NL: Torquay United v Forest Green Rovers 3pm 26 Dec 16

The 3pm Boxing Day performance of 'The Magic Of Christmas' at Babbacombe Theatre was completely sold out, leaving a number of disappointed locals choosing between heading home to watch Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban on ITV, or head up to Plainmoor to watch 'Torquay United, The Prisoners of Gaming International'. Not much chance of any 'Magic of Christmas' from the goal shy Gulls, judged on recent form.

At least there was the prospect of some banners and protests, and wondering if anyone would join in with Hector as he attempted to get his 'Osborne we're watching you' chant started. Off the field concerns had dominated the discussions of Torquay fans for some time, and that continued to be the case before kick off. Gilbert welcomed us with a friendly handshake. Well it was Gilbert wasn't it ?....it certainly looked like him. It was only when the handshake included pressing an application form for membership of the breakaway MAD Tust (Militant And Defiant) that I wondered as to his true identity. He wouldn't divulge that, but was keen to express his concerns that 'G.I TUST' as he claimed they were on the verge of becoming, would be taken 'in house' and neutered during 2017, but that he and a small band of MAD rebels would fight on. 

First we noticed the big electronic scoreboard wasn't working, then, looking to the other end  of the ground, Budleigh's famous clock had been put out of action. A joint sabotage effort by disaffected staff in collaboration with the MAD rebels ? or the sole work of the new breakaway movement ?  Dave Thomas, aware the rebels weren't his biggest fans, was also apprehensive before kick off.







Forest Green played their familiar neat passing game, with their defenders looking composed and confident on the ball, and unafraid to stride forward in possession,while skipping past the occasional challenge or two. We didn't rush at them, preferring instead to maintain our shape and not get dragged out of position. We kept it as tight as we could while probing for an opening against our accomplished promotion chasing opponents. After the one minute of additional time, the Ref blew his whistle to give us a half time scoreline of  Gulls 0  Vegetarians 0.  In the Directors Box, Clarke Osborne was being gently nudged and informed that if a MAD barman hadn't poisoned the whiskey, it was time for an interval drink.









With the balls lined up ready for the crossbar challenge as well as the 50/50 draw down on the pitch, it soon became obvious that MAD had struck again. Patrick had been muted by another suspiciously faulty piece of equipment, as his microphone wasn't functioning at all. Therefore, we've no idea who took the penalties, but he wasn't successful with any of the three attempts. Again, due to public address problems, it's difficult to remember whether anyone came forward with ticket 09653 to claim the £350 '50/50' money.  

The second half provided us with a further reminder, of just what Dave Phillips meant when he said 'I look back on the appointment of Kevin Nicholson as player-manager as being the decision that the Board and I can be most proud of. He certainly has the Club at heart, and has the necessary passion, commitment, and talent to build a successful team given the appropriate budget.', in his final programme notes as Chairman.

Inspired by the King Kev team talk that they'd just had, and buoyed by the legendary fitness they've gained by adhering to Kev's trusted methods, the Gulls surged forward with confidence and panache. Promotion chasers they might be, but FGR were powerless to prevent the floodgates from opening and the mighty Gulls notching up a three goal lead.

But then it was if the magic of Christmas was being rapidly snatched away, as our players seemed to suddenly be aware of accepted reality and remembered that they were actually rubbish. Bang, bang, bang...3-3 !. It didn't look as though we had any chance of holding on to even a point as FGR launched attack after attack as they pressed for more goals. But then as if by (Christmas) magic, the Gulls grew in mental strength (thanks to King Kev) and in physical strength (thanks to Winners Gym) and refused to lie down and be trampled by their expensively assembled and lavishly paid opponents. And to prove a point and restore the magic, they even arranged for local parks player Ben Gerring, who surely gets paid less than the FGR kit man, to head the goal that gave us all three points, and for the second Boxing Day running send FGR back up to Gloucestershire for their evening meal of Nut roast with lentils, with the bitter taste of defeat as a starter.  

There were quite a few goals late on in that away FA cup defeat at Walsall in 1995. There is video on you tube but it's too painful to watch (as was the damned match - I was behind the goal as a Hathaway shot hit one post, rolled along the line, hit the other post and was cleared just before the final whistle). There was then extra time and I think we let in 5 and scored one in that time.

Then there was the Stubbs match against Newport in 1963 (I was able to shake Robin's hand at half time yesterday). By the 70th minute it was 2 - 1 to us and there were 8 goals in the last 20 minutes, yes, I was there for that one too. Going back even further there were 8 goals in the match when we beat Northampton 7 - 1 in the FA cup in 1959. I think that most were in the second half with us playing towards the old cow shed but I can't remember the half time score (yes, I was there again!).  On reflection, it was 1 - 0 at half time so that one did have 7 goals in the second half as well.

I wish I could avoid having to mention those two high scoring home defeats by Scunthorpe and Bromley, as the goals, as I remember in my nightmares, were evenly spread through the matches.

Over to you Jon!

Thanks for the match reports- we have got a great chance of staying up - 21 points needed from 21 games, 5 wins, 6 draws would do it.

Great game for a formation fetishist.

I thought our 4-2-3-1 looked solid - for most of the match.

When you play a back three, it is often the effectiveness of the wing-backs that decides the game.

Cooper and Wishart were totally ineffective. They didn't attack and they didn't defend either.

It was great when they were replaced by Marsh-Brown and Frear (oh to have that kind of quality sat on our bench!).

Forest Green were then effectively playing a 3-2-5 formation!

Stewart would have loved it!

4-2-4 was always my line-up playing subbuteo as a child as midfield did tend to be bypassed, especially when I wasn't skilled enough to play games involving blocking flicks but that is by-the-by.

I always liked the solid look of Cyril's team in 88 and Hodges' team in 98, based on a 5-3-2, with overlapping fullbacks. A great formation for a team that was mainly solid but unspectacular, as long as it had the odd dash of magic, such as Mark Loram and Rodney Jack.

That 1997/98 team is the reason why Kevin Hodges should be remembered as one of the club's greatest managers, as he really did make a silk purse out of a sow's ear with really innovative tactics. Andy Gurney and Paul Gibbs played more like attacking wing halves than full backs, and scored 16 league goals between them. Rodney Jack and, for a couple of months, Jason Roberts forged a magical combination which produced eight wins in a row, but it all fell apart when Roberts was recalled by Wolves. The rest of that team was mediocre at best but still made the play-off final, which was testament to the fine footballing brain which Hodges possessed.