FL2: Torquay Utd v Dagenham 1 Dec 2012

Point ahead of Exeter same number of games !

Deserved hard fought win in the end, although we did rather make hard work of it.....3 points gets us nicely back in the mix.

The last home game......we seemed to be set up a little on the negative side, no such chance of that today, 4-2-3-1 with pace on both wings with Stevens and Bodin, Jarvis played off Howe, it was more like 4-2-4 for most of the game with Easton and Craig in slightly more central withdrawn roles, we started on the front foot and tore at Dagenham from the off, Howe desperately unlucky to hit the woodwork as we virtually camped in their half for the first 10 minutes.

The game settled down and Dagenham played their part in an entertaining, attacking match with both sides looking dangerous - had Howe's early chance gone in.....you felt it could have been very high scoring, the surface was always tricky for defenders to turn on.
We got our reward in the 35th minute, when we finally got behind them - a sublime flick from Bodin took 2 defenders out of the game and put Howe away on the right.......he sensibly drilled the ball across the 6 yard box, the ball looped up and the Daggers keeper, although at full stretch pawed the ball away rather weakly for Stevens, coming in at the back post a few yards out to force the ball home via a deflection on the crowded goal line.

Shortly after Howe was set up superbly by Downes' towering header but shot straight at the keeper from close range.

We came out in much the same way for the second half as we did the first, you felt a decisive second goal was coming, it didn't due to some good keeping and poor finishing - Jarvis heading wide from point blank range after an inviting Craig cross was probably the worst miss.
We were also, very unlucky to not get given a penalty when Nicholson's brilliant 60 yard raking cross field ball found Bodin on the edge of the box - Billy flicked it past him and the defender blatantly stuck out a hand as Bodin had done him......the whole of the "Bench" howled for a penalty - the only 2 people that didn't see it was the well placed ref and the even better placed linesman - ridiculous! you wont see a more obvious one this season.

Slowly but surely though, Dagenham were sensing that their was something in this game from them and they started to gain more and more posession, as we just could not finish them off......almost predictably they equalised, what a strike it was too, Saunders taking a high clearance on the volley 25 yards out, leaving Poke no chance as it hit the inside of the post and in.

We regrouped though and brought on Thompson for Stevens and gained the initiative back, from a sweeping move the ball was fed out to Thompson on the left, whose cross was diverted into his own net by a desperately covering Daggers skipper.
Young Niall celebrated as if he was going to be credited with the goal but it was never going to happen........it was an ogogo og

So the formation junkies are going to happy with Lings tweaks to the side, it certainly was nice to see a few more men supporting Howe when we're at home, but a bigger change has taken place from the previous few home games when we've struggled a bit.....the whole emphasis of passing it through midfield has virtually been abandoned, I'm sure a sensible move, due to our poor pitch at the moment.....we were far more direct, getting the ball forward far quicker down the channels, it worked a treat today with Jarvis battling away very well and Howe - his brilliant self and deserved MOM.

Dagenham were a typical Still team, big, commited and physical, they lack the flair and guile to be a top half side but they've got enough to be comfortably safe in my opinion.

The defence coped pretty well on a difficult pitch for them, Downes and Saah solid enough as ever but Oastler and Nicholson outstanding, never let their wingers past them once and were both able to attack at times effectively, we've talked at length about Leadbitter and Cruise pushing them both closely - but especially on these kind of heavy pitches that we'll face for the next few months, they are definitely the most effective 2 full backs we have.
Easton and Craig scrapped well in the middle - Danny didn't do an awful lot but scored.....so job done. Billy was what he is at the moment.....frustrating and taking too much time on the ball etc but he still is our main spark to win a tight game, his two best moments today led to the first goal and a banker penalty not given.

Poor crowd of just over 2k was probably expected due to the cold weather, xmas shopping and quite terrible last couple of home performances, that would have easily finished off the floating fans for a while.

Much better today though

Will keep it very quick as the games have been summed up perfectly already;

Performance = workmanlike
3 points = fully deserved
Referee = completely spineless (surprised the hasn't been more comments about his gutless performance)
Crowd = disappointing
Atmosphere = subdued
Dagenham = cynical with some of their tackles

Poke = untroubled, not sure he had a save to make, no chance with the goal
Nicholson = best game for a long time, both defensively and attacking
Saah = dependable as ever
Downes= quiet but steady
Oastler = steady, great tackle 2nd half, didn't venture forward to much
Stevens = good game, tired 2nd half & rightly replaced
Craig/Easton = Stifled their midfield, both steady performances, workmanlike without being spectacular
Bodin = lacking in confidence, took the wrong option a couple of times but needs a few decent games and a couple of goals to regain his confidence. Once that happens would imagine he will be a big asset.
Howe = good game, everything we do attacking wise goes through him. Lets hope no one comes in for him in January.
Jarvis = not as impressed as others were, didn't work for me. Looks a bit slow & cumbersome. That said from where I was standing he either got the last touch for the first goal or was stood in an offside position?
Thompson = live wire, gives a different option particularly when defenders are tiring. Definitely one for the future.
Yeoman = filled out a bit, looked lively in the short time he was on the pitch. Would like to see him get more time on the pitch.

Not the most exciting of games to watch, we stopped them playing and ground out a result, however would take 3 points like that every week.

Looking at the Daggers recent form that was a very good result where we were able to more or less restrict them to long range shots or the odd scramble at corners. As stated above, we came out of the blocks flying, maybe thinking that as we were attacking the Ellacombe end it was the second half and had to get a shift on. They hardly got a touch of the ball in the first few minutes and Howe was slipped through in the area and from an acute angle was unlucky not to score from a left footed shot with the ball rebounding out off the woodwork.

Dagenham did get back into things and won a fair number of corners and I think from one of these that Poke had to make a decent save to tip the ball around the post low to his right. However, it was Rene who had a great chance after being fouled from a through ball and was able to get on the end of a free kick just outside the six yard box and if his shot was directed better then would have been a certain goal.

He was again an integral part of the first score after Bodin had slipped him through on the right and his shot again from an acute angle was this time saved by the keeper with the ball bouncing up towards the top right hand corner. Jarvis was on hand to challenge but the defender just managed to nudge the ball away first. However, it was only to Danny a few yards out who couldn't miss although his shot hit the back heel of Jarvis whose momentum had thankfully carried him past the goal line!

The first part of the second half passed without incidence in the Torquay area. I think the Jarvis header from a very good delivery by Nathan was the best chance but I thought he was a bit further out than as reported above and he seemed to use a lot of head movement to get some power on it but only sent it well wide. The whole crowd appealed for a penalty when it seemed to hit the defender's hand but this fell on deaf ears.

The first turning point in the match came when Dagenham made a double substitution around the middle of the half. All of a sudden they seemed to have a lot of attacking potency, working the ball around the area well with one Dagger trying to draw the foul in the area and when it didn't come decided to go for the theatrical dive which the referee got right and waved away. However, just previously a well taken left footed shot had just thundered past the right hand post with Poke well beaten and a few minutes later came another thunderbolt which this time hit the inside of the post before comfortably going in.

Ling then did the standard plan B by bringing on Thompson for the tiring Stevens. We did not have to wait long before Easton put him through with his fierce cross deflected in by the appropriately named Ogogo! ;D As always, defending a one goal lead can be fraught and was not helped by the ref. First, Oastler was given a yellow for a 50/50 ball which he won but picked up a one match suspension. Then at the start of injury time, Downes seemed to win the ball on the edge of the area but the referee decided to give a foul much to the crowd's derision and amazement but thankfully the shot was just over!

So a good win to take us past 30 points with 3 games to go until the half way point at Christmas. Outside the play offs on GD and an automatic place by 4 points. We must be similarly placed to last year.

Enjoyed watching us yesterday, thought we passed the ball well with a good tempo. Jarvis certainly worked his bollocks off and Easton had his best game for the club in my opinion. We have some hard looking games coming up but if i may quote one of last seasons threads............in Ling we trust !

Hard to believe that the manager has gone from being Guardiola to a fool in less than 12 months (especially with an average position that consistently exceeds his relative budget), but there you go