Torquay United v Wealdstone Sat 2 October KO 3pm

[Gull1899]

What a great game. Outplayed them in every department, how much of that was us being good & them poor we’ll see as the season progresses.

Regarding attendance I’m sure that it was a mixture if the awful weather & the no cash on gate policy- really hope they change that as I’m sure it’s costing us a lot of potential extra attendance & doesn’t really make sense when getting food is cash only..Hope that policy gets binned ASAP

[Dave]

I'd put yesterdays match down as probably the most complete performance from our team so far this season, Wealdstone went into this game a point ahead of us in the table, they had recorded a couple of decent wins of there own. The game opened with Wealdstone playing some neat incisive football, but great credit to our team soon nullified their threat, Wealdstone couldn't handle Torquay's pressing game as the Gulls took complete control of the game.

It's been my personal held opinion, which I've expressed numerous times since game one, that the team looked far too one dimensional with Danny Wright in the team, I wasn't alone in thinking that way, no one wants to see any player injured of course, but Danny Wright's forced lay off as others have said seems to have done us a real favour.

With the extra body in midfield, we saw our team get the ball down a play football, a brand of football on the day as said, Wealdstone had no answer to, we've already seen a major improvement at the back, both Wynter and Moxey were struggling at full back, constantly exposed, we're now seeing the best out of them as part of the three centre backs, and in turn Lewis is growing by the game, excellent defensive performance that left MacDonald little to do, although MacDonald's communication is certainly a large part of that.

The team set up yesterday won't win every game, won't work against every team they play against, but for the first time this season I saw every TUFC player look happy and comfortable in what their individual and collective jobs were, we saw the best of Martin and O'Connell, and at last we saw Holman "in" the game through out, he seemed to relish the role given to him in this match.

One of the very few criticism I have of Gary Johnson is, he comes across as a stubborn arse, I can only hope this game has had an "the answers maybe in the building " moment.

Joe Lewis pulled off a couple of fantastic well timed time last ditch tackles early in the game, and and kept Umerah quiet through out, but possibly got motm of the back of an absolute wonder goal. For me Tom Lapslie optimised every thing our team did on the park, from one tigerish challenge on the edge of our box, to hunting down the opposition on the edge of their own box, Lapslie never stopped running, driving our team forward and weighed in with another important goal, to have someone out there underpinning the midfield was a big plus.

All in all a good day at the office, of course Boreham Wood will present a much harder test, come away from there with a good performance avoiding defeat and I'd say the recovery was well and truly on track.

[Bristow Gull]

The Lewis goal was not only a total surprise to everybody at Plainmoor but is , in my opinion , the goal of the season. Naff said !

[Bristow Gull]

The Lewis goal was not only a total surprise to everybody at Plainmoor but is , in my opinion , the goal of the season. Naff said !

[culmstockgull]

For the benefit of forevertufc I will eat humble pie and accept that Little is back to his first seasons best after a very indifferent start to this campaign, he reaaly is looking good. Lapslies work rate allows Little the freedom to cause major problems, with reagrds to Wright when you have what for us is a quality centre forward then it is logical you play to his strengths regardless of whether it is working or not, without him. we had a far more mobile forward line. Tactics yesterday were spot on and just like the Bournemouth pre season our cloing down caused them no end of problems in fact they signed their own death certificate by persisting in that way of playing. I thought Lewis was awesome in defence yesterday and a goal of the season just added the icing on the cake. Two awkward if not difficult away games to come, if we come away from them with points then I wil start to believe we could manage the play offs, as to the crowd, the weather obviously affected a few, the nonsense that is the ticketing system needs addressing and quickly, there are supporters that do not know until the day that they are going to make the game and you should be able to roll up and pay at the gate, additionally we have a good percentage of elderly supporters who may or may not be comfortable with keyboard ticket booking.

[Dave]

For the benefit of forevertufc I will eat humble pie and accept that Little is back to his first seasons best after a very indifferent start to this campaign, he reaaly is looking good. Lapslies work rate allows Little the freedom to cause major problems, with reagrds to Wright when you have what for us is a quality centre forward then it is logical you play to his strengths regardless of whether it is working or not, without him. we had a far more mobile forward line.

No need for anyone to eat humble pie, we're entitled to our honest and heartfelt opinions, as long as they are honest, I'm just delighted Armani Little is beginning to win hearts and minds, apart from a real lack of consistency he really hadn't gone anywhere.

What you say above is interesting, because it's in line with what I've said on forums and the popside, when fans were complaining about Little, which is, Little can be a destructive midfielder who can really hurt the opposition but needs time and room to play in, with the addition of the extra body in midfield it took the shackles and chains off Little, the result was there for all to see, I've maintained all along, play Little in the correct position that suits his game, you'll see the best out of him, in my opinion that wasn't happening.

Don't think any of us would doubt the quality of Danny Wright, I personally question his age and mobility (maybe a step to far for him now) however if the very inclusion and the need to play to Wright's strength is causing an in-balance between defence and attack, then no, he shouldn't be in the team.

Play to the strength of your squad, put square pegs in square holes.

[bobbytanz1963]

Very pleasing result and the effort and pressing was awesome. Thought Lewis commanded the defence and he won't hit another shot like that in a long time ! Lapsie is like the duracell bunny just keeps going, despite crap setting in, just what you need in the midfield an old fashioned terrier. I have been critical of Little and humble pie can be eaten but its amazing what confidence does for your game, he is a different player now and back to his true self hopefully. But don't let him near penalties please .... give them to Moxey after the one he got against Notts County last season !!!

Two good strikers goals from Holman and he showed great work ethic plus clinical finishing, Needed as I hear Wright is out for maybe 6-8 weeks ??? Maybe time to get a forward in on loan to cover this or hope Conor stays fit to play the No 10 role ?? I guess we will now get cries of bringing (the goal machine) Olaf back ???

All in all a great team performance

Onwards and upwards i hope

[SBP]

For me Danny Wright would be best used off the bench. As mentioned above his age and mobility is affecting his game. You can see it, he gets at his team mates and is always whingeing, he wants everything his way which i can understand however he doesnt have that pace anymore and lets be honest if your the opposing defence your not exactly too concerned as you know exactly what your going to get with him and how we as a team will play. I think we are far more effective with that extra player either in midfield or just behind Holman or Lolos. IMO CLE is more effective playing more central and just behind a no9. This also gives Armani more options. The players were interchanging positions. Yesterday we had on occasions Lapslie in a very advanced role, Wealstone just couldnt deal with anything.
Yesterday Holman looked far more effective, O'Connell played well which in my mind were two players who i didnt think were upto it however what a difference that made to there games.

[SBP]

For me Danny Wright would be best used off the bench. As mentioned above his age and mobility is affecting his game. You can see it, he gets at his team mates and is always whingeing, he wants everything his way which i can understand however he doesnt have that pace anymore and lets be honest if your the opposing defence your not exactly too concerned as you know exactly what your going to get with him and how we as a team will play. I think we are far more effective with that extra player either in midfield or just behind Holman or Lolos. IMO CLE is more effective playing more central and just behind a no9. This also gives Armani more options. The players were interchanging positions. Yesterday we had on occasions Lapslie in a very advanced role, Wealstone just couldnt deal with anything.
Yesterday Holman looked far more effective, O'Connell played well which in my mind were two players who i didnt think were upto it however what a difference that made to there games.

[gateman49]

.... Lapsie is like the duracell bunny just keeps going, despite crap setting in, ..........

It didn't look like crap more like cramp!

Yes, he was unlucky not to get into the Non league paper's team of the day to join Lewis and Holman. I just hope that he's saved some fuel for Tuesday evening.

[Whydoibother]

Yes a wonderful performance in th first half in wet horrible conditions and could have had more. Wright missing obviously helps us more, i would have him on the bench rather than starting but he is out for several weeks now. Holman took his goalds well and Lewis was a worldy for sure. Lapslie was everywhere too . Our bench was very weak because JOHnson and Addai had injuries. Andrews had to be named as a sub but couldnt come on.

[DWB]

What a goal! I've never seen a better one live, including several by David Graham and that half-way-line shot by Eunan O'Kane against Argyle all those years ago. After a rather loose start when Wealdstone could have had at least one goal through lax defending the rest of the game was a lesson in how to play on a wet pitch - keeping the ball zipping around on the deck when we had it and a hard press when we didn't. Everyone played well but the standouts for me were Joe Lewis (after that start) and Tom Lapslie. The latter must have covered every inch of the pitch and must have stolen the ball or cut out a pass at least a dozen times - an awesome performance given his relative lack of match practice since joining us in the summer. Holman also showed fantastic fitness and took his two goals well - the first was a striker's classic. I thought Armani Little had another influential game - scoring one, missing a pen and creating another. I thought Dan Martin was also impressive in the wing-back role - what an engine he has in him! But everyone played their part in a fantastic team performance. Yes, Wealdstone were architects of their own downfall by overplaying at the wrong end of the field at times but that was a result of our superior pressing game. Clearly the management team had also done a fine job of pinpointing Wealdstone's weakness and providing the right formation and tactics to exploit them. Cracking result!

Totally agree with your sentiments Modgull.

I do think that Danny Wright’s injury whatever it is ( he had a plastic cast on his lower leg and was limping quite a bit) has perhaps made us play differently with more balls on the deck and not continuously pumped up high for him. He will still go a good job for us I feel. Also I do think there is a good player in Lolos and given more game time he could become quite a good weapon for us. He seems to have good feet and an eye for a pass(something different for a forward). This result has to give us confidence and I feel particularly pleased for Dan Holman who I’m sure will score a few more now!

[PL21gull]

What a treat it was to have 2 teams trying to play modern football on the deck, alas for Wealdstone their naivety and lack of cutting edge left them exposed to our pressure, once we had tightened up on their playmaker and stretched their midfield. It was great to see our teamwork and hunger for the ball, such a contrast to the opening 3 home games when the opposition hinted in packs and controlled the midfield, reducing us to playing hopeful long high balls. Coyy.

[Louis]

Highlights