Torquay v AFC Wimbledon Match Thread

[ferrarilover]

Just a pointer on the match, based upon Danny's individual player ratings. Just, say, we take those individual scores as gospel, whether we agree with them or not, what scores would we give the TEAM performance?

Just a question I wanted to ask, I'll be interested to see people's thoughts.

Matt.

[Father Jack]

As a team performance? 8 or 8.5 out of 10 for me. A couple of players looked a bit shakey but the rest covered well when needed. The midfield were on top of their game, which gave the defence an much easier time of it

[Colorado Gull]

Just to add on my Match Report, I thought that the Officials were very good tonight!

[Father Jack]

Just to add on my Match Report, I thought that the Officials were very good tonight!

Indeed, wish they were all this good. The ref did give one throw in the wrong way though

[tufcbrett]

Thought the team was very good tonight. I was very impressed with Mr Ellis, and i have to say Saah played well too. All in all a very good 3 points and fingers crossed our season can kick on from here. Perfect Birthday Present for me from the team tonight.

[mcgull1]

Indeed, wish they were all this good. The ref did give one throw in the wrong way though

Have just read this post and realised i hardly even noticed/remember the ref tonight, so great credit to him and his assistants!!

[westbaygull]

Delighted to get in from work just now and see such a positive match day thread!! Hope it's the first of many now

[mcgull1]

Very positive, but IMO was disappointed with Widmbledon. Probably the weakest defence we have faced at Plainmoor this season.

Changes for the Hereford game that i would make -

Roberston in for Oastler at RB if he is fit - thought Oastler was by far our weakest player against Wimbledon.

Atieno dropped for Spear on the bench - he offers nothing to this team, would much rather have had Mcphee on to replace Stevens against Wimbledon. Cannot for the life of me see how he ended up with a contract at a professional club this season..

[mcgull1]

Just to make my night better, comment from BRFC fans forum...........

'Buckle go and take your useless players with you. Give the job back to Campbell and bring on the talented youngsters we have at the club. We might not go up this season or next but at least we can build for a better future and give fans some hope. Lurching from one useless manager to another is killing the club. '

[Modgull]

The key to success tonight for me was Damon Lathrope although Eunan O'Kane and Rene Howe caught the eye. He provided the holding midfield role allowing O'Kane and Mansell to get around the park in what seemed to be a flexible 451/433 formation. He made damn sure that we didn't concede another of those break-away goals and tackled well and passed efficiently.

The only under performer was Bodin but it didn't matter when everyone else was so good.

Mark Ellis made a huge difference in defence, attacking the aerial ball and making some great tackles and blocks too. He seemed to give Saah back his confidence too and he also had a good game.

For me Saturday becomes an important litmus test. Was this a flash in the pan or have we really found a formation we can play to and the confidence to bully other teams. We won't score such brilliant goals for instance and it remains to be seen if we can start grinding out results even when the spectacular efforts don't go in.

Anyway, well done to the management and team on a fantastic performance!

[diamondgirl]

swelled by over 600 from Wimbledon.

380 I think they said.

[royalgull]

Yes that's right, Radio Devon during the game said it looked packed in the away end and was over 600. Lies damn Lies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Plymouth Gull]

Just, wow.

I wasn't confident going into this one at all, to be honest. We were low on confidence, and were playing crap, while they had suffered two fairly heavy home defeats, so were sure to be fired up to get back to winning ways this time. Expecting an attendance of around 1500, I got there with 10 minutes to go before kickoff, with no knowledge of the team or anything. The shock of not seeing Robbo out was a big one, and one that concerned me as I didn't know of any injury problems to our most consistent centre half so far this year. So it would be Saah and Ellis again. I don't know how they played on Saturday, but it was surprisingly good tonight, but I'll talk more about that later.

Anyway, onto the game. It took about 3 minutes for the Dons to almost go 1 ahead, and in reality, they should have done. We failed to play the offside trap again, allowing Christian Jolley in, and his header was superbly denied by the quick reactions of Bobby in goal. The nightmare start was thankfully avoided. Anyway, it was fairly even, both sides having their fair share of possession in the first half hour of the game, a couple of half chances each, but nothing too major. Danny Stevens could have had several attempts on goal, but seemed reluctant to shoot, looking for the extra pass, which often made us lose the shooting opportunity. One of those passes did eventually cause a bit of havoc in the Dons penalty area, eventually falling to Howe, but he lost his footing with his standing foot and slipped (John Terry-esque) as he drilled it over the Away End. However, the next time Danny ran at the defence, and cut inside, he went alone, and thanks to a big deflection it spun into the near corner. 1-0. Wimbledon looked stunned, but didn't let that stop the way they were playing. Unfortunately for them though, a double sucker punch in the 3 minutes before half time effectively sealed the match. The Dons had possession just inside their own half, and one of their centre halves were a bit lax in possession; Eunan dispossessed him, ran the length of the half before expertly lifting it over the onrushing Brown, and into the far corner. It was a fantastically taken goal. The third, another counter attack. Stevens won the ball, played it down the line for Eunan, who played a peach of a cross for Howe, who powered it into the roof of the net on the volley. Another excellent move and an excellent finish by Rene. So, 3-0 at half time, stunning.

The second half started with Atieno on for Stevens, so I can only guess that the little man was injured, otherwise I have no idea why he did it. I really don't rate Taiwo at all, personally I'd rather have seen Halpin or Macklin come on - theres no better time to blood youngsters when you're comfortable at home in my opinion. Still, the Wombles, despite being 3 down, kept going, their heads weren't down at all. They attacked, and created a couple of half chances for Midson and Wellard, who was their best player I thought. Then out of nowhere really, the 4th and final goal came. Again, O'Kane was involved. He intercepted a pass on the halfway line, and it was him and Atieno against one defender. Eunan played it out to Atieno, but unfortunately Taiwo's pass back across towards Eunan was a shocking one, and it was cleared. The clearance reached Howe 25 yards out, took a touch to steady himself before unleashing a power strike into the bottom corner. Seb Brown looked stunned, and rightly so. A lucky let off for Taiwo in my opinion, as he very nearly screwed up the chance, but still. Despite the scoreline, the Dons continued to press and they kept their heads up right until the end, which was very good of them I thought. Considering our heads seem to go down once we go 1 down, it was an impressive sight to see them trying to get a consolation. We did carve out a chance for a 5th late on, after more excellent work by O'Kane and Howe, who supplied a pass across for Bodin about 7 yards out, but his effort was stopped by Brown when he probably should have scored.

So the final whistle went and it was a good home win and a cracking way to stop the rot. Finally, a note on the attendance - surprisingly good, for a Tuesday. As I said at the start, I was expecting 1500/1600 so to get 2,343 is very good. Obviously that's helped by 385 away fans, which was an outstanding turnout for a Tuesday. Very, very good.

As said, the officials were decent, it was refreshing to see that as it's quite a rare occurence.

For what it's worth, here are my ratings;

Olejnik - 7
Oastler - 7
Saah - 6
Ellis - 8
Nicho - 7
Lathrope - 7
Mansell - 7
O'Kane - 9.5
Stevens - 8
Howe - 9
Bodin - 5

Subs;

Atieno - 3
McPhee - N/A
Leadbitter - N/A

It was the first time I've seen Leadbitter, and I liked it, from the five minutes or so. Seems like he can play at Right back, centre back and centre mid. He was taller than I expected, and looked strong and quick. Would like to see him get a game soon.

Taiwo - I may get shot down for this but how much would it cost to terminate his contract? It's obvious why he's been released so much recently - he is awful. He is a passenger - he brings nothing to the table for me, and we'd be better off giving players like Macklin, Halpin a go. Also, it may free up some more space for a loanee or two?!

Saw Forever as I was leaving, good to see you Dave!

[shaunicus]

Crisis? What crisis?

Ok, granted, it's only one win, but hopefully that shuts people up for a bit. I had absolutely no doubt whatsoever we'd win last night and although we started the match slowly, the first goal from Stevens gave us plenty of confidence and a quickfire double before HT saw us wrap the game up early doors.

I don't have anything in particular to say about the back five - they all played well without having to stand out due to inferior opposition. If anything, Ellis stood out more than anyone - he rarely lost out in the air and made a couple of really good tackles. It's good to see him making the most of his chance.

It's already been mentioned but Lathrope had a very good game for us last night. Good in the tackle, efficient in possession, he was excellent last night. He gives us that bit of protection by rarely venturing past the halfway line. Manse offered his usual industry in the middle of the park and did well.

The real star of the show was O'Kane, however. It's not rocket science - he is our best attacking player by a long long way, so build the team and a system around him. I've always felt a free role behind the striker brings the best out of him and it worked perfectly last night. Our second and third goals were purely down to O'Kane (great pressing high up the pitch for the second, and a wonderful cross for the third) - he basically won the game for us.

On the wings, Stevens was frustrating 'till he scored, which basically sums him up. Capable of moments of brilliance, but all too often flatters to deceive with his final ball/decision making. He was replaced at HT (presumably due to injury) by Atieno, who, erm, well, he's just awful isn't he?

Bodin did well on the right, though it's clear he's a striker and not a winger. Unlucky not to score with his one on one.

Howe led the line brilliantly, showed some neat touches, held it up well, and scored two good goals.

A word on the system we played last night - for now, it's worth persisting with. It's far from perfect - we need better wingers than Atieno and Bodin to really make it work - but it gives us plenty of balance in defence and attack and it brings out the best in O'Kane - and if he plays like he did last night on a regular basis we'll be fine.

[AlexGulls]

It looked more than 385 to me aswell from my view in the Pop.