forevertufc wrote:Didn't think it was are best team performance tonight, gave away posession a bit to cheaply around the midfield area at times, and as a result had to soak up a lot of pressure, this however is where the biggest improvement in our side is, no longer do we have aglass jaw and can hold teams out.
Jarvis looks like he could be decent signing, looks short of matchs that will come, bringing Saah back in was the right call , some important blocks and last ditch tackles from him, and christ I would hate to bwe the ball when Ellis gets his head on it, my god does it fly.
A scruffy 3 points but hey, who cares.
EDIT, oops sorry forgot to say, star man performance from Lathrope for me, unsung hero, rarely gets the credit for the work he does, once again tonight breaking up the play, not abad little passer either.
Dave i thought Jarvis was almost non existance at times...poor tonight imo...Morris Ellis and Eunan were excellent......scrappy win and some nail iting moments in the second half.....
funniest moments was the "ballboy"...Madjo....always getting a round of applause for helping Bobby get the ball
High on confidence after a magnificent win at Crawley on Saturday, Torquay United have another opportunity to move themselves nearer to the automatic promotion places in League two Tonight when they take on an Aldershot team high on confidence themselves. With matches coming thick and fast, and with promotion rivals cancelling each other out on a regular basis (Crawley and Southend drew 0-0 last night) 'The Gulls' will be seeking to put another run together, similar to the one that saw them win seven games in a row from the beginning of 2012 and put them in pole position for glory in the final run in.
Tonight's match however, promises to be a difficult proposition, Aldershot, though seemingly in mid-table security, have emerged as the new form team in the league having won their last six matches in a row- a club record -this momentum may yet see them become late play-off contenders. Torquay will have to play better than how they did in the reverse fixture back in August, when Torquay's only shot on target - Lee Mansell's tame shot from distance squirming through the legs of the hapless goalkeeper- was enough to see them travel back along the A303 with the 3 points. Having put the disappointment of those two February defeats against Bradford and Gillingham behind them with the hard-earned victory at Broadfield Road, Torquay will be keen to recapture the same determination and form which saw them flirt briefly with the League two summit.
Martin Ling approaches tonight's match with a couple of selection issues. Brian Saah, available again after suspension, has a battle to regain his place following the outstanding debut of young Reading Loanee Angus MacDonald on Saturday, Saah's experience may see him get the nod, but MacDonald has shown himself to be a capable and trustworthy understudy. An injury to the rejuvenated Danny Stevens opens up a space in the midfield. with Ian Morris likely to move across to his more accustomed left wing position, the Right Wing position is up for grabs. New signing Ryan Jarvis may be the favourite for the role given his intelligent, team-orientated performance at Crawley, but with Atieno, Craig and Macklin all in reserve, Martin Ling certainly has options.
And so, to a remarkably mild evening at Plainmoor, Brian Saah regained his place in the back 4 as Torquay lined up 4-3-3 shooting towards the Away End in the first half. Ryan Jarvis got the nod on the right hand side, although he and Ian Morris were to swap flanks throughout the night to good success. Aldershot, all in White, lined up 4-5-1 with the pacey striker Henrik Briemyr the lone man up front.
It was Torquay who started brightest, showing no ill-effects from the hard-fought encounter in Sussex 3 days earlier. They had the ball in the net within 5 minutes but it was disallowed as Rene Howe was judged to have mistimed his run before nodding the ball past Jamie Young. The big striker did not have to wait long for his first goal in 11 matches though, when he fired his side ahead 2 minutes later in sublime fashion. Ian Morris won the ball on the left hand edge of his own area and manoeuvred himself cleverly out the way of 3 surrounding 'Shots' men, his ball forward found Ryan Jarvis in plenty of space running at the retreating Aldershot back-line, Jarvis delayed his through ball by a split second allowing Eunan O'Kane to run onto his precise pass without breaking his stride cutting in from the left flank. O'Kane's perfectly weighted pass across the penalty was met by the on rushing Howe who confidently stroked the ball into the net from 10 yards. It was a brilliantly executed counter attack from the home side and made to look so simple by two perfectly sculptured passes.
Torquay were playing with real purpose going forward, some crucial interventions from full-backs Kevin Nicholson and Joe Oastler often being the catalysts to counter attacking down the wings. Sadly though the final pass proved to be disappointing on a number of occasions and Torquay couldn't muster much in the way of efforts at goal apart from a fizzing Damon Lathrope drive, which went narrowly over from 25 yards. Ryan Jarvis was bringing the best out of Rene Howe, playing with renewed confidence after a goal and a couple of 90 minute appearances under his belt, they linked up very well, with Howe for the first time in a while playing as an old-fashioned number 9 off the shoulder of the last man, as opposed to the man dropping deep for the ball which we have come accustomed to this season. Howe's presence in the box is unsettling for any defence and his powerful frame makes him a dangerous character as and when Torquay find the telling final ball.
Aldershot struggled in the first half, and certainly did not look like a team who had won 6 in a row. With Breimyr looking continually isolated up front and forced to feed off scraps, The Shots failed to pose much of a threat. For the majority of the first half the men in White looked content to play with 10 men behind the ball and try and pick off Torquay on the counter attack, however this played into the hands of Saah and Ellis who were imperious throughout, Ellis in particular dominated the aerial battle with ease. Aldershot's only shot on target of the entire night came from a free kick which forced Olejnik into a full stretch diving stop. The ball clearly swerved in the air which made Bobby's strong palm away all the more impressive.
Into the second half and Torquay again started on the front foot, Ian Morris moved to the right wing and was showing some nice link up play with Rene Howe and the ever-overlapping Joe Oastler, however the final ball continued to elude Torquay with frustrating regularity. However I always felt Torquay had a second goal in them tonight, and that it would seal the game, Kevin Nicholson nearly found it in spectacular fashion, his rasping drive from 20 yards, having been teed up by Howe, brought an acrobatic palm over the cross-bar from Jamie Young. It was to be one of the more exciting moments in a second half which saw Aldershot impose themselves more on the contest.
Holdsworth made a double substitution in order to find the equaliser, and for large periods of the second half Aldershot dominated the posession, and worked hard to retain the ball when they lost it. This high-intensity pressing game nullified Torquay's usual effective passing game and resulted in a disjointed Gulls display for the rest of the night, with the ball usually being played long down the line by way of safety. However for all their possession and territory Aldershot failed to test Olejnik in the second half. Like on so many occasions this season Torquay defended passionately and calmly and were able to see the game out. The back four playing confidently as a unit and I have rarely seen communication so strong between the entire team, there is a real togetherness and determination to protect the lead when they have got it.
Atieno came on for a tiring Jarvis, and his fresh legs gave Torquay the impetus to stem the tide, finding himself in space, the Kenyan unleashed a fierce strike at goal which went just wide. Rene Howe also missed a guilt edged chance to seal the game for the home team, his shot on the turn and swivel also narrowly went past the post. Of bigger concern was that Rene pulled up holding his hamstring with 10 minutes to go and was replaced by Lathaniel Rowe-Turner, Torquay reverting to a more defensive 4-5-1 to help see the game out. It has since been revealed he was taken off only as precaution, so here's hoping he will be fit for Bristol on Saturday, because Howe was much improved tonight.
Despite some very questionable refereeing, Torquay saw the remaining minutes out diligently to record their 11th win by a one nil margin in a row, and also their 16th clean sheet of the season. These records show that Torquay are a tough team to break down, both home and away, and when in the lead, have the ability to see the game out irrespective of the pressure they are under. Aldershot came here high on confidence but could not find a way past a resolute Torquay team who remain fifth placed but strengthening their chances of promotion with every result. These are truly remarkable achievements by a team bound by spirit, nerve and the continual belief that they can win every game they play.
Winning 1-0 is becoming a habit for the Yellow Army, and whilst it would certainly be more exciting to see us win by 3 or 4, if we were to win each game 1-0 from now until the end of the season we would get promoted. Some of the best teams of the past are built on the ability of grind out results when it matters, and Torquay seemingly have the propensity to do that this season. The old football parlance may just apply to our current situation 'It ain't pretty, but its effective' as the Gulls continue their climb up the table.
Have not long been back home. Poor game and performance again I thought. Shots were very physical and pressed us well so we could not get our passing game going except for the goal which was class. Too many players were below par again and we went far too deep too early putting unnecessary pressure on the defence. Fortunately each defender and Bobby was on their game. My ratings were therefore
kingsgull wrote:
Dave i thought Jarvis was almost non existance at times...poor tonight imo...Morris Ellis and Eunan were excellent......scrappy win and some nail iting moments in the second half.....
funniest moments was the "ballboy"...Madjo....always getting a round of applause for helping Bobby get the ball
Off course we are entitled to our opinions Mike, however I can't agree with you, he did look tired and was rightly taken off, however when he got on the ball looked like he can pass it well.
And lets not forget who started the move that we scored from. it was Jarvis who picked up the ball in midfield played and inch perfect slide rule ball into to O'Kane who then crossed it, O'Kane got the plaudits , however it was jarvis's quick thinking and pass in the first place that led to us scoring.
Only just found out we lined up 4-3-3 tonight then as per bengulls report. Nice to see we can still win with an altered formation but i'm just wondering whether peeps at the game thought it worked as well as the 4-5-1 weve become acustomed too??
The 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 is the same formation really, its interchangeable, i see it as 4-3-3 when on the attack - our wingers are usually the furthest forward, and 4-5-1 in defence and ready to break on the counter attack, especially getting 10 men behind the ball when preserving the lead.
The manager described it as 4-3-3 in his post match interview, but there is very little difference between the 2 formations apart from how you see the two wingers operating.
Jarvis looked tired during the second half, not sure how much football the guys has had of late. However in the first half he was a threat for us. He interacted with O'kane and Howe really well and some of his passing was inch perfect. I thought he looked very solid and certainly gave us more of a threat going forward. I would have loved to have been able to see him play with Stevens on the other wing(unlikely to ever see that), that for me would give us even more of a potent threat going forward. However second half we where not good at all, ball retention was awful. The amount of times it was just punted up field, very un Torquay like. However a lot of that was due to Aldershot, credit to them although never really causing much of a threat for Bobby, they certainly made our back four work damm hard. If they had someone on form in front of goal playing tonight, we would have lost that game I think.
Neither side seemed to be able to string more than two passes together but a win is a win. God knows how Aldershot have won six on the trot. Ellis was again outstanding at the back.
Jarvis offered us absolutely nothing. He didn't actualy touch the ball until the eighteenth minute of the game - quite some achievement for a pro footballer.
Atieno looked by some way a better option when he came on.
brucie wrote:Neither side seemed to be able to string more than two passes together but a win is a win. God knows how Aldershot have won six on the trot. Ellis was again outstanding at the back.
Jarvis offered us absolutely nothing. He didn't actualy touch the ball until the eighteenth minute of the game - quite some achievement for a pro footballer.
Atieno looked by some way a better option when he came on.
Despite the fact he gave the ball to Eunan to then assist Howe for the goal, in the 7th minute?
Jarvis had the odd moment but felt he was like a lost sheep when compared to the others...to be fair the others have played together for some time but watching Jarvis his positioning was out of sorts imo....each to thier own i guess....
i thought Ian Morris was excellent last night ...Ellis was excellent as always and Eunan was dogdetermined to get every ball...top guy and what class.....
One thing I like about Eunan (apart from his unbelievable quality on the ball), is the fact that for a relatively small lad, he isn't afraid to get stuck in and doesn't get shrugged off the ball a great deal.
Makes me think he could easily cut it at championship level at least....
bixieupnorth wrote:hey my avatar seems to have adopted that cool one that flicks thru all the kits, not complaining thats the best avatar ever! anyone else see that?
=D
