Torquay United Fans Forum

forevertufc wrote:The opening quarter of the game was bright and positive form a Torquay point of view, our team looked confident and were playing the better football, Macclesfield's team under pressure knowing they had to win found it harder to settle, however it was Macclesfield who were getting shots off although not on target in the opening exchanges, whilst our team seemed to be playing square balls around the Macclesfield area.

Our goal came from a comedy of errors, we had I think at least three attempts to shoot on goal all scuffed, Macclesfield failed to clear their lines from these scuffed attempts, the ball broke to Briscoe who finished neatly, Torquay grow in confidence and finished the half stronger, Daniel denied by a great save from a free kick, in a first half that should seen this game put bed by The Gulls.

Second half with results elsewhere going in Macclesfield's favour I, personally expected an onslaught, and after a tense opening exchange Macclesfield began to build up pressure, some stout defending, and bit of poor quality from Macclesfield prevented them getting back into the game, however pressure would tell in the end as they gained a deserved equaliser.

Over the years we've had some last day dramas, and in terms of play-offs and promotion some real nail bitters , you could see and hear the desperation grow amongst the traveling support and the Macclesfield players as they appealed for everything in the box, sort of felt for them at the end as the momentary stunned silence from the Macclesfield fans, as their team dropped to it's knees at the final whistle, however it was nice, for once to be the last day party poopers.

Not going to dwell on individual performances to much, or Chris Hargreaves' substitutions, none of us really know who's going to be with the club next terms and who's not, we don't even know who will have ownership, so all that's best left alone. One thing I will say, looking at the performances of Ben Harding today and Lincoln home, what a real shame , for the first time in 2 years the lad actually looks fit, and we've started to see performance levels and him (BH) have an effect on the game that he was brought to the club for, to little to late maybe.

forevertufc wrote:These three back to back wins are welcome indeed, CH said he wouldn't experiment he'd go for the points, he has done that, and so far achieved it, so he does deserve some credit for that. But, and there is a but here, pressure off, playing against sides that may or may not have placed so much importance on results as we have, puts these results into some perspective, so like I said in September when the team won 6 on the spin, some caution has to placed on these results, I do not at this point see them as corner turning results, I was at the Lincoln game, our performance was generally very poor, they just happened to worse, however, these results, should add some momentum.

This season for the large part has been a shambles, and when fans post that opinion there not telling lies, we've lost 16 games so far, our results against bottom 8 teams have been absolutely shocking to be honest, so there's a lot of work to do in the summer to avoid a repeat of this season.

forevertufc wrote:Back from the game, just being honest, a very poor game between two very poor teams. But a win, is a win, and it was nice to win a game from a goal that shouldn't have stood as the ball was clearly moving when the free kick was taken, but again we'll take that, first time I'd seen Lavercombe, yes this lad seems to have a fair bot of potential, was he really man of the match, I suppose in a game that lacked quality passion and desire, who else. Crowd figure a joke, they must add in season tickets holders who weren't there, no way was there 1200 in the ground tonight.

Swanny wrote:A reasonable performance today and most importantly a win to lift our spirits. Torquay's goals on 22 and 27 minutes came at convenient times and both had a little of bit fortune about them. But they gave Torquay a welcome cushion for the rest of the match and the first half was comfortable for Torquay. The second half was more even and both teams had decent chances. Enter Torquay's youth keeper Lavercombe who rightly won sponsors and Twitter MOTM for a rare clean sheet. Crowd a disturbing 1,462, 84 of whom were from Altrincham.

Torquay were on top in the opening exchanges but Altrincham had the ball in the net after around 5 minutes. Lavercombe made a decent parried save and they scored the rebound but it was ruled out for offside. Torquay had another touch of fortune when their experienced keeper went off injured and was replaced by a young keeper. Torquay's main threat was down the wings through Ajala on the right and loanee Daniel on the left. They pose quite a handful for the opposition and if only Ajala could get his final ball right when he is in a promising position he would be a cracking footballer. Torquay's opening goal was created by Bowman who was clear on our right. His low cross was not great and should have been cleared by their defenders but Daniel showed great close control and finished with a low powerful shot into the net. Shortly afterwards Bowman ran with the ball in the box, there appeared to be a trip from a defender, Bowman went down easily and the referee pointed to the spot. Bowman injured his shoulder in the process but dispatched the penalty with confidence. As the ball rebounded out of the net, Bowman caught it and lightly dropped the ball onto their keeper's head who was still on the ground more in fun than anything else. A right old melee broke out with angry Altrincham players laying into Bowman. Bowman and an Altrincham player were booked. Bowman shortly afterwards was replaced by Campbell due to his injured shoulder. Torquay saw out the rest of the half comfortably 2-0 up.

The second half Torquay played in fits and starts. Campbell brought a decent save from their keeper and he had 2 other chances he put wide from defensive mix-ups. One of them Campbell robbed their keeper outside their penalty area on our left but missed the target with the goal gaping. Altrincham grew stronger and Lavercombe saved a 1-on-1 by parrying with a strong arm. Lavercombe later produced a great flying diving save which reminded me of Poke at his best. It was also Lavercombe's all round game that impressed me. He is a decent height and physique and had a real calm presence about him. His kicking showed excellent technique as he kicks quite effortlessly and is accurate and he does not seem to shirk coming off his line for crosses. It's early days but I hope he features more next season.

The second half opened up to quite an entertaining game with both teams threatening. At times you worried that Torquay's defence did not close down well enough at times and with better finishing Torquay could have been found out and at least we had a keeper who saved the defence's blushes. Richards came on late on for Briscoe who I thought was hit-and-miss today - on one hand he made some telling runs and passes but on he otherhand he gave the ball away too often.

I thought today's line-up had a good balance about it. Both our wingers offered width and a decent outlet and they both possess some lovely footballing tricks. McQuilkin and Harding worked well together in central midfield as they seem to complement eachother. Both of them showed decent distribution today. The defence was mainly solid but were exposed at times down the middle.

I cannot make the last 2 home games so that was my last game this season. It's been another horrible season and today at least showed what we should be doing to part-time teams in this division. We really should have far too much ability and skill and fitness against these sort of teams who try hard but really have limited quality. One or two of Altrincham players really looked out of shape and our biggest failing this season is beating these sort teams. It's been quite embarrassing but thankfully not today.

FavGull wrote:At the game today, first time since Welling over Christmas, wanted to get one more in this season, thoroughly depressing though it was.

Well, I say that as I went with incredibly low expectations, which by the end of the game were mostly met. However at half time I was still moderately upbeat. Their goal was either amazing or a complete fluke, but either way. After that, Aldershot may have shaded the half but we did ok at times, and I thought the formation was working to some degree, albeit we didn't have the players in all positions to carry it off well because either a) they were unavailable, b) we don't have them anyway or c) if we do, their confidence is shot to sh*t or they don't seem to have a clue what they are supposed to be doing. I think 4-4-2 is basically dead as a formation, and although all 3 in midfield today had issues, there was something resembling solidity. I accept though that the players are probably confused with all the changes to personnel/positions/formations.

Lavercombe was the positive, did what was asked of him well, a very good save in the second half, came for some crosses and got a fist on them, kicked well - would be happy to see him in for the rest of the season. Could be a good back up next season?

I haven't been to many games this season, but I guess it's fair to say that the second half was a return to how we have been playing regularly of late. Two things stuck out for me. Firstly, how easily Aldershot got in behind us on a number of occasions, especially early in the half. Pearce (who I thought was ok up to his glaring miss) was awful positionally a few times during this period, and Downes, for all the times he gets his head on the ball, makes far too many errors on the ground and cannot recover, and I think he in particular leaves his inexperienced full back exposed. I'm not sure if I should criticise Ives for this as well, I think he has probably had enough game time so yes. I'm waffling, but basically rip up the defence and start again. Good as Pearce was and despite all the fans Downes has, I can't see a future for us with them at the club. Angus and an experienced, solid centre back please. Probably new full backs too. Secondly, why oh why do you ever bring on a sub when you are defending a corner ffs! Seem to remember this the last time we were at Aldershot. Not only a sub, but a change of formation and positions at the same time. By the time I worked out what we were doing we were 2-0 down, and i'm sure my brain works faster than some of our players'. And Ajala off at that stage, not sure about that.

First two subs were very predictable, Aldershot probably worked them out before the game, I pretty much had, and largely ineffective. But after the 2nd goal, I, like many other no doubt, had to struggle to maintain interest and focus. So depressing.

Not sure where we go from here. Hopefully positive and exciting times ahead. Certainly the doors should be revolving a lot. But how many times in the last 2+ years have we all thought we have hit rock bottom, and how many times have we been proven wrong. At least on the pitch until August nothing now matters greatly, and the club can concentrate on sorting out the mess, cracks and holes off the pitch.

Swanny wrote:So we cannot even beat second from bottom Dartford in another disappointing performance. It was a game of few clear chances and both keepers were mainly redundant for the game. You assumed Torquay would win this one after taking the lead but no they could not even do that. Dartford's equaliser was out of nothing and was preventable in my opinion. Crowd 1,754, 160 from Dartford, sponsors MOTM Ives, twitter MOTM Cameron.

My first priority today was to see who was sat in the director's box. Thea is still there with her son and Kelvin was back. I was heartened to see Sturrock there which gives me a little hope that he may have some say in our future? We desperatley need someone of his calibre.

Onto the game and my first concern was that with Ajala playing up front with Briscoe, we had no striker to hold the ball up like Bowman can. Ajala and Briscoe did put in a decent shift and tried to win possession off Dartford's defenders by closing them down when they were in possession. Ajala ceated a good chance when he robbed a defender but opted to pass the ball to Briscoe instead of shooting, and guess what, his pass went astray. That summed up our first half performance, there was no end product and when we did get a move going it broke down. Dartford had a couple of half chances that they did not get on the end of a move. McQuilkin had a great chance before half-time but blasted the ball over the bar when clear in the box. It was a poor finish that lacked technique from someone who has played at a higher level.

Torquay, kicking towards the away end, had more pressure in the second half and the approach play was good at times. But clear chances were at a premium. Briscoe had a clear chance but like McQuilkin blasted the ball over. McQuilkin finally broke the deadlock and finished well keeping the ball down this time. I suppose Torquay's pressure deserved this but we still rarely worked their keeper which spoke volumes. Our new loanee, Daniel, was involved in much of our play and showed some good skill at times. But he is very raw and he also wasted possession. None of our players really stood out. Cameron made a really run cutting from the right and beat a few players and was pulled down just outside the area. The referee waved play-on which summed up his performance today. Torquay had a few corners and dangerous free-kicks but did little with them. Dartford had a rare attack and predictably scored. Rice parried a long distance shot, he looked favourite to get the rebound but the ball fell loose and Darford slotted the ball home. Our defending was suspect to say the least as our defenders just watched and did not act. Torquay never looked capable of restoring the lead and the game just petered out. Our 2 subs came on too late to make an impact and it was another shambles of an afternoon at Plainmoor. It's all so poor and loyal supporters around me just shook their heads at full-time. It's not getting ant better and only mass changes in the summer will give me any confidence it will improve next season. There's no proper leadership out there on or off the pitch and it again showed today.

CP Gull wrote:Some interesting things to come out of Chris Hargreaves post match interview. He actually admitted that their second goal came about from mistakes made in a couple of areas where we aren't strong ... he didn't name any names but surely it suggests at least that he feels we need to strengthen not only our centre backs but also our goalkeeper ... who let's face it is simply not good enough at this level ... despite what Dave Thomas thinks! What he ( Greavsie) may just have forgotten is that it was his decision to (re) sign Rice and likewise Jordan Seabright (and we all know what he is doing now, don't we!).

A "moment of madness from my captain" was another of his comments that he made. I thought the fact that he referred to him as his CAPTAIN which of course he is, was quite pointed. He (Young) was his choice as Captain and the wrong one, in my opinion, it should have been Downes who is the natural leader. But, more to the point, to come out with the same old rubbish about "it wouldn't have been a sending off ten years, or even five years ago" is totally irrelevant! Luke Young was only just out of short trousers ten years ago, he knows the rules as they are TODAY and yet yet again one of our players' indiscipline has cost us big time! How many more times????

I think the reaction of Hargreaves, in both trying to defend the actions of Young and in also trying to suggest that a Southport player did something similar in the second half and so they should have ended up with 10 is NOT the right way to go about it. He SHOULD have laid into Young for his petulant reaction, his indiscipline and the lack of leadership shown by HIS captain. Our disciplinary record has been shocking all season and has cost us countless points - and does not reflect well on the management - the very fact that this afternoon he has tried to defend the indefensible probably gives us an insight into what the problem might be - a lack of discipline, starting with the Manager!

Finally, as if leaving us a man short against Woking on Tuesday ~ when the sub wasn't ready to replace Bowman and we ended up conceding ... the very last thing you would expect to happen in the very next game would surely be a repeat! But no, Bowman was injured (again ~ begs the question of whether he should have even started?) and comes off to be replaced by Daniel - only for the sub to be refused permission as it appears he is wearing a wristband that he shouldn't be. Regardless of the silly rules, the FACT is that we should have known better and only further underlines the UNPROFESSIONAL approach that appears to run throughout the club at this time. Leaving us down to just nine men for a good couple of minutes was inexcusable and the fact that apparently Guegan didn't even put the ball out into touch at the first opportunity he had ( he didn't) only served to underline that point!

In any other situation, with any other club, Hargreaves (and the rest !) would have been relieved of his duties weeks ago ~ given our recent performances and results he is extremely lucky to still be in a job ~ but with no effective leadership at the club during this state of limbo he remains in position, and will surely hold on now until new owners come in (assuming they do!)

With the "other" results today I think we will stay up but only because those four teams currently occupying the bottom four will probably not garner enough points to make us seriously sweat. That said though, I still think a 20th place finish is a distinct possibility and in any other season we would probably be staying up by the skin of our teeth rather than the relative comfort we are currently enjoying.

But, whatever happens between now and the end of the season, I am seriously worried for the future of the club. I cannot see anything other than a summer where season ticket sales drop through the floor - especially if they are maintained at current prices (likely!) and it is going to have to take a huge turnaround at the top to give any of the long suffering fans any sense of optimism for the future and anything more than the prospect of another struggle next season.

royalgull wrote:Wasn't that our season in a nutshell?

Bright start by a vibrant attacking young team playing some good stuff, look imperious before something goes wrong and then it all caves in?

The first 20-25 minutes was as good as i've seen from us in a long long time, our two wingers helped stretch the game, the two central midfielders were getting on the ball making things happen and 2 v 2 up front Briscoe and Bowman were ripping them apart, we could easily have been 4-0 up at half time but for two good saves, 1 of them outstanding by their keeper. It wouldn't have flattered us.

Would have loved to be a fly in the dressing room at half time, did we say go out and protect it? Or did we say keep doing the same things, keep attacking, because let's face it other than the kudos and happiness of a win the result really is immaterial for us now. It's not going to define our season it'll just make a difference of us finishing 12th - 17th and as such there was no reason for us to be fearful, nervous or panic. Yet that's what we did.

Rather than go out second half and maintain the same tempo, the same passing principles we went into survival mode trying to protect our lead and it is something time and time again this group has shown to be incapable of doing, Telford, FGR twice, Dover, Alfreton all games off the top of my head we were in front or in control of only to collapse and again last night, it was almost inevitable once the first one went in. This group simply doesn't have the leaders, the fight, the concentration and the discipline to cope with and deal with a setback, one thing goes wrong and all of a sudden 2/3/4 things go wrong and we fold.

Really disappointing because none of Woking's goals were good goals so to speak they were all second balls they got to first the second goal was criminal after McQuilkin won an excellent header their guy picked it up and under no challenge thumped it back in just beyond sub standard play from us. In fact I don't recall Ricey having to do much in the game, in comparison Crowe has made 2 or 3 top saves on top of the two we scored. The only chance Woking really made was in stoppage time when their guy has put one over from inches out.

The injury too Bowman didn't help but you could tell he was struggling before that, the first half him and Briscoe ran riot, they looked absolutely superb but second half we just couldn't get them in the game, we were content just trying to boot it or head it away and we lost all control and impetus we'd got from the first half.

Also hated seeing Brian Saah and Scott Rendell playing for Woking what a waste. Two players that would make a massive difference to us but hey ho, overall a vintage Torquay away day, greeted by Paul Bastard in shorts in weather not suitable for summer attire followed by a Torquay collapse, lovely stuff.

Swanny wrote:At last a win for the Gulls! I thought we were good in patches today and probably just deserved a win. The big hero today was Bowman who replaced the injured Campbell on 15 minutes. Bowman did not have the best of receptions from the home crowd when he entered the fray but he responded in the best possible fashion. His 2 goals were very well taken and his overall contribution was excellent - holding the ball up, winning headers and linking play.

My first observation today was how sparse the crowd was and I was wondering if it was the lowest I've been to for a league match. It turned out it was 1,607 with 200+ from Kidderminster who mainly occupied the away end. For a change Torquay kicked towards the Family Stand in the first half. There was no sign of Kelvin Thomas by the way. Kidderminster posed very little threat in the first half and Torquay were the better side with some decent approach play. Bowman got the important breakthrough on 23 minutes who drilled a low, hard shot from just outside the penalty area that beat the keeper at his near post. Our spirits were finally lifted and as was the whole mood around Plainmoor. There were one or two other chances and we deserved our half-time 1-0 lead. There seemed a decent balance about our 4-4-2 formation and players positions. Bowman and Briscoe work well together in attack are are surely our best combination there. Young was putting a real good shift in midfield and at times produced some quality. McQuilkin offered little beside Young, he is so lightweight and his passing was not always great. Ajala had a poor first half - he got himself into promising positions but his final ball tended to go astray that resulted in our moves breaking down. Cameron on the left wing was a danger and linked play well. It was a reminder to me today that we DO have some quality in our team that are capable of doing well in this league if they play to their potential.

Kidderminster came at Torquay in the second half. It was interesting to see Nicholson taking all their free-kicks and corners as well as the odd long throw. He still poses a threat in that respect. It was from a Nicholson free-kick about 35 yards that was flicked on and finished by at close range veteran Hughes. I'm afraid we still look so vulnerable defending free-kicks and corners and this was another goal conceded from a set-piece. Torquay's winner was a real quality team move that reminded me of our good run last October. Young found Ajala on the right with a beautiful cross field pass of probaly around 40 yards. Ajala threaded an inch perfect through ball for Bowman who slipped the ball past their keeper. There were some scares later in the match. Dawson, who did well at right back, made one last ditch tackle in the penalty box - something I have not seen much from a full-back of ours for a long time. There were a couple of clearances as well in our box when you expected Kidderminster to score. Rice came out for a cross and dropped the ball ut got away with it. Bowman nearly wrapped the game up near the end but his shot was blocked. Torquay held out the 5 minutes of added time and there were big celebrations at the end.

I thought today the team showed character and at times some good quality against another struggling side. There's an awful lot to sort out, we have weak areas in the team and very little back up. But there is quality in players like Bowman, Briscoe, and Young. Players like Cameron and Ajala do possess quality but are very hit-and-miss. I'm afraid defending set-pieces is still a weak point and has cost us so many goals and points this season. Last word to Nicholson - he applauded the Popsiders just before the game started and had a warm reception throughout by the home fans with even some "Nicholson" chants (one when there was a Torquay free-kick!). Nicholson was subbed near the end again to good applause from the home crowd.

Neal wrote:Just got in.

WASTE OF MONEY
WASTE OF TIME
WAS BORED AFTER 10 MINUTES AND I AINT JOKING
AND IT WAS BLOODY COLD

How have you lot watched that for the last 3 months, bloody hell you lot need medals!

Ive witnessed some poor football in the last 35 years, but honestly, I hope Im not exaggerating, but that was awful.

If any of you think that's a bunch of footballers who are actually good but being managed poorly your off your heads!!!!! I have never seen a bunch with so little pace, bad first touch, terrible distribution. They are NOT professional footballers, sorry they are just not. If they were part timers I could accept it, but they are not, they do this every f ing day of their lives! Surely you can at least trap the bloody round thing!!!

tommyg wrote:I'll start with a positive - we were better than Saturday although that's not saying much! Thought we deserved something from the game but we lack quality and confidence in the final third. I didn't have a great view of the goal but our defence didn't cover themselves with glory. I think Downes and Dawson were too deep and played Chester onside when the ball came into the box, before it was tucked low past Rice into the corner. This came after Bowman missed another golden chance at 0-0 (how many times has that happened this season?) and Young watched a deflected free-kick cannon off the crossbar. Second half we were better with Young doing his best to drive the team on but we never had Chester on the ropes and they saw it out quite comfortably in the end.

Rice 7 - few saves including one excellent stop in the second half. Given MOTM for the second game running.

Dawson 5 - played out of position and has no left foot. Better than Saturday but still unconvincing.

Downes 5 - slow to react and not as commanding as usual.

Pearce 5 - gone from our best player to a liability. No coordination and his distribution makes Branston look like Beckenbauer.

Gueguen 5 - looked like a centre-half playing at right-back. Caught out of position a few times but is at least good in the air and a decent passer. Was absolutely distraught at full-time.

Ajala 7 - didn't stop running. Our biggest threat going forward. Doesn't always come off but he at least is brave enough to run at defenders.

Harding 5 - has another different haircut although as we only see him once in a blue moon I'm surprised he's not got a ponytail. One good pass in the second half. That was it.

Young 7 - first half poor but was back to his best after the break. Tried to push the team forward and was very unlucky not to score. Best 45 minutes he's played in a long time.

Chapell 4 - nothing came off for him tonight. No end product which is why the rest of his career will be spent outside of the FL.

Briscoe 6 - probably has the best first touch in the squad. Controls the ball well and tries to link up play but he can't run with it. I'd stick with him up front though.

Bowman 2 - that's being kind. It was like playing against 12 players. One of the worst performances from a centre-forward I have ever seen. I'm honestly not exaggerating.

Richards and Yeoman were blah but only had about 20 minutes. Can't remember Campbell touching the ball.

I thought it was a decent team selection from Hargreaves. I would have started Richards instead of sicknote but I was happy with the line-up. What disappointed me was his substitutions. I know Briscoe does struggle to complete a full game but he wasn't breathing too heavily tonight and should have stayed on. Bowman must have some kinky pictures of Mrs Hargreaves in his locker as that's the only explanation I can think of for why he wasn't taken off. Cameron should have also replaced Chapell who needs to spend every training session working on his crossing. Regardless of the subs, they should have happened much sooner. Hargreaves just doesn't seem to be able to change a game when it's not going our way. Might struggle to get four figures for the attendance next Tuesday night.

tommyg wrote:Just got back. Absolutely spineless performance. I've given Hargreaves the benefit of the doubt up until now but I've had enough. Let's start with the bizarre team selection. Ajala on the bench?! He's been one of very few positives lately and his omission from the starting XI is a serious hint that Hargreaves has lost the plot. Gueguen has just been voted our Player of the Month (admittedly that doesn't say much at the moment) but his reward for that is to be... dropped to the bench. Richards is one of few players who actually shows passion and now he's out of the team. I think Hargreaves must just pick names out of a hat.

Our full-backs today made Tonge and Cruise look like Cafu and Carlos. Dawson thinks he's playing dodgeball because every time the ball was booted towards him he seemed to run away from it. He conceded the penalty after catching his opponent with a stray arm and was absolute rubbish. Ives was just as bad and was at fault for the first goal after his clearance went straight to a Telford player in the box. His favourite pass was back to Rice and he rarely crossed the halfway line. He looks a shadow of the player he was in his first few games and his confidence has been shattered. Pearce and Downes played quite well to be fair. Pearce made one mistake in the first half which went unpunished but they were solid. Rice was voted MOTM for his penalty save and could do nothing about the goal. Out goalkeeper being MOTM at home against a part-time team who are bottom of the league really does sum it up. The same part-time team have now done the double over us. For feck sake.

In midfield, Young had another poor game and McQuilkin quickly faded after a bright first 10 mins. He's too lightweight to play in a two-man midfield. Chapell is another player not strong enough and too inconsistent. He will beat his player and then shank a cross straight out of play. Reid had a debut to forget. Kept coming inside and waiting for the ball to come to him instead of actually going to the ball. Doesn't actually look very quick and can't head the ball.

Up front we were pathetic. Bowman is probably our best striker but wouldn't be fifth choice in most of our squads over the years. Completely miscued a shot towards the end and was never in the game. Ditto Campbell, who did force the keeper into a great save in the first half, but that was his only contribution. Ajala went on a couple of mazy runs when he came on and did more than the front six who started combined. Briscoe almost rescued a point with a piledriver which was tipped over and Yeoman only came on for a few minutes.

Their goalkeeper did make three of four excellent saves - the pick of the bunch being when he caught Pearce's goalbound header after tipping a Young free-kick onto the bar. Downes had a couple of golden chances with his head but we struggled to create opportunities in open play. We were second to every ball. There was no passion, no fight, just resignation throughout the team. I don't know what we do on the training ground. Our tactics today were to pass it back to the defence or keeper and then lump it aimlessly forward.

Huge boos at the end and fans calling for Hargreaves' head. He headed straight down the tunnel at the final whistle. Six or seven players had the bottle to come towards the Popside, including Young who was getting dog's abuse from one fan. Young was smiling sarcastically and shrugging his shoulders. You could tell he was clearly peed off but did the sensible thing and walked away. Rice came right over to the fans and was also getting stick. He did nothing wrong today and was pointing to himself to suggest as much. Hargreaves should have had the balls to come over but he left his players to deal with the abuse instead. So much for protecting his young lambs. The way we played today, I honestly can't see where the next win is going to come from. It's a good thing there is still a big gap between ourselves and the trap door.

Swanny wrote:Should we really be surprised what happened today? For months our league form has been poor, up until the semi-final we've had the easiest draws we could wish for in the FA Trophy and we could not even reach the first round proper of the FA Cup. Our FA Trophy run has masked our dreadful performance overall this season. From our management down, we are simply not good enough. Today we hardly had a shot on target and once we conceded our whole game fell apart. Crowd a really good 3,255 with 372 from Wrexham, sponsors MOTM Downes - well at least he tries. I thought the only other player to come out today with credit was a solid performance by Rice in goal.

It was a decent atmosphere today and the home crowd was doing their bit with some good chanting and lots of yellow on show. With Wrexham supporters also vocal the game was all set up nicely for a decent cup-tie. I was very impressed with Wrexham's solid defence and in the first half they coped comfortably with our attacks. Likewise Torquay were rarely troubled in the first half but Torqauy had to show the initiative. Loanee Campbell did lose his marker well to get clear in the penalty area but badly scuffed his shot. Likewise Bowman had a couple of half chances but did not test their keeper. Torquay's main problem all afternoon was in central midfield where Luke Young was totally out-of-sorts and Richards might have won some tackles but his distribution was poor. Ajala on the left wing had little time on the ball and McQuilkin on the right wing did some tidy link up play with right back Guegen and crosses but not much else. There was no-one on the end of the crosses and strikers Bowman and Campbell had little impact all match. The bottom line is that Torquay did not have one shot on target in the first half.

Torquay had to up their game in the second half but it was not forthcoming. Chappel came on for McQuilkin but Wrexham got the vital breakthrough in controversial circumstances. Downes was adjuged to have handled the ball outside the penalty area on our left when it was more a case of ball to hand. In swung the free-kick and a Wrexham player got his head first to put the ball past Rice. We have let in so many goals from these sort of free-kicks and corners this season and in truth we always look vulnerable from them. On came Briscoe and O'Archie for for Campbell and Ajala but instead of rallying around Torquay capitulated big style. Wrexham sliced through Torquay on our left and in went goals 2 and 3 in similiar circumstances. Loads of home fans poured out of the ground after the 2nd. and 3rd. goals and Torquay resembled a disjointed mess. Some Popsiders were having a go at the players and McDonald foolishly responded to them and Downes had to drag MacDonald away - all this as the game was going on. There was no leadership from the dug-out or from the players. Young is no captain and showed a lack of discipline instead to add to his woeful performance today as a player. Boos rang out at the end with just a few home fans sympathetically clapping our players off the pitch.

Well done to Wrexham, they were very solid, had a bit of know-how and knew how to finish. We had one shot on target, an Ives cross come shot that their keeper had to back pedal and tip over the bar. It could have been a flukey goal. Our whole club is really at rock bottom and at least today after this heavy defeat people attached to the club can face the truth. Our performances over the last few months simply have not merited a place in a cup final. Where do we go from here? Now that is a difficult one. Personally I think the experiment of raw yougnsters is not working and we need to look more to hardened pros. The same could be said of our management team but we are stuck with them for the foreseeable future. More tough times ahead I'm afraid.

StretfordGull wrote:Unfortunately that was another abject performance.
In fact, we played very similar to when we played them 3 weeks ago, it's just that they were much better.

There was absolutely no cohesion to our play. We played 4-5-1 in the first half but one of them was Courtney Cameron, so it was more like a 4-4-1. Ajala isn't necessarily a winger either and put about one cross into the box all game. He never knows what he wants to do with the ball either and constantly loses it.
Courtney Richards was atrocious. The guy tries hard, unlike Cameron, but the ball just kind of seems to hit him and pings off in any which direction. He gets his foot in though, which makes him a better option to Harding still.
Young tried hard again, but the incompetence in our side means he's up against it every week.
I quite like Mcquilkin. Looks decent on the ball, gets about a bit.
Bowman wasn't bad. Not great either. It's hard to play up top on your own for an hour though.
Cameron may as well stay on the coach. I'm not sure why he's getting picked.
The back four weren't bad really. They had rather a lot to do all game. Pearce isn't a right back, obviously, and Ives looks desperately short of pace. I'm unconvinced whether he'll play at a top level as a result. He doesn't look much quicker than Nico. He's showing promise for a 17 year old though, no doubt.
I'll reserve judgement on Campbell for now. But I think he's used to having a lot more time on the ball, in lower leagues. Hopefully this is his level.

Their two goals: The first was a terrific hit. He had far too much space mind and the challenge that came in wasn't good enough.
The second was a mistake by Rice. It was going wide, or to safety and Rice essentially palmed it to their striker to score.
He did make a couple of excellent saves though.

The score could have been 6-1, so we'll have to just take it.

We'll have to play a lot better to turn it around, because we were outplayed today.
Can we do it?
I haven't seen a good performance since Chester, last year.

I wish it was a better report.