Torquay United 2-2 Woking.
tommyg wrote:Very enjoyable second half. Disappointed not to cling on for the win but would have taken a point at half-time and before the game. Played some lovely stuff after the break and had Woking on the ropes. Marsh made a huge difference - set up the first which was curled into the top corner from 25 yards by Richards. I didn't think he had that in his locker! We had chances to take the lead before Woking came back into it and had a stonewall penalty turned down when Berry mistimed a tackle inside the box. I still can't believe the ref didn't give it. He made himself even more unpopular with the home fans when Marsh skipped past the keeper and went down under his challenge before slotting in the resultant spot-kick. Thought we would hang on but Holman netted a late equaliser when he held off Smith, turned and fired past Spiess. Good finish but Smith - otherwise excellent - should have been tighter. Even more frustratingly, we had a golden chance to win it in injury-time but Bell fluffed his lines with only the keeper to beat. Bloody awful attempt. Draw probably a fair result.
Spiess still makes me nervous. He made two mistakes in the second half - dropping a corner and getting caught in no man's land with a cross - but he was rescued by covering yellow shirts on both occasions. Couldn't have saved the second goal and I was late to the game so missed the first by Daniel, who was Woking's best player. Nicholson did quite well considering he didn't get much help when defending against him. Smith was superb... until the late equaliser. I think it was him and not Hickford (they look alike from a distance). Hickford was very solid on his debut. Positioning was good and he looks quite confident. Would like to keep him longer but Angus - who was at the game along with Butler, Chaney, Odofin and Hells Bells - will be back in on Saturday. Berry played well again although was incredibly lucky not to concede that penalty.
Hurst started on the right and ended up on the left. He was limited to shots from outside the box but tested the keeper twice and was a menace. At first it looked like he was going to take the penalty before the ball ended up in Marsh's hands. Fenwick was out of position on the left and struggled although improved slightly after the break. Still not convinced. I've been very critical of Heslop to date but thought he was very good in the second half after taking the captain's armband. Easily his best showing in a Torquay shirt. Richards was garbage in the first half but scored our best goal of the season and that boosted his confidence. Fisher much more involved in the second half too and almost scored a header which was brilliantly clawed away by their keeper at 1-1. Did well with Marsh who was the difference maker. His pace and link-up play was really impressive. Set up one, scored one and put one on a plate for Bell at the end. Less said about Briscoe the better. He was in the huddle after the final whistle and had his calf iced up so maybe his withdrawal was because of injury but he was so ineffective it could easily have been a tactical substitution. Murombedzi did ok when he came on. Ran into a couple of dead ends but set up Marsh to win the penalty after we caught Woking on the counter.
That second-half performance gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the season. Was impressed with the team spirit and our heads never dropped - even after conceding the late equaliser. Marsh must start on Saturday.
