ahead of teams such as Bury, Cheltenham, Gillingham and Shrewsbury.

PREDICTION.

It's a toughie.

Draw.

[RussianGull]

Duffy has a strangely shaped head, but he's a good player, definitely the one to watch.

1-3 Gulls!

O'kane around 5minutes, Stevens and Benyon

[Trojan 67]

As usual when it's an away game, I'll be at home listening to the match on Radio Devon.

Will it be 4-4-1-1 (4-5-1) as usual away or 4-4-2 as in Crewe ?

We certainly saw how effective we can be when we do play 4-4-2.

I hope Bucks gets the selection, formation and tactics spot on and we come away with 3 points.

Onwards and upwards.

[eastyorksgull]

hi guys,simple one this week 3 points,nothing to fear at all.....simon

[Wisconsin_gull]

The boys are hot at the moment, expect this to make it 3 games unbeaten - quite a week
Usual call for me 1-3 .
O'kane with a couple more

[ferrarilover]

Nick, top work as always mate, but where have the link to opposition forum and RefWatch gone? Forgotten, never to return? An oversight? No info available?

Matt.

[Jeff]

Any northern gulls know if the game is in any doubt today? Just about go set off and it's windy here, but Morecambe is currently the subject of a weather warning for torrential rain :s

[HRG]

Confidence should be improving now we've racked up two wins on the trot, Branston seems to be back to his solid self or thereabouts according to those who have been to the games so I'm pretty hopeful of a win here.
Think we'll scrore two or three hope Stevens gets one for us shorties.
So 2-1 or 3-1 to us.
COYY!

[Fletch]

Morecambe usually tough to break down at their place. This one smacks of 1-1 to me.

[gulls_aloud]

Our confidence should be running high after recent success. No game's ever easy, but if the luck is with us I'm going for a 1-0 win. COYY

[Plymouth Gull]

Nick, top work as always mate, but where have the link to opposition forum and RefWatch gone? Forgotten, never to return? An oversight? No info available?

Matt.

The opposition forum went a bit stale after I had a bit of trouble trying to find one for a team (think it was Oxford), then just forgot to put them in for the following games.

The officials part will return, but I just kind of wanted to move away from the standard list of things in each thread, thought I'd try to vary them a tad.

They will both return though, so not to worry.

[drummergull90]

Confidence must be high in our camp after recent results. Morecambe a good side however, don't really deserve to be in the bottom half.

2-1 to the Gulls, would like to see us maintain 4-4-2 with Zebs and Stevens on the wings, Wroe and O'Kane in the middle. But Bucks being Bucks he will play 4-5-1.

[robc]

drummergull, to be honest I think that calling it a 4-5-1 is a bit of a misnomer, as O'Kane operates more as a deep lying striker than an attacking midfielder. I think that the best line up at the moment is:

Mansell Wroe
Zebs Stevens
O'Kane
Benyon

If behind or not really looking effective, then Kee to come on around the hour mark.

[Jeff]

It's cold, wet and grizzly here at morecambe, bits of standing water in places. The players have literally only just come out for warm up. All the usual suspects are there but all seems very casual!

[robc]

Ooops, that message doesn't really convey what I meant, obviously Zebs and Stevens wide, not in field.