Re: crawley town v torquay united - 3/3/12
Posted: 04 Mar 2012, 00:00
Torquay United have managed some very personal footballing conquests this season, exacting sweet revenge on a number of rivals so far. In August we beat Buckle's 'Bristol Allstars' on their own patch and during the winter we overcame fierce Devon rivals Plymouth Argyle twice in a season for the first time in god knows how long. More recently we beat then top of the table Westcountry rivals Cheltenham at their place, not forgetting Martin Ling getting one over his former employers Swindon Town on Boxing Day. However, a win at Crawley today might just be the greatest grudge settled this term.
For those uninitiated, Torquay United and Crawley Town don't like each other, more specifically Torquay United does not like Crawley management duo Steve Evans and Paul Raynor, who, at various times in the past twenty years have always managed to get one over Torquay time and time again and revel in the enjoyment of doing so, most recently in the FA Cup last season. On that day Crawley beat Torquay 1-0 on an occasion that left a bitter taste in the mouth's of every Torquay fan. time wasting, intimidation and play acting were the order of that day when Crawley earned their victory through bullying tactics and playing dirty. That the controversial management team have a very infamous past {wikipedia it) just adds to the hatred that 'the Gulls' have for the club that three seasons ago were little more than a semi-professional non league non-entity.
Having finally received a suspension for the crime he most definitely did commit against Gillingham, Brian Saah will have to sit this game out. This means a debut for on loan Reading defender Angus Macdonald, not only making his Torquay debut, but his league debut too, a tough test indeed. In the week Martin Ling strengthend his fire power by adding Ryan Jarvis to his squad on loan from Walsall. Jarvis worked with Ling at Leyton Orient so the manager may know how to get the best out of the player who has a Premiership goal under his belt : for Norwich against Liverpool, but has falled by the way side since.
And so to my first visit to a very underwhelming Broadfield Road stadium in West Sussex. 471 Torquay fans turned up to see this one, and it was disappointing to see that they were herded into a corner which was not appropriate to hold them all. With Yellow boxes occupied, and the walkways lined with away fans it took the gormless stewards until 2 minutes after kick off to decide to open another section of the away allocation. Cue a lot of restless Torquay fans waiting to move whilst the game was going on. Whether this was a deliberate ploy to get under the skin of Torquay fans is debatable but it certainly signified a very amateur approach to hosting a Football league fixture: and a big game at that between two playoff/promotion rivals.
Whilst this insubordination was going on, Crawley had their best chance of the game, Akinde punished some early slack Torquay defending by flicking onto the unmarked Clark whose shot was somewhat luckily turned behind by Olejnik, it was a real warning for the men in Black who thankfully learnt from this mistake and defended as a solid unit throughout the game. Angus Macdonald on league debut looked an assured presence at the back, slotting in nicely along side Mark Ellis who dominated the aerial threat. Chances were few and far between in a cagey first half where Torquay stifled and fustrated their opponents and looked to hit 'The Red Devils' on the break. Crawley looked clueless in the final third, simply lumping it into the grateful arms of Bobby Olejnik on many occasions, they look like a team devoid of serious firepower since the departures of Tubbs and Barnett.
Torquay looked good in possession without really creating anything clearcut, Rene Howe again getting very little protection from a referee who on the whole was very poor for both teams. The only sour point for Torquay though was the Ankle Injury picked up by Danny Stevens, the exciting winger fell awkwardly on a pitch which was barely fit for purpose, he was replaced by debutant Ryan Jarvis who was deployed on the right wing, Ian Morris switching to the left: Torquay keen to continue with their tried and tested 4-5-1 formation. At half time, talk on the terraces echoed of a job well done so far, and with a lingering hope we had it within us to nick a winner. The condition of the pitch was a serious concern however, cutting up so badly that it resembled a farmer's field with a mole problem more than a league football pitch.
Into the second half and Torquay played with a bit more purpose. The trio of Lathrope, O'Kane and the inspirational Lee Mansell were slowly winning the midfield battle, and O'Kane in particular was starting to dictate the play. A lot of Torquay's good attacking work was coming down the left wing, and it was a shame to see a couple of dangerous Ian Morris crosses go in uncontested. At the other end Crawley too weren't creating much of note: guilty of overplaying and making the wrong choice in the final third on a number of instances, in fact it was Joe Oastler who came closest to breaking the deadlock, but at the wrong end. From a dangerous cross from the right,the combative right-back saw the ball bounce off his leg and travel towards goal, Bobby Olejnik could only look on as it was hooked off the line in the nick of time by the covering defender, it was as close as either team came to breaking the deadlock in what was becoming a tense, hard- fought affair.
However, it was the away team who found the breakthrough, and what a beautiful moment it was too. Some excellent forward play in the corner from Rene Howe led to the ball fortuitously finding its way to O'Kane on the edge of the box, the young Irishman's half volley was sweetly struck, first time, on the run and nestled past the keeper at the near post. It was the defining moment of quality in a game crying out for a moment of divine intervention, a moment which ignited euphoric scenes from the continually loud and supportive Yellow Army. Timed at 79 minutes, it meant that Torquay had 15 minutes to hold on. On so many times this season, and against so many good teams, Torquay have showed they have the reserves to hold out, and today was a classic example.
Without being a rearguard action in the mould of Cheltenham, Torquay looked calm in possession going forward, playing patiently before trying to find a way to hold it in the corner. Ironically one such move found Rowe Turner with a chance to lob the on-rushing keeper, unfortunately his cleverly lofted shot didn't have the sufficient direction to take it into the net. Crawley threw everything, including the goalkeeper, at Torquay in the four minutes of injury time, but the back four, like so many times this season, held firm to protect our lead, and praise must go to Shaun Taylor for this. After four agonising minutes of injury time the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of some pretty boisterous celebrations from the Torquay contingent.
The Gulls have waited patiently to put one over their most hated of enemies, and to do it as play-off rivals at their own ground made it all the sweeter. The joy was clear to see, Lee Mansell showed his now customary war face as the Jubilant Yellow broke into one triumphant song after another. It says a lot about this group of players, and their management staff that they bounced back from two very lacklustre defeats against Bradford and Gillingham with a performance which demanded such concentration, discipline and ability to block out all the external factors that concern a match against Crawley. We have now beaten Swindon, Cheltenham, Crawley and Shrewsbury in recent weeks, anyone who does not think we are automatic promotion candidates is a fool. We have every chance.
Angus Macdonald and Ryan Jarvis looked to have both settled into the squad nicely, and with Nathan Craig gaining his first appearance on the bench there looks to be a bit more depth to the squad than we had prior realised, Martin Ling has bided his time to assemble the men he can trust to give the top 3 a really good go. With so many games coming up in a short space of time it is impossible to predict what will happen, however it is unlikely we will fail due to lack of effort. Torquay United fans can be proud to support a brave team of passionate, skillful players with the belief that they can win a fixture by adapting to any situation football can throw at them.
With 13 games to go there is still a lot of points to play for, a lot of tough games to play, a lot of permutations that could occur. This result should given the entire club the belief that we can compete for the top three if we play at our maximum. Wouldn't it be all the more sweeter if we achieved it at the expense of moneybags Crawley Town, whose manager, for the record, was his usual animated, moaning, remonstrating self on the touchline throughout the match. To answer my hypothetical question at the start though, this was the sweetest victory of the season: that in itself a tough conclusion to reach.
For those uninitiated, Torquay United and Crawley Town don't like each other, more specifically Torquay United does not like Crawley management duo Steve Evans and Paul Raynor, who, at various times in the past twenty years have always managed to get one over Torquay time and time again and revel in the enjoyment of doing so, most recently in the FA Cup last season. On that day Crawley beat Torquay 1-0 on an occasion that left a bitter taste in the mouth's of every Torquay fan. time wasting, intimidation and play acting were the order of that day when Crawley earned their victory through bullying tactics and playing dirty. That the controversial management team have a very infamous past {wikipedia it) just adds to the hatred that 'the Gulls' have for the club that three seasons ago were little more than a semi-professional non league non-entity.
Having finally received a suspension for the crime he most definitely did commit against Gillingham, Brian Saah will have to sit this game out. This means a debut for on loan Reading defender Angus Macdonald, not only making his Torquay debut, but his league debut too, a tough test indeed. In the week Martin Ling strengthend his fire power by adding Ryan Jarvis to his squad on loan from Walsall. Jarvis worked with Ling at Leyton Orient so the manager may know how to get the best out of the player who has a Premiership goal under his belt : for Norwich against Liverpool, but has falled by the way side since.
And so to my first visit to a very underwhelming Broadfield Road stadium in West Sussex. 471 Torquay fans turned up to see this one, and it was disappointing to see that they were herded into a corner which was not appropriate to hold them all. With Yellow boxes occupied, and the walkways lined with away fans it took the gormless stewards until 2 minutes after kick off to decide to open another section of the away allocation. Cue a lot of restless Torquay fans waiting to move whilst the game was going on. Whether this was a deliberate ploy to get under the skin of Torquay fans is debatable but it certainly signified a very amateur approach to hosting a Football league fixture: and a big game at that between two playoff/promotion rivals.
Whilst this insubordination was going on, Crawley had their best chance of the game, Akinde punished some early slack Torquay defending by flicking onto the unmarked Clark whose shot was somewhat luckily turned behind by Olejnik, it was a real warning for the men in Black who thankfully learnt from this mistake and defended as a solid unit throughout the game. Angus Macdonald on league debut looked an assured presence at the back, slotting in nicely along side Mark Ellis who dominated the aerial threat. Chances were few and far between in a cagey first half where Torquay stifled and fustrated their opponents and looked to hit 'The Red Devils' on the break. Crawley looked clueless in the final third, simply lumping it into the grateful arms of Bobby Olejnik on many occasions, they look like a team devoid of serious firepower since the departures of Tubbs and Barnett.
Torquay looked good in possession without really creating anything clearcut, Rene Howe again getting very little protection from a referee who on the whole was very poor for both teams. The only sour point for Torquay though was the Ankle Injury picked up by Danny Stevens, the exciting winger fell awkwardly on a pitch which was barely fit for purpose, he was replaced by debutant Ryan Jarvis who was deployed on the right wing, Ian Morris switching to the left: Torquay keen to continue with their tried and tested 4-5-1 formation. At half time, talk on the terraces echoed of a job well done so far, and with a lingering hope we had it within us to nick a winner. The condition of the pitch was a serious concern however, cutting up so badly that it resembled a farmer's field with a mole problem more than a league football pitch.
Into the second half and Torquay played with a bit more purpose. The trio of Lathrope, O'Kane and the inspirational Lee Mansell were slowly winning the midfield battle, and O'Kane in particular was starting to dictate the play. A lot of Torquay's good attacking work was coming down the left wing, and it was a shame to see a couple of dangerous Ian Morris crosses go in uncontested. At the other end Crawley too weren't creating much of note: guilty of overplaying and making the wrong choice in the final third on a number of instances, in fact it was Joe Oastler who came closest to breaking the deadlock, but at the wrong end. From a dangerous cross from the right,the combative right-back saw the ball bounce off his leg and travel towards goal, Bobby Olejnik could only look on as it was hooked off the line in the nick of time by the covering defender, it was as close as either team came to breaking the deadlock in what was becoming a tense, hard- fought affair.
However, it was the away team who found the breakthrough, and what a beautiful moment it was too. Some excellent forward play in the corner from Rene Howe led to the ball fortuitously finding its way to O'Kane on the edge of the box, the young Irishman's half volley was sweetly struck, first time, on the run and nestled past the keeper at the near post. It was the defining moment of quality in a game crying out for a moment of divine intervention, a moment which ignited euphoric scenes from the continually loud and supportive Yellow Army. Timed at 79 minutes, it meant that Torquay had 15 minutes to hold on. On so many times this season, and against so many good teams, Torquay have showed they have the reserves to hold out, and today was a classic example.
Without being a rearguard action in the mould of Cheltenham, Torquay looked calm in possession going forward, playing patiently before trying to find a way to hold it in the corner. Ironically one such move found Rowe Turner with a chance to lob the on-rushing keeper, unfortunately his cleverly lofted shot didn't have the sufficient direction to take it into the net. Crawley threw everything, including the goalkeeper, at Torquay in the four minutes of injury time, but the back four, like so many times this season, held firm to protect our lead, and praise must go to Shaun Taylor for this. After four agonising minutes of injury time the referee blew his whistle to signal the beginning of some pretty boisterous celebrations from the Torquay contingent.
The Gulls have waited patiently to put one over their most hated of enemies, and to do it as play-off rivals at their own ground made it all the sweeter. The joy was clear to see, Lee Mansell showed his now customary war face as the Jubilant Yellow broke into one triumphant song after another. It says a lot about this group of players, and their management staff that they bounced back from two very lacklustre defeats against Bradford and Gillingham with a performance which demanded such concentration, discipline and ability to block out all the external factors that concern a match against Crawley. We have now beaten Swindon, Cheltenham, Crawley and Shrewsbury in recent weeks, anyone who does not think we are automatic promotion candidates is a fool. We have every chance.
Angus Macdonald and Ryan Jarvis looked to have both settled into the squad nicely, and with Nathan Craig gaining his first appearance on the bench there looks to be a bit more depth to the squad than we had prior realised, Martin Ling has bided his time to assemble the men he can trust to give the top 3 a really good go. With so many games coming up in a short space of time it is impossible to predict what will happen, however it is unlikely we will fail due to lack of effort. Torquay United fans can be proud to support a brave team of passionate, skillful players with the belief that they can win a fixture by adapting to any situation football can throw at them.
With 13 games to go there is still a lot of points to play for, a lot of tough games to play, a lot of permutations that could occur. This result should given the entire club the belief that we can compete for the top three if we play at our maximum. Wouldn't it be all the more sweeter if we achieved it at the expense of moneybags Crawley Town, whose manager, for the record, was his usual animated, moaning, remonstrating self on the touchline throughout the match. To answer my hypothetical question at the start though, this was the sweetest victory of the season: that in itself a tough conclusion to reach.
Sounds like we even managed to keep possession and hit them on the break Matt? 
