Post by JamesB on Sept 26, 2013 17:27:26 GMT
That day we played Newport at Spytty Park was one of the most bizarre away trips we've done - along with the Don Valley Experience, it's probably the worst experience I've had. The police presence and aggressive Newport fans (well, at least the ones next to the away enclosure) made it very intimidating, especially after they scored
Watching this was quite surprising as I'd remembered it completely differently. However, I'm pretty sure that it was Michael Poke's Torquay debut. He had a great game too
Starting line-ups that day: web.archive.org/web/20080808121501/http://www.newport-county.co.uk/match_reports_07-08/torquay_home.html - some familiar names in there, particularly from the Welsh scene (Lee Fowler, Julian Alsop, Damon Searle, Steve Jenkins). Note also the appearance for us of Leslie Thompson, who I seem to remember was a small winger. Todd and Zebroski went on to play for Newport. Benyon, Poke and Nicholson are the only survivors for us and it's possible none of them will play on Saturday. The referee that day was also from Newport...but Newport on the Isle of Wight
Newport's team is also very different. It needs to be - they were in the Conference South back then. Now it's mostly a mixture of experienced Football League campaigners like Chris Zebroski, Harry Worley, Ismail Yakubu and Wales one-cap-wonder David Pipe (no, I didn't know either), and non-league journeymen like Aaron O'Connor, Christian Jolley and Danny Crow. There are also very few Welsh players. Two of their three goalkeepers have South West experience - former Exeter keeper Lenny Pidgeley is the number 1, while former Torquay back-up James Bittner is a player-coach. Former Exeter and Cheltenham defender Billy Jones has recently joined
Line-up vs Exeter:
GK Lenny Pidgeley
Def Andrew Hughes
Def Ismail Yakubu
Def Billy Jones
Def Harry Worley
Mid Adam Chapman
Mid David Pipe
Mid Michael Flynn
For Chris Zebroski
For Robbie Willmott
For Conor Washington
Subs: Jamie Stephens (GK), Tony James (Def), Ryan Jackson (Def), Tom Naylor (Def), Ryan Burge (Mid), Danny Crow (For)
Though it is a misleading statistic, Torquay haven't won a Football League game in Newport since March 1976. However, we have won two cup matches there since - the FA Trophy match in 2008 and a League Cup match in 1984. Our last league encounter was in 1988, by which time Newport were in freefall. Torquay won 6-1. Earlier that season, Newport had won 3-1 at Somerton Park. Despite our away troubles in this fixture, our home record is pretty good - the last time we lost at home to Newport in the league was in 1974, although there were cup wins for Newport (at the time playing in the division above us) in 1982 and 1985
Watching this was quite surprising as I'd remembered it completely differently. However, I'm pretty sure that it was Michael Poke's Torquay debut. He had a great game too
Starting line-ups that day: web.archive.org/web/20080808121501/http://www.newport-county.co.uk/match_reports_07-08/torquay_home.html - some familiar names in there, particularly from the Welsh scene (Lee Fowler, Julian Alsop, Damon Searle, Steve Jenkins). Note also the appearance for us of Leslie Thompson, who I seem to remember was a small winger. Todd and Zebroski went on to play for Newport. Benyon, Poke and Nicholson are the only survivors for us and it's possible none of them will play on Saturday. The referee that day was also from Newport...but Newport on the Isle of Wight
Newport's team is also very different. It needs to be - they were in the Conference South back then. Now it's mostly a mixture of experienced Football League campaigners like Chris Zebroski, Harry Worley, Ismail Yakubu and Wales one-cap-wonder David Pipe (no, I didn't know either), and non-league journeymen like Aaron O'Connor, Christian Jolley and Danny Crow. There are also very few Welsh players. Two of their three goalkeepers have South West experience - former Exeter keeper Lenny Pidgeley is the number 1, while former Torquay back-up James Bittner is a player-coach. Former Exeter and Cheltenham defender Billy Jones has recently joined
Line-up vs Exeter:
GK Lenny Pidgeley
Def Andrew Hughes
Def Ismail Yakubu
Def Billy Jones
Def Harry Worley
Mid Adam Chapman
Mid David Pipe
Mid Michael Flynn
For Chris Zebroski
For Robbie Willmott
For Conor Washington
Subs: Jamie Stephens (GK), Tony James (Def), Ryan Jackson (Def), Tom Naylor (Def), Ryan Burge (Mid), Danny Crow (For)
Though it is a misleading statistic, Torquay haven't won a Football League game in Newport since March 1976. However, we have won two cup matches there since - the FA Trophy match in 2008 and a League Cup match in 1984. Our last league encounter was in 1988, by which time Newport were in freefall. Torquay won 6-1. Earlier that season, Newport had won 3-1 at Somerton Park. Despite our away troubles in this fixture, our home record is pretty good - the last time we lost at home to Newport in the league was in 1974, although there were cup wins for Newport (at the time playing in the division above us) in 1982 and 1985
