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Torquay United kick off December with a home game against much improved Dagenham & Redbridge in what is the re-arranged fixture from Tuesday 20th November. As both clubs were eliminated from the FA Cup at the first hurdle, that gave them both an ideal opportunity to play this game on the free weekend which was a sensible decision all round. It will mean a bigger gate and give more Daggers fans the opportunity to travel.

The Gulls go marching in off the back off a creditable 2-0 away victory at York where our only 2 attempts on target found the net. You couldn't get more clinical if you spent a night in intensive care in Torbay hospital watching repeats of ER. Martin changed the formation in light of recent criticism and the fact that Lee Mansell was suspended and it resulted in a hard fought win in the North Yorkshire cold. I suspect we will all be hoping and praying that he deploys the same tactics for this game instead of reverting back to leaving Rene isolated on his own up front. Martin has taken a step forward in his managerial capabilities by having the courage to go 4-5-1-1 ( or 4-4-2 in my eyes! ) at York and i have to warmed to him again for doing this. If we had lost at York then fair enough, he still decided to change the system in order to gain a positive outcome and that is good in my book.

At York we still struggled to create much in the way of clear cut opportunities but i know this will improve the more we are encouraged to get forward and perhaps we could start on Saturday against our visitors from Essex. I have a feeling that the Daggers will be just as hard to beat as the top teams in the division, they are only 3 points behind us and have recorded some decent performances this season after a catastrophic start where it took them 9 games to register their first league victory. They have beaten Oxford on the road 3-2 as well as Chesterfield 2-1 and got draws at Port Vale and Rochdale, they also recently hammered Rotherham 5-0 at the L.B Barking & Dagenham Stadium. ( Yes, seriously! ). There is no way i am underestimating them and if we got a draw it would be a satisfactory result although again, a much more improved performance is more important to me than the win. A draw playing some decent stuff and i'd be happy.

Daggers 7 goal top scorer Dwight Gayle has gone to Peterborough on loan with a view to a permanent move whilst they have themselves dipped into the loan market to recruit 18 year old midfielder Josh Wakefield from Bournemouth and also 19 year old Blackpool defender Jake Caprice. I bet he's a model pro! They also have joint 6 goal scorers Luke Howell whi is a DEFENDER! Plus striker Sam Williams. They also have midfielders Medy Elito and Kevin Maher as well as striker Brian Woodall and 'keeper Chris Lewington. I have to admit to being a little ignorant in not knowing a great deal about many of their squad but i'm certainly not underestimating the ability they have and what they are capable of under the canny stewardship of John Still.

That said they have only won 2 away games this season and have shipped 19 goals compared to our 9 so again, if we go out there with a positive mindset and get players forward in support then goals are there for us. I'd ideally like a repeat performance of York but with much more attacking intent. I reckon that could see us win the game comfortably.

Last time out Daggers beat Fleetwood at home thanks to a contentious injury time penalty which was converted by Sam Williams. Their line up was:

1. Chris Lewington (gk)
2. Luke Wilkinson
3. Femi Ilesanmi
4. Scott Doe
5. Michael Spillane
6. Medy Elito
7. Matthew Saunders
8. Luke Howell
9. Abu Ogogo
10. Sam Williams
11. Jake Reed

SUBS: Jordan Seabright (gk) UNUSED, Gavin Hoyte UNUSED, Kevin Maher UNUSED, Billy Bingham UNUSED, Josh Wakefield UNUSED, Josh Scott UNUSED, Brian Woodall ( on for Reed on 64 mins ).

A bit low key this thread as it's a home game and i want to keep a low profile as i've been a bit of a cock on here recently. Bradford away next though and i'm rubbing my hands!

I don't know the match officials yet but i will add them as soon as they are released. So long as it's not Darren Deadman we've half a chance.

I'm hoping for a good result and performance off the back of York but i've been let down so many times this season already when a good home performance has been followed by an abysmal away one so i'm not getting carried away. With renewed optimism and the assumption that Martin will go with 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 then i'll go for us sneaking it 2-1. Goals from Bodin and Howe.

Again, apologies for the lack of gags and bizarre humour in this thread but i'm just having a breather until Bradford. I've also decided to do all the matchday threads in this format rather than on the main page because if i'm honest, it's too much arsing about and i can't be bothered to fanny around with photos and stuff. Hope this is ok?!!

Yeah its great Andy I have heard of Darren Deadman, but can't remember which games he has refereed (assuming they were awful ones) :whip:
Also hoping to see us stick to a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1, and hoping to see us put a couple past the daggers, but also not expecting a clean sheet so I'm going to go for 3-1 (Howe, Jarvis and Downes).

Haha, Luke, Deadman is that referee who is known by every team in this division and, presumably, a few in other divisions too. If you are in the habit of perusing the forum of other teams in L2, you'll see an identical message of foreboding every time his name is mentioned. He's **** ing useless, universally, but seems particularly to dislike Devonshire based teams who wear yellow.

As to D 'n' R, we once had a spot of very minor bother in their bar, their supporters, by and large, are West Ham fans, their ground is a shit hole and has a very, VERY stupid name, they once managed to score 5 goals against us having had 5 shots in the whole bloody match (but it was a brilliant game, who remembers the Matt Green* goal in that match). None of this is relevant, of course. What is relevant is that they had a bad start, but now haven't lost for, I think, 11 games, this will be a tough game. They're not pretty, they're not really all that good, but by jove they're effective and that is all you need to be at any level.

I'd be delighted to see the same XI that started the York game, I think two up front gives us a better chance of getting goals. I wasn't there on Saturday, but it seems that Bodin was more effective when playing with two ahead of him, so maybe this is the key to getting the best out of him?

Matt.

* Might not actually have been Matt Green, but the goal was class. In fact, now I think about it, I think it was Carayol, but regardless, it was a great goal.

Haha, Matt, I am quite good at remembering players names/faces, but the same can't be said for referees. Outside of the major premier league ones, I have no clue as to who any of them are. I will just watch out next time I see that he's refereeing, mind you I will probably notice anyway if he is that bad

ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK!

Game in some doubt already according to the news item about the reserve game...

It would be disappointing if the game was called off not least because we have a bit of confidence back after the York game and we need to play again to try and get some form going but you can't beat the elements. It has been flooding pretty much all over the country this past week including the fields opposite my house and the main roundabout into Chesterfield (again) which closed off the bypass to J29 of the M1 (again). Not sure how much more rain is forecast but i hope we can get the game on.

ferrarilover wrote:Haha, Luke, Deadman is that referee who is known by every team in this division and, presumably, a few in other divisions too. If you are in the habit of perusing the forum of other teams in L2, you'll see an identical message of foreboding every time his name is mentioned. He's f**k ing useless, universally, but seems particularly to dislike Devonshire based teams who wear yellow.

In fact, now I think about it, I think it was Carayol, but regardless, it was a great goal.

Deadman reffed this season's game at Barnet, and was too scared to give an early, pretty clear penalty for a trip on Bodin.

And the stupendous, curling, long-range goal from miles out on the left wing was indeed scored by Muzzy. Bright spot on a miserable day...

austrianandygull wrote:It would be disappointing if the game was called off not least because we have a bit of confidence back after the York game and we need to play again to try and get some form going but you can't beat the elements. It has been flooding pretty much all over the country this past week including the fields opposite my house and the main roundabout into Chesterfield (again) which closed off the bypass to J29 of the M1 (again). Not sure how much more rain is forecast but i hope we can get the game on.

According to BBC weather, there is no rain forecast in Torquay for the rest of week

We've got it all now!

The referee for Saturday's game is to be Mr JAMES ADCOCK ( no disrespect but i can't confess to having heard of him before ), his assistants are Mr BRETT HUXTABLE and Mr RICHARD HULME and the 4th official is Mr MARK POTTAGE.

Brett Huxtable referees youth matches in North Devon quite often, and he's a linesman in league 2. Been refereed by him once or twice and he doesn't appear to have any sight in either of his eyes.

However, hoping (if the match is on) that we can grab a win here. Hopefully Howe back on the scoresheet?

GazTheGull wrote:Brett Huxtable referees youth matches in North Devon quite often, and he's a linesman in league 2. Been refereed by him once or twice and he doesn't appear to have any sight in either of his eyes.
However, hoping (if the match is on) that we can grab a win here. Hopefully Howe back on the scoresheet?

Why am i not surprised?

Just a couple of random facts i picked up whilst reading the football league paper.

1. Dagenham are 3rd in the league's form table

2. Boss John Still is amongst the top 5 longest serving managers in the football league.

Bye.

1. Gillingham were pretty high up too.

2. And in the last 3 seasons he's overseen a relegation fight, relegation and another relegation fight. Whoop-dee-doo!