Torquay v Aldershot 22nd October 3pm

Oil Beef Hooked · Post by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 22 Oct 2016, 16:12

Aldershot having most of the ball so far and should be 1:0 up

Wake up Torquay

Oil Beef Hooked · Post by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 22 Oct 2016, 16:45

Yet again our 2nd half performance leaves a lot to be desired. We can't pass and can't get the ball out of our half. Moore has made some excellent saves to keep us in this.

Oil Beef Hooked · Post by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 22 Oct 2016, 16:50

Says a lot about the game when Moore is voted MOM

Oil Beef Hooked · Post by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 22 Oct 2016, 16:53

FT 0:0

PhilGull · Post by **PhilGull** » 22 Oct 2016, 16:56

A clean sheet. A point. Another game without a yellow card for Williams.

Post by **SuperNickyWroe** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:18

PhilGull wrote:A clean sheet. A point. Another game without a yellow card for Williams.

I'd say a good point as well bearing in mind we used two subs prior to HT.
And we've moved up the league with the other results.

Gullscorer · Post by **Gullscorer** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:19

Great performance by Moore. Luke Young too had an excellent game. But it was a very disjointed performance from us going forward: our upfront men had little proper service, which would have been frustrating for the likes of Reid and Blissett. But this was because, for practically all the game, we were driven onto the back foot by a very good Aldershot side, who will feel they should have won. A clean sheet and another point gained for us, two points lost for them.

So, onwards and upwards (more or less). We already have a few players with some potential in them, and if we can hold our own until the end of the year, Nicho will know what needs to be done to strengthen the squad to make a decent footballing side for the second half of the season.

Post by **SuperNickyWroe** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:19

Oil Beef Hooked wrote:Says a lot about the game when Moore is voted MOM

Ok he was our best player - without him we''d have lost!!!!

Burnhamgull · Post by **Burnhamgull** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:41

All things considered, most of us would have taken a point prior to the game so a draw is a good result.

The concern comes from Moore being MOTM which gives the impression it was a fortunate draw rather than a hard earned draw.

gateman49 · Post by **gateman49** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:45

Yes, it was a fortunate draw as Aldershot were wasteful, goodness knows what the match stats were. However, we kept plugging away, the crowd wasn't too bad after the last week and we've moved up one place.

Oil Beef Hooked · Post by **Oil Beef Hooked** » 22 Oct 2016, 17:52

SuperNickyWroe wrote: Ok he was our best player - without him we''d have lost!!!!

Exactly Supes.

He made some outstanding saves to keep us in the game and fully deserves to be MOM. It shows how much pressure we were under, especially in the 2nd half.

Definitely fortunate to come away today with a point. But as Gateman says, Aldershot were wasteful.

Post by **Gulliball** » 22 Oct 2016, 18:12

Aldershot were the better side and should have won the game on the balance of play. Moore saved us on quite a few occasions when we let them in for a chance, and the defence wasn't overly impressive despite the clean sheet.

It was my first time seeing this new side live in the flesh, and it was worrying how disjointed we looked going forwards. Without any width or a target man to hit it was as if no-one knew what to do with the ball when we had it. Williams won quite a bit in the air, but we didn't have anyone running in behind. There's no pace in the side and we didn't look dangerous at all - it's easy to see why we're scoring one a game at best. Sparkes and Blissett missing obviously made a difference, but today we didn't look good on the ball. Playing with four central midfielder just didn't give us options to attack.

A point is ok though against a much better side. Tuesday is a bonus, and then next Saturday is now a big match, as we need to pick up points when we can.

goodluckgull · Post by **goodluckgull** » 22 Oct 2016, 18:30

Ref missed 3 handballs by Shots players, tells Rens he used his elbow, but doesn't book him and allows them to take free kicks from wherever they liked. When the Ref finally awarded a free kick to the Gulls for a handball, the popside cheered like we had scored !
I actually enjoyed the game for the way the Torquay players didn't let their heads drop, even though things quickly went against us in the form of injuries. It's true that the Shots could have scored at least five goals today.... but they didn't. Hurrah !
IMO Willow had a good game today and showed a lot of skill. Youngy worked his socks off and didn't deserve that booking.

portugull · Post by **portugull** » 22 Oct 2016, 18:51

Well that was tough. Aldershot were way better but could not score with Brendan Moore having a superb match. Unlike so many recent keepers he is never afraid to leave his line and cut out crosses. We could easily have lost 3 nil but all the players battled hard against a side who looked confident going forward.
Verma pulled his hamstring when reacting to a careless pass.Lathrope looked very dejected when going off groin gone again. He simply could not run with this recurring injury.
Reid was the only player who looked like he might score. Williams is going through a spell when nothing goes right but he did show a few times why he has scored so many goals. Strikers go through these spells but the real problem is lack of service from midfield.
If only Nicho could get Danny Racchi back it would make such a difference. We just need 1 or 2 better quality players and then we could match most teams in this League. We missed Sparkes big time. No width.

Swanny · Post by **Swanny** » 22 Oct 2016, 19:35

It was a bit of a minor miracle we came away with a point today after sustained Aldershot pressure and goal attempts. But thanks to a master class in goalkeeping from Brendan "USA" Moore, Torquay stole a point. Time and again Aldershot pulled the trigger and expected to score and yet Moore was equal to everything - flying saves, smothering one-on-ones, impeccable handling on crosses etc. There were no wobbles at all from sponsors MOTM Moore today and it was just as well, otherwise it would have been a comfortable win for a talented Aldershot side with options a plenty. Torquay on the other hand were hampered by two first half injuries and had very few options on the bench to turn to. We were already stretched for player options going into today's game with injuries to Blissett, Sparkes. Crowd only 1,788 with 273 (if I remember rightly) from Aldershot.

I thought the atmosphere was quite subdued today and there were only "yellow army" chants in the last 20 odd minutes. Until Torquay's enforced injuries late in the first half, it was a pretty even game. Torquay's approach play at times was very good and arguably we shaded it possession wise. The difference between the sides was that for all of Torquay's good approach play, we did not trouble their keeper. Williams had our best chance with a mazy run into the box but the ball was just taken away from him as he was about the shoot. It's like we look a decent side around 30 yards out but there is no end product. Typically a pass would go astray or a shot would be off target or powder puff. Luke Young had a disappointing match today and who else can we rely on to score? Reid's shooting was weak. Aldershot on the other hand looked like scoring and only Moore's acrobatics kept them out, including one fine tip over.

As the first half wore on Aldershot took more control of the game. Torquay's injuries changed the whole dynamics of the game with Ward replacing Verma (hamstring) and King Kev replacing Lathrope (groin). This meant a huge reshuffle in Torquay's defence with Nicholson left back, McGinty and Rowe-Turner in central defence and Gallifuoco going to right back. Not even Labour's recent reshuffles were this disruptive! By this stage Aldershot had seriously taken over and Torquay were camped in their own half. I dare not look but Torquay survived to half time.

As expected Aldershot dominated the second half and used all their subs in the second half including ex-Gull Iffy Allen. How I would love to see some one like Iffy Allen in a Torquay shirt. It must be lovely to have a winger in your team! There were waves of Aldershot attacks but good old "USA" was equal to all of them when called upon. There was the usual Torquay dodgy play giving the ball away cheaply and it was rare Torquay had an attack. Rowe-Turner surprisingly did well at centre back with some decent clearances and King Kev used his experience to good effect, getting injured on one occasion when bravely winning the ball in the box. McGinty was clumsy at times and Gallifuoco had a tough job marking the tricky Mensah on their left. Torquay had a couple of attacks and a corner near the end and somehow Torquay gained an improbable point.

Credit has to be giving for the players digging in and getting a draw but the reality is that it was our goalkeeper who was our star performer. Our on field players worked hard but there was not a lot of quality on show. Torquay's lack of options on the bench are woeful and our squad is far too thin with injuries kicking in. For a full-time team with crowds of around 2,000, similar to Aldershot, our squad has never been weaker. Surely we can get one or two on loan? What about our right back on loan from Plymouth? It's desperate times and today drawing 0-0 at home felt like we had just won the league. I wished we had Aldershot's resources...

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