FL2: Torquay v Gillingham 23rd October 2012

I decided not to speak too soon when we scored and it worked. Great result. Did have a positive gut feeling. Still unbeaten at home

Great result tonight against the form team in this division
As Stuart says now what is required is to find that elusive consistency and get a result on Saturday.
Well done lads. I am very pleased that Craig got his goal, deserves the plaudits for the way he has stepped up into the first team this season.

Just back from the game and have to say a good battling performance with little to separate the 2 teams. Probably fitting given the lack of clear cut chances for either side that the first two goals came from defensive errors. Saah and Downes both going for the same lofted ball, Downes calls and Saah ducks down out of the way. The short header falls nicely for the Gills player to slot the ball in and one down. Minutes later we break down the other end, get a free kick out by the touchline and Craig whips the ball in hoping for the merest of touches from a Torquay head, everyone misses and the keeper gets his hands up and the ball goes straight through them. Had to carefully look and see if it was our old friend Flapper Julian between the sticks for a minute but was someone else

It was going to take a bit of class to turn the result either way and this was supplied by a lovely dipping shot from Nico the keeper couldnt get near. Quality enough to win the game.

Leadbitter had a good game and didnt look out of place at this level. Hard to single out anyone particularly in the team, as most really put the effort in and it showed. Thats all we can ask, give it your all for 90 minutes and the fans will respect you for it. It was almost as if they wanted it more than Gillingham?

Hopefully Leadbitter will keep his place then, given how much of a shocker Oastler had before he was dismissed on Saturday. If he doesn't, that would be quite concerning

Amazing result tonight. Sounds like Leadbitter did very well. Id love to see him keep his place. He will offer a bit of pace down the right. For me, Oastler is very over rated. A good squad player but for me, not a first choice.
WELL DONE TORQUAY

I thought it was Saah and Leadbitter, but I could be wrong.

Cracking game tonight between two very good teams. Quality football from first to last and on balance we deserved the three points.

I must admit that the "poor entertainment" debates on here have been doing my head in. Seven home games have produced five absolutely fantastic matches to watch. That's a higher ratio of quality than anyone could reasonably expect.

Outside the play-offs on goal difference only again is more than anyone could reasonably expect - especially given the poor luck we have had with injuries so far. Conventional wisdom would say that a smaller club like ours would need a bit of luck on the injury front to keep in touch - so that makes our league placing all the more creditable.

If we were where we are with no injuries suffered or by covering injuries with loanees, I would be fairly happy. But for me the fact that we have seen such development in young players has been the icing on the cake. It has been great to see youth products Thompson, Yeoman and McKenzie develop into proper professionals - rather than just trainees given a year and dumped.

I've always thought Craig had real potential and watching his development has given me just as much pleasure as
watching Eunan's. He will have a very good career in the game.

It's a very good job that we don't follow James' preferred policy of only signing players who are immediately ready for regular first team starts or we would have missed out on a few gems.

I went into this match with some anticipation as our home form has been generally good and if we played to our potential I knew that we would give them a game. However, after chatting to the bloke behind me who had seen the Rovers match and given me all the gory details, also knew it could be a rout if the team played like that again.

I thought Gillingham started well and played confidently as you would expect a team in their position to play. However, we gave as good as we got and created a number of opportunities that on another day would have yielded a return. Probably the best chance was when Stevens got away on the left and his cross saw Manse sliding in and well saved by their keeper.

However, the bulk of the chances in this half fell to Bodin who was put through three times. One chance went into the side netting, another was well turned wide by the keeper and the third just before half time unfortunately was hit tamely to the stopper. Unlike others, I am not criticising him as he is getting into the right positions and with his strong strike will score goals and I expect him to get a similar number to Danny's tally of 10 last season, something which he was lauded for then. Talking about Carayol earlier in this threat, I personally see Bodin to be of a similar quality to him at the same age and things will click but in the meantime will be subject to criticism from some quarters.

Making his debut I thought Leadbitter was very good tonight, his attitude was top class, always wanting the ball and looking to get forward. His advantage over Oastler is pace and in one instant, got across very well to a long ball on a counter attack and made the tackle to put the ball out of play. However, as Nico has shown and the reason while Thompson for example is not starting, it is not all about pace but for the first time he has shown himself to be a credible alternative to the perceived first choice so maybe the answers do lie in the building.

Just a couple of more thoughts on the first half. The referee got on the wrong side of the crowd in dishing out two yellow cards. In the first instant, their striker was in a dangerous position on a through ball and from my position it looked like Downes did well to get a foot in and knock the ball back but a foul was given and after consultation with the lino, a yellow card was also awarded. I think this led to a spell of about 5 consecutive corners and from one of these Gillingham had their best chance where the ball came out between the penalty spot and the edge of the area and was headed into the crowded goal mouth but fortunately hit the legs of a defender on the line and then somehow scrambled away. Leadbitter also got a yellow after the ball went out and rolled it down the line towards their full back who nonchalantly ignored it and walked past it.

Just as we were looking to get something out of the match, Gillingham scored. A long ball was played to the edge of our area but a defensive mix up saw the ball fall kindly to their striker who calmly slotted it home. However, we responded quite quickly when Leadbitter was fouled from behind near the touch line about 5 metres from the by line. A marvelous ball was whipped in with pace and curl which unfortunately for Nelson went through his despairing hands when he should have punched it clear.

I thought we then had our best period of ascendancy and Rene almost broke the record when I think Danny put Rene through near the corner of the area and his smart turn was destined for the far corner of the goal before Nelson just got enough on it to turn it wide. He was treated to a chorus of dodgey keeper, particularly when a number of corners kept finding their way through the six yard box but in truth, he wasn't that bad and like Pokey, made some smart saves.

Sometimes, to win a game with two evenly matched sides, you need that bit of luck and when the ball came out to Nico, who was guilty of not hitting it first time when a similar opportunity arose a bit earlier, had a pot shot and a minor deflection did enough to see the ball nestle in the back of the net. It set up a nervous finale but we did enough to keep our unbeaten home record and break their unbeaten away one.