Okay, here’s some background information for Saturday’s game at Plainmoor at 3pm. The weather forecast for Saturday is a dry day with sunny periods, and with less rain than usual over the past few days, we can look forward to a much more reasonable playing surface, which will suit the players and make for a decent game of football.
Torquay United currently lie 23rd in the League Two table after 30 games, with 29 points. A win for the Gulls against our visitors Accrington Stanley could see us move up a place to 22nd, if Wycombe Wanderers lose their home game against Chesterdield. Stanley, also having played 30 games, are 20th in the table, just below Bristol Rovers, both teams on 34 points but Accrington with a worse goal difference of 7.
The Gulls’ last game was away to Chesterfield where they lost 3-1, a scoreline which I feel does not reflect the decent performance they put in for most of the game, considering the gulf between the teams in the league table. The team that day was: Poke, Tonge, Cruise, Mansell, Pearce, O'Connor, Goodwin, Lathrope (Sub. Downes), Stockley (sub. Wilkinson), Chapell (sub. Cameron), Labadie. Substitutes: Nicholson, Downes, Hawley, Cameron, Rice, O'Brien, Wilkinson.
Accrington’s last game was at home to Bury last Tuesday, which was a 0-0 draw. Accrington’s team was: Bettinelli, Hunt, Wilson (sent off), Murphy, Winnard, Aldred, Mingoia, Joyce, Odejayi (sub. Liddle), Webber (sub. Gray), Molyneux (sub. Atkinson). Substitutes: Liddle, McCartan, Hatfield, Gray, Windass, Atkinson, Bowerman.
Recent form:
These stats are probably meaningless, particularly with all the recent postponements, but here they are:
for Torquay United: P6 W2 D2 L2 F6 A6 Last six home: W1 D4 L1 F6 A7, and
Accrington Stanley: P6 W2 D3 L1 F8 A7 Last six away: W3 D1 L2 F7 A7
Referee:
The referee for the game is Simon Hooper from Wiltshire. In his last four games he has awarded 19 yellow cards and 4 red! Mind you, two of those games were in the Championship!
http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/refe ... ee_id=1081
http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/A ... 58,00.html
Useful links:
http://www.torquayunited.com/index.aspx http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/football
http://accringtonstanley.co.uk/ http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f93/
Whatever happens to the teams around them on Saturday, the Gulls will be intent upon securing a win against Accrington. This is a vitally important game for both teams in the struggle against relegation and it will not be an easy one. I think the Gulls will do enough to get that win; but they will need all the support they can get from the home crowd. And the weather will provide no excuse for not attending..