Gateshead v Torquay United

[Dave]

This weekend sees The Gulls take on a massive trip up north to Gateshead international stadium, the home of, The Heed as Gateshead are nicknamed, and there's no doubting this will another tough ask for The Gulls.

Our last meeting with Gateshead took place on the 23rd January a date I'll never forget for personal reasons, I did go to that match and I think it was the first time this season, I had walked away from Plainmoor finally accepting that relegation was a certainty, however our form as we know changed for the better.

Gateshead's own personal fortunes since that match have been patchy, they've won, drawn and lost a pretty much equal amount of games since then, however to be fair have had a tough run of fixtures, struggling against the sides above them, but having little or no trouble dispatching the sides below them.

The Heed will be desperate to win this match currently sat 9th on 63 points, 5 points behind the play-offs, however Gateshead have played 2 games more than most of their rivals, and will know failure to win this match will all but end their play-off hopes.

Former Gull Ryan Bowman misses the game through injury.

For Gulls fans attending the match

http://www.gateshead-fc.com/gateshead-i ... al-stadium

Gateshead top goalscorers

Ryan Bowman 15
Danny Johnson 11
Patrick McLaughlin 4
Josh Gillies 2
Christopher Hamilton 2
Jon Shaw 2
Craig Baxter 1
Ben Clark 1
James Curtis 1
Augustin Mafuta 1
Simon Ramsden 1
Alex Whitmore 1

Current form

Gateshead; W-L-D-W-L-D

8 Mar Altrincham 2 - 3 Gateshead
12 Mar Gateshead 0 - 1 Forest Green
15 Mar Braintree 0 - 0 Gateshead
19 Mar Welling Utd 0 - 1 Gateshead
25 Mar Gateshead 0 - 3 Macclesfield
28 Mar Lincoln City 1 - 1 Gateshead

Last time out

Lincoln City 1 - 1 Gateshead

1 Russell
14 Holden (Johnson 46'minutes)
29 Whitmore
2 Baxter
8 Ramshaw (Gillies 63'minutes)
26 McLaughlin
5 Curtis
6 Clark
28 Hamilton
9 Shaw
12 Mafuta (Onovwigun 73'minutes)

Substitutes
10 Gillies
13 MacDonald
16 Onovwigun
20 Johnson
30 Bennett

Gateshead won't be taking anyone lightly as they try to turn their home form around

“With the way our home form has been this season, it would be ridiculous to underestimate anyone.

“It really doesn’t matter if we’re playing a team near the bottom – as we are on Saturday – or the likes of Cheltenham and Forest Green, what matters is that we play at a much better level than we did in our last home game.

“When we beat Torquay away, we probably thought that they were dead and buried.

“They’ve since gone on a very good run and got themselves back into contention.

“Our home form has been very inconsistent, and Torquay will be looking at it as an opportunity.

“We hope we can put it right on Saturday. If we play at our best, we’re more than capable of getting a result.

“Ryan has struggled with a knee injury since Christmas – off and on – and I do not expect him to be fit for Saturday.

“It’s a shame as it’s always nice to play against your former club, and he scored against them last time.”

From a Torquay United point of view

Apart from Berry I don't know of any injury's or suspensions. Talking of long term injuries it was great to see Luke Young take the field on Monday, although putting him on the left hand side maybe wasn't the best idea, as he looked like a fish out of water, clearly not ready for a full game yet, but would be nice to see him get a few more minutes Saturday.

Nicho says “It’s not about getting star points at this stage of the season; it’s about being solid and knowing that every game is winnable if we’re at it.

I fully agree with him on that, and I give him and the players full praise for getting themselves into a position where avoiding relegation is still more than possible.

My own recent complaints haven't got anything to do with formations at all, there's no magical way of playing. It's all well and good being solid, and you need to be, to win games, but you also need some attacking out let otherwise your best hope is a 0.0 draw, or a lucky breakaway goal like Southport home.

I repeat my message, we surely must get some natural attacking width on the park, I've not seen any evidence in the last few match's of this, natural attacking Width should help us retain possession and stretch the opposition, surely giving us the opportunity to stay solid and form some attacking play of our own, you have to score goals to win games, obviously.

Torquay United top goalscorers

Nathan Blissett 6
Dan Butler 2
Nathan Smith 2
Andre Wright 2
Toby Ajala 1
Iffy Allen 1
Durrell Berry 1
Exodus Geohaghon 1
Shaun Harrad 1
Angus MacDonald 1
Courtney Richards 1
Aman Verma 1

Current form

Torquay United; D-D-D-W-L-L

8 Mar Torquay Utd 0 - 0 Braintree
12 Mar Aldershot To. 0 - 0 Torquay Utd
15 Mar Torquay Utd 0 - 0 Halifax Town
19 Mar Torquay Utd 1 - 0 Southport
26 Mar Dover Athlet. 5 - 0 Torquay Utd
28 Mar Torquay Utd 0 - 1 Eastleigh

Last time out

Torquay United 0 - 1 Eastleigh

26 Moore
25 Verma
5 MacDonald
4 Rees (Young 63'minutes)
3 Butler
22 Gerring
10 Racchi
16 Richards (Ajala 80'minutes)
19 Chaney (Allen 70'minutes)
28 Wright
17 Blissett

Substitutes
1 Fisher
7 Allen
8 Young
12 Harrad
14 Ajala

FRUSTRATION FOR UNITED


“Our performance was actually very good,” he said. “We certainly didn’t deserve to lose.

“In the end it was a sloppy bit of play early on that cost us.

“I felt that we responded well to going a goal behind; we out-played them for most of the game so it was frustrating to come out of it with nothing to show for our efforts.

“We moved the ball better and got more balls into the box, but there was no-one on the end of them to make it count.

“To be fair to Eastleigh, they protected their lead well and used their experience to do so. That’s why they are where they are in the table.

“It was frustrating, but we get ready to go again in the next game.”


Head to Head meetings


English Division Four (old)

04.04.1959 Torquay United 0-1 Gateshead
13.04.1959 Gateshead 1-0 Torquay United
12.09.1959 Gateshead 0-2 Torquay United
23.01.1960 Torquay United 1-0 Gateshead


English Conference

09.08.2014 Gateshead 3-1 Torquay United
22.11.2014 Torquay United 2-2 Gateshead


English National League

23.01.2016 Torquay United 0-2 Gateshead

[wivelgull]

No, can't see anything at all here. Thus:

Gateshead (1) 3
TUFC (0) 0

Att: 991.

[torq2u]

No, can't see anything at all here. Thus:

Gateshead (1) 3
TUFC (0) 0

Att: 991.

I refer the Rt. Honorable Snivelgull to my previous answer when he posted a similar message of foreboding and doom about our chances at the Bromley match.

IF WE GET BEHIND THE BOYS, WHO KNOWS ..... !!!

[lucy6lucy]

Gateshead as stated in OP, are in unpredictable form. So it's winnable. Equally there league position doesn't lie. There are no easy games, i am going 2-1 Torquay.

[arcadia]

If Smith is fit and Harrod returned up front and I think we can get a point and if we get the rub of the green 3 points.

[Kit_robin]

I refer the Rt. Honorable Snivelgull to my previous answer when he posted a similar message of foreboding and doom about our chances at the Bromley match.

IF WE GET BEHIND THE BOYS, WHO KNOWS ..... !!!

What, when we lost 7-3? Well, that helped!

[Burnhamgull]

I think, with a bit of luck, we might sneak a draw but a defeat is more likely.

The important thing is to hope that our rivals also fail to get points, we stay fit and without suspension and then push on to the far more winnable game on Tuesday.

[Glostergull]

[quote="forevertufc"]This weekend sees The Gulls take on a massive trip up north to Gateshead international stadium, the home of, The Heed as Gateshead are nicknamed, and there's no doubting this will another tough ask for The Gulls.

Our last meeting with Gateshead took place on the 23rd January a date I'll never forget for personal reasons, I did go to that match and I think it was the first time this season, I had walked away from Plainmoor finally accepting that relegation was a certainty, however our form as we know changed for the better.

Gateshead's own personal fortunes since that match have been patchy, they've won, drawn and lost a pretty much equal amount of games since then, however to be fair have had a tough run of fixtures, struggling against the sides above them, but having little or no trouble dispatching the sides below them.

The Heed will be desperate to win this match currently sat 9th on 63 points, 5 points behind the play-offs, however Gateshead have played 2 games more than most of their rivals, and will know failure to win this match will all but end their play-off hopes.

Former Gull Ryan Bowman misses the game through injury.

Awen what a shame.. now Brucie and Wivel won't be able to say we will get stuffed up there..

oohhh on second thoughts..yes they will. they would do it out of sheer frustration at not being right every match.

[torq2u]

What, when we lost 7-3? Well, that helped!

I'm sure you are aware that that match was in a previous time zone, following a run of 1 win in 9, a different team, in an atmosphere of utter despair, and under different management (the beginning and end of Dean Edwards' illustrious career in National League management).

Our current situation gives us certain grounds for optimism, IMHO, for all the above reasons. So, LET'S GET BEHIND THE BOYS! (or f*** off and support Exeter City).

[kevgull]

Today's result will depend on the condition of the livestock when the lorry arrives at Gateshead.

[Gulliball]

Much shorter journey for me, living in Edinburgh is a handy location for once. 90 minutes and already in Newcastle, only a few miles out to Gateshead this afternoon.

[Louis]

Enjoy the game Gulliball Hopefully you can be our lucky charm!

[Dutchgull]

Here we go ........ =Z =Z

[Louis]

Or not

[Gloomy Gull]

I read somewhere recently that Nicholson has said that we have lads in the dressing room who can score goals........he'd better bloody well get them out onto the pitch!!