FAT: Torquay United v Wrexham 3pm 16th January 2016

Ht 0. 0 sounds a truly shocking game

Woo-hoo! World-beaters! Lol all good though.

Well done to the Gulls today. It was a hard working and solid performance in an even match of few chances from either side. But substitute Murombedzi scored the vital goal on 79 minutes and that was enough to get the Gulls through to the next round. The crowd 1,361 with 35 from Wrexham was not bad under the circumstances.

The first half Big-Ex played just in front of the back 4. He got some good ripples of applause whenever he beat an opponent as he looks such an imposing figure in midfield all 6'5" of him and not to be messed with! Marsh set up Wright in the first half for a chance but there was not much of a cutting edge from either team and the game had 0-0 written all over it. There was plenty of effort and some good movement at times but in the main the game was a dull affair. Still at least we were solid, organised, had a good team spirit and did not collapse like we have done.

Torquay had a good spell in the second half with 3 chances in a short spell of time that included Wrexham heading the ball off the line from a MacDonald header. Lavercombe did a solid job in goal with good handling and decision making and was well protected by our defence. Sponsors MOTM went to our PM and legend, Nicholson. The game opened up more in the 2nd. half and it was still an even game and a question whether either team could score. Marsh fed the ball to Murombedzi outside the box in a central area, he slipped the ball through a defender, ran on and slotted the ball past their keeper. Gulls fans enjoyed a rare win and why shouldn't we?

The recent games have shown us to be more solid and organised and we also have some decent pace and skill up front. Things are slowly moving in the right direction and the recent additions in attack should certainly help. It's a shame we need a huge up turn in results to survive this season but at least there are some encouraging signs and it seems we will give it a go.

How much money do we get for making the third round? When is the draw?

A much needed confident boosting win in a tight game that we perhaps just shaded and one which we evened up that semi final loss in this competition last year.

First half was one in which chances were at a premium as we played a 4-1-3-2 formation with Exodus putting himself out a bit to give added protection to the back four. Our best chance came when Marsh and Wright combined well to slot the ball just wide of the right hand post. Wrexham almost got behind our defence at one point with Berry alert to deny their striker a chance from a narrow angle. Initial thoughts were we just shaded matters with some good passing moves.

In the second half, Wrexham came out with a bit more purpose and looked dangerous. However, we rode the storm and then had three very good chances in quick succession. Butler got on the end of a cross at the far post and forced a very good save from their keeper. Shortly after, Verma got the ball outside the area, although a pity he was not closer in as by the time he let his shot off the covering defender took a lot of the venom off his shot and made the save easier for the keeper albeit from a spinning ball. Finally, their keeper could not gather in the ball from a deep cross and MacDonald headed goalwards only for their covering defender to clear off the line.

We were able to keep up the pressure but it was a little disappointing to see that when using MacDonald as a target for Nico throw ins, no one was at the far post to capitalize on flick ons and a chance went begging this way when the strike force could maybe have got organised better in this way. Of course, we had no out and out right winger and even when Shepherd came on for Exodus ten minutes into the second half, he played in a more free role supporting the front two. Initially, he made a very limited impact, being dispossessed very easily but made up for this in spades....

With just over 10 minutes to go, a goal kick was received well by Marsh who was able to put Shepherd through and once he got clear was able to confidently slot past their onrushing keeper for a well taken goal - he certainly enjoyed it and I think it was his first one for the club.

We still had to run down the clock and came through a few scares but it was nice for once to see the opposing team rushing on a few late and reactive substitutions! So a first win this year, the first I have seen since August and the very first for my boy this season - much needed!!!!

No probes, I think the draw is at noon tomorrow.