NL: Torquay United v Boreham Wood 3pm 3 August 2019

Probably the best bench I have seen for TUFC.

Johnson sticking to tried and tested line up for the PSFs

A pretty typical opener if you ask me with neither side wanting to start the season with defeat.
BW edged the first half up until the 30 minute when Fyfield flew into Daku two footed and off the ground - a definite red in my opinion though the ref was missing all of the nasty off the ball stuff he could hardly have missed that one.
Wood are a tough no nonsense side with plenty of ability Tashminga was a thorn of our back line and Thompson, who for some unkonwn reason was wearing full length winter tights, also looked very capable as expected while we were struggling to break them down.
Our quick flowing football stunted by better quality opposition than we faced last term along with some first day nerves probably contributed to our scrappy play. No doubt a few choice words at half time from GJ lifted us a little but ten minutes into the second period Johnson a had seen enough ad introduce two quality players in Connor Evans and Opie Edwards who effectively turned the game on its head. Within ten minutes of their introduction we had scored two quality goals Edwards withe the easiest of tap ins after some great work down the left from Jamie Reid and then just two minutes later Reid seals the match with a 20 yard strike into the top right hand corner after some neat footwork to create the space for himself. Soon after we were ripping into them in the usual manner and it looked only a matter of time before we scored a third. Credit to BW though they never let their heads drop and continued to threaten on the break. We should probably been out of sight by the time they got their goal in the final minute of normal time when we suddenly looked vulnerable and six minutes of added time when it all got a little nervy. Niate was at fault for the goal after a hopeful punt into the corner and a chase down he won the ball and tried to be to clever instead of putting the ball out tried to turn and get it back to McDonald only to be robbedby their wide man who set up former Gull Tyrone Marsh to slot past McDonald.
Hold on we did for the three points we just about deserved on the day thoug if they had reatained their eleven on the pitch for the full ninety minutes Im not so sure we would have come as victors.
A very tough opener with room for improvement and already a selection headache for GJ. On that showing he has to start CLE and Opie Edwards. Theres going to be some firce fighting for places this season.

Marks out of ten.
Team 7.
MacDonald 8 - didn't put a foot wrong and no chance with the goal.
Wynter 8- another assured and mature performance. Linked up well when Opie when he came on when we looked dangerous in that area.
Cameron 8. quality and holds the back line together.
Niate. 6. fine aerially but prone to look susceptible on the ground. Handed them a goal today.
Vincent. 6 not his best game and struggled at time but grew into the game late on.
Little. 7 there's more to come from him for sure plenty of energy but not quite on his game today.
Hall. 8. Needed him there today and old head who does the simple things well and usually makes the right choices.
Andrews 6. Wasn't firing on all cylinders he will improve an have better days.
Kalala. 7. Did well in patches but struggled a little at times . BW had obviously done their homework.
Reid. 8. Jamie had a pretty good game laid on the first and scored a screamer for the winner.
Daku. 7. He will have better games. Worked hard and will improve with games under his belt. Took some hefty knocks first half but kept going.

Subs
Evans. 8. Made a difference was more offensive and supported the front line well.
Edwards. 9 Wow! this guy has pace to burn - looking super fit lets hope he can stay that way he will be a huge asset.
Keating 7. does what he does best worked his socks off and attacked the wingback when he could.
Ref 6.5 not the best missed to much first half.
Great crowd ! 9...

Maybe a bit generous with my markings but you have to be positive that was a tricky one to open with.
Room for improvement in some areas undoubtedly but we got through the first test and sure to get right up to warp speed in the coming months..

Great to get off to a winning start in front of a impressive 3,138 crowd (54 from Borehamwood). The game was far from plain sailing and for the first 50 minutes Borehamwood bossed the match Only the heroics of MacDonald in goal saving a couple of one-on-ones and some excellent last ditch defending (including one great tackle from Little when Borehamwood were about to pull the trigger at close range). The turning point of the match was Torquay's double substitution Evans and Edwards replacing Andrews and Duku. Immediately there was pace and purpose in Torquay's play and 10 men Borehamwood were put on the back foot. Evans and Edwards were amazing with their dazzling runs and Torquay ended up as worthy winners. Sponsors MOTM going to Reid who set up Torquay's first goal and scored himself with a top corner screamer from outside the box.

Torquay never got going in the first half, there was no real movement or creativity. It was all blind alleys and balls hit in hope. Borehamwood played good possession football and often exploited Torquay's makeshift left back, Vincent. But Torquay stood resolute and MacDonald was flawless in goal. Niate was careless a couple of times gifting the ball to Borehamwood but luckily Torquay recovered. An ugly late challenge saw Borehamwood get a straight red. But Torquay did not capitalize and still were second best. The first half whistle could not come soon enough. Torquay should have been at least a goal down.

Duku had Torquay's best opening in the second half but his shot was tame and easily parried by their keeper. Wynter hit a tremendous shot outside the box that crashed against the cross bar as Torquay were improving. However we saw a team like last season after the double substitution. In truth Duku looked quite poor today and Andrews not much better. Evans and Edwards were at their top of their games and ran the show. I had forgotton how good Edwards is as he had a long injury last season. He definitely looks to be at his best again. Torquay hit two quick goals and their game was in full flow and a joy to watch, just like last season. Keating replaced Kalala on the left wing and showed his usual high energy game which gave the team another boost. Niate was careless again getting robbed of the ball by Borehamwood's danger man and they went on to score. It was a needless giveaway It was a nervy finish which included 6 minutes added time.

So a win on the opening day and it was a hard fought win. Torquay were outplayed in the first half and our 4-4-2 was not working at all. After our double substitution we switched to 4-4-1-1 with Evans behind Reid and it worked a treat. We had a very strong looking bench today and we needed it. Niate and Duku were weak links today but hopefully there will be better days for them. What impressed me today was when Torquay were struggling they dug in and managed to shut out Borehamwood with determination and good communication between the defence and keeper. MacDonald was one of our best players today and summed up his performance with a fine catch under pressure deep into added time. Our second choice keeper looked brilliant in the warm up as well.

Feck me they made hard work of that....

link - TUFC match report