Atmosphere was flat first half because the performance was flat, sometimes it just takes a spark, a shot on goal or a good passing move to get the team going and in turn the fan's , however first half there was no spark.
As said in the first half our team looked tired and flat, for some reason we were seeing long high balls played for the back, or short high balls played from midfield, it was meat and drink to the Northampton defenders, think there must have been some positive feed back at halftime, as the players came out from the first whistle in the second half, and straight away you could see a better tempo, the players looked sharper and first to the ball, and we saw the ball being passed around, much, much better second half and maybe just shaded it , in the end, another 3 pts and happy days
It still seems wrong that there hasnt really been a great atmosphere during any home games this season, except maybe against Argyle. The singers moving to the end of the popside hasnt helped. The players and Management are doing exceptional and it should be matched with the fans noise contribution. We could all hear the Northampton fans in the first half and "we were supposed to be at home"
It was another ugly victory (with spells of nice football) but a win is a win and 3 points is 3 points. We are now up to 5th and firmly in the play off places. Let’s get into the match report then.
At the start there were end to end long balls and ending up into the hands of Bobby. Nicholson made a nice ball to Howe and then the ball went out for a throw in. The throw came towards Eunan but the ball went out for a goal kick. A few minutes later Danny put a good ball to Morris, he tried to get up for a header but the ball was cleared away from danger. A minute later it came back to Danny but the danger was away again. Balls were being played to Howe but we then had the first scare of the afternoon. Northampton had a shot on the turn but it was saved well by Bobby. We then had a corner up the other end. Eunan took it, Ellis got up and it was saved.
Then Young, the younger brother of Ashley Young, tackled Danny on the wing and a foul was given. Eunan took the free kick, Ellis again got up but his header was saved. Northampton were playing nicely in the middle at this stage, creating chances making Bobby save. They then had two successive corners making our defence clear danger away. Up the other end some nice passing play was being shown, with Danny, Eunan, Mansell and Nicholson but nothing came from it. However a few minutes later Howe got the ball in the middle and passed the ball out to Nicholson. The left back put in a nice ball but the goal keeper saved with ease.
Torquay were coming forward again with Danny but he was fouled doing so. Nicholson took the free kick and crossed a nice ball to Morris. He showed us all his skill with the ball at his feet and the ball eventually came back to Nicholson. He passed to Mansell, he put it in the net, but he was flagged for offside. Morris and Howe linked up from another free kick but nothing came off it. It was all a bit scrappy and Northampton had a couple of fast forwards causing us trouble. Corners were conceded and caused us again to stand our ground.
After this it was all quiet in the ground with no urgency on the pitch. We tried playing up the wing with Manse ,Howe and Nicholson winning throws but there was just nothing. Then, on the other side, Howe gave the ball to Eunan he flicked it up, shot but it was easily saved. A long ball was played to Howe and he was blatantly fouled. Eunan took the free kick, it came towards Robertson but the danger was over when the ball fell into the Northampton goal keeper’s hands. After this it was Northampton coming forward winning throw ins and a corner, luckily Bobby punched the ball away. A couple of balls were played to Mansell and Morris but to be quite honest there was nothing to report because they both came to nothing. Two balls came to Morris in the space of minutes but he was offside on both occasions.
That pretty much sums up the first half and it was dismal. No urgency, no atmosphere and there wasn’t any indication whatsoever that a goal would come. Northampton went into the fifteen minute break the happier side. They had two quick players upfront putting pressure on our defence and they didn’t have too much pressure put on them the other end. Once again it was a pretty poor first half and every Torquay fan was hoping that the second would be better.
In the second the ball came straight to Danny Stevens. He ran down the wing and put in a great cross to Morris. He headed the ball across but nothing came at the end of it. A few minutes later Ellis put a nice ball to Morris. He controlled the ball on his chest and shot over the bar. The ball was again with Morris on the wing. He ran all the way across the pitch and gave it came Eunan. O’Kane then played a good ball to Oastler. He put in a cross to Howe; Rene went up for a header but an injury occurred and the danger was over. After this it was all Torquay putting on pressure, Mansell started the attack and Howe finished it with a shot saved on the turn. A few minutes later Lathrope played a lovely ball to Oastler. Joe crossed the ball in with skill but the danger was cleared. Moments later Eunan put a great ball to Mansell over the top but no danger was created. Then Northampton had a chance to score on the wing, Bobby came out and saved. The ball then went out for a corner but nothing came from it.
Ellis tackled in the middle of the pitch and then passed to Eunan. He ran down the pitch and passed the ball to Oastler. Joe again tried to put in a cross but it went out for a goal kick. Northampton were then on the attack on the wing, they put on the pressure, put in a dangerous cross and it just went out for a goal kick. A couple of long balls were switched between the wings but nothing happened in the middle. Then after a minor scare from Northampton a ball was aimed for Howe but went out for a corner. Two corners were won in the end, but they both came to nothing.
Taiwo Atieno came on for Morris on 73 minutes. Immediately the ball came to Atieno and he was fouled. Nicholson took the free kick and the ball went out for a corner. Nicholson put in a great cross and Ellis headed the ball in at the back post! 1-0.After this it was all Torquay with the pressure coming forward. Taiwo showed his skill with his feet linking with Mansell and Howe, also with Eunan but in the end the danger was away when the ball went out for a goal kick. Mcphee came on for Howe on 87 minutes. No real danger was made by both sides when the game was coming to an end. But when four minutes of injury time was added on Northampton put the pressure to get an equaliser with a free kick. However when we got the ball back, Mcphee, Eunan and Oastler did a good job keeping the ball. The final whistle eventually blew and it was three more points for United!
In summary the first half was miserable, no atmosphere, no urgency and the football was pretty dire. In the second half it was completely different. The football wasn’t amazing in the second half, but it was much better. The fans found their voices and times and when you’re at the top, you get these ugly wins which can come in handy at the end of the season.
Team performance: 8
Defence:9 Midfield: 8 Attack: 8
Officials: 7
Bobby 9: I thought he played saved well, put in his usual 100% effort and was the best player in the first half.
Oastler 8: Joe defended quite well today, he also played quite well coming forward.
Ellis 9: My MOTM also. He defended really well and got that all important goal.
Robbo 9: I thought Robertson played very well again defending very well.
Nico 9: Nico played very well coming forward linking up with players around him. He put in some very nice crosses as well.
Mansell 8: Manse put in his usual 100% effort again. He got stuck in and linked up with players around him.
O’Kane 8: I thought Eunan played well today. He showed his skill linking up with Howe and the wingers.
Morris 9: Ian played very well today. He showed us all his ball skills and his play linking up with the forwards.
Stevens 8: I thought Danny did ok today. He didn’t do a lot wrong and played nicely down the wing.
Lathrope 8: Damon played ok today. He linked up with players around him and got stuck in tackling.
Howe 8: I thought gradually Rene got into the game and played like his normal self. He didn’t play 100% well but he showed his strength and skill.
Atieno 7: When he came on I thought Taiwo used his pace and skill to a good effect.
Mcphee 6: He wasn’t on enough to get a proper rating, but when he did come on he did well keeping the ball in the corner.
So after all that we got those vital 3 points and go on to Rotherham next Saturday.
Agreed, the singers need to move back to the middle, or they split into two and have a drum both in the corner and in the middle and get them going at the same time. Couldn't here them in the corner at all today. As Dave says, sometimes it takes spark on the pitch to spark some atmosphere off it, but then you look at times like at Plymouth where we didn't do too much on the pitch for the first half, yet the atmosphere was excellent.
Plainmoor is turning into a bit of a fortress at the moment, so we really need to back the lads from the terraces more and keep our astonishing run going.
As for today, first half was as it was on Tuesday, sloppy. We improved in the second, and eventually got the goal. Thought NTFC were better than Argyle, who in turn were better than Dagenham. It sure is interesting down there, glad not to be involved.
Stood with two Berwick Rangers fans who were down for the weekend, which was a bit unusual but they seemed to enjoy it, so I think we may have a couple more fans now!
portugull wrote:Extraordinary run.We have taken 35 points out of 42 in last 14 games.This equates to 83% and is Promotion form.
With a highly competent keeper and a real mean defence conceding very few goals we are proving really hard to beat.
What I find so surprising is that this run of form followed beatings 2-5 home to Gillingham (my only game this season)
and 4-1 at Southend. Martin Ling has proved you do not need a big squad and also that keeping changes to a minimum
means each player knows exactly what is role is within the system.
Well done Martin and all your back up team .11 wins out of 14 is truly amazing. All my mates are fed up with hearing me
bang on about TUFC!!
you know what mate - bo**ocks to them! =D
COYY!!
Member of the Yorkshire Gulls Supporters Club - Sponsors of Lirak Hasani, 2024-2025
Driving South to all games!
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A few general thoughts on the game and the way things are going.
Extremely impressed by the substitution of Atieno for Morris. Much discussion when Tai was warming up about who he would replace, the majority plumping for a like for like switch for Rene. That Lingy took a winger off and changed formation to a regulation 4-4-2 was an astute gamble that paid off handsomely. We played a more direct, physical approach with those two up top and they linked up quite nicely {as they did at Rovers in August.) I am not for one second crediting that one move with winning us the 3 points, but it contributed, certainly gave the NTFC a new challenge to think about. Just nice to see a manager with a successful plan B up his sleeve and not hoping for inspiration within the perameters of his 4-3-3 formation which has been working like a treat for 3 months now.
So reassuring to have a goalkeeper of Olejnik's ability between the sticks, he makes everything asked of him look easy {apart from Tuesday's spillage) 3 shots in the first half were skillfully caught with the minimum of fuss, he either catches every cross, or punches it 20 yards, making the right decision at least 95% of the time, and his communication with his entire back 4 is excellent. You can see the confidence the entire team has knowing we have a Keeper who should be playing at least 1 league above our standard behind them. I would say we can thank him for atleast 7-10 points this season, Ling's best signing by a distance and makes a mockery of some of the jokers we have had to put up with in previous seasons.
Danny Stevens is proving to be a reliable and consistent attacking threat, and whilst he is never going to add much defensively, he always tries to track back and help the team out. Credit to Danny, I, along with many others have been very critical of him in past seasons but so far this term he has improved his end product ten fold. I am sure Lingy has had a major influence on this, being given the freedom to go on the outside or cut inside is fine as long as he produces a dangerous cross, incisive throughball, or goal-threatening shot, more often than not he has. Being given 75-90 minutes each and every game has done wonders to his confidence too, a direct contrast to Bucks who would bench players like Danny {and Jakey) after 55 if things weren't going their way.
6 points from these 2 games is an excellent return, as is 5 wins on the trot, as is 7 cleansheets out of 8 at home. All the excellent stats are adding up and thats credit to absolutely everyone connected to our club. I bleated on about 3 points being the most important thing, far bigger than an entertaining performance. I know some people may disagree with that, and rightly so if you go to Plainmoor merely to be entertained, thats fair cop. For me to reach 50 points so early on, and to be now deeply embedded in the Play-Off lottery gives us far more breathing space to approach the tricky fixtures in February in a positive manner. Even if we lose 1 or 2 we should not be too disheartened because of the foundations of a very good points tally, winning games we would expect to win, despite how ugly they might have been. Nothing would have been worse than not taking these 6 points and looking back in May if he miss out on playoffs/promotion by 2-4 points and saying to ourselves 'how did we drop points to the 2 bottom teams?' We haven't and so we march on with confidence into games which will be more open.
February is the time where draws become acceptable, I would take draws against Shrews, Chelts, and Gills just so they don't gain any points on us. As far as I am concerned Rotherham and Bradford are absolutely winnable. All 5 are winnable given our recent form, and that should be the aim, on our day we can match anyone in this league.
Would i bring anyone in? Not until an injury dictates we have to, Lingy has shown the benefits of trusting those within the squad, continuity is definitely the key. Each player is performing to their absolute maximum at the moment because their manager has the trust and belief in each of them to contribute to our winning run, no point in bringing a player in to rock the status quo whilst we are still winning. If there is money available then Lingy would be completely justified in saving it for either a crisis, or for next season's endeavours, when who knows, we could either be embarking on an all out assault on automatic promotion, or all out survival in league 1!
It is so enjoyable to be a Torquay United fan at the moment,and I am loving every minute of it. See some, less, or more of you at Rotherham!
