NL: Torquay United v Yeovil 3pm 1 January 2020

You can hope all you want, but the fact is that not one of the four seems to show any interest at all in stopping opponents from having free headers!!

Best hope is that the ball stays down the other end.

Otherwise known as defending from the front!

Yeovil made just one change after Boxing Day against Sutton, whereas we had 6 changes including one positional. Think Reid and Keating will be a different proposition to handle up front. Hopefully will make a difference.

TUFC preview - I remember that 2007 FA cup match well as it was a rare stint on the pop side for me while my 4 year old son who had just started coming to matches was watching on telly at home and going mad for it! Probably the moment when he became a gull!

Conceded first again. 0-1.

Abysmal performance, as bad as I've seen this season - Totally outclassed from start to finish in every department.
A number of players looking unfit or not 100% up for it from first whistle and you cannot approach any game like that against sides of Yeovil's caliber.
With ten men they still easily dominated us and pushed us back as we reverted to the old habit of pumping high balls to Reid and Keating who won little against motivated, experienced and rugged defenders.
It was getting embarrassing at certain points as we played square balls across the back line with rarely a midfielder coming to take the ball and responsibility to build a worthwhile attack.
Asa was slow and looking his age. He has a good football head but the body no longer works - its part of a number of problems that were on display today.
Connor Evans unusually way off the pace and the make shift back line always made to look foolish and uncomfortable under pressure. As soon as Murphy came on I said he would score to wrap it up.
He actually did a little more by conning the ref into sending a naieve Niate as well as confirming the huge gap in quality by tapping in in the final minutes after Andrews inexplicably chipped the ball out of defense, we had pushed the whole team up by then in desperation, to give possession away as so often was the case.
Performance far worse than I had anticipated after the weekends uplifting result and performance result more or less what I expected.
At least it wasn't six but there was so much wrong today its hard to explain and as a team we looked bloody scared from minute one.
You have a big job on your hands Mr Johnson but we a ll knew that anyway didn't we?

A really frustrating performance by the Gulls today not being able to capitalize against 10 men Yeovil for most of the match. It was only in added time with the score at 0-1 that Torquay brought out a top drawer save by Yeovil's keeper tipping a James shot at full stretch around the post. The keeper himself celebrated the save like his team had just scored. It was a match winning save and a couple of minutes later as Torquay pressed forward, Yeovil broke away with hardly a defender covering and finished the match off. In truth, Yeovil looked a strong team all over the pitch and Torquay struggled all game to break them down even with a man advantage.

There was an expectant crowd of 4,165 with 936 from Yeovil making it a great atmosphere. It is a pity the match itself did not live up to it. Torquay's sponsors MOTM went to midfielder Asa Hall who gave his usual commitment performance and helped out protecting the defence. It is a shame his passing was often wayward. Personally it was difficult to choose our best players today as it was a mediocre performance and workmanlike only. It desperately needed some inspiration from someone and we only had occasional flashes from Lemonheigh-Evans and Whitfield who delivered some great runs and crosses at times into the box. However Yeovil always seem to have a covering defender and Torquay could not find a way through. I thought Covolan had a solid game in goal making some crucial saves and dealt with the back passes well. Cameron did well at left back I thought but Niate did his customary slice when trying to clear the ball which led to Yeovil's first goal and was also clumsy getting sent off for his second bookable offence late on. Torquay dealt with crosses well today and midfielder Hall was useful for winning headers in our box.

Yeovil started the brighter and pressed Torquay. The crucial moment was when Covolan saved from a point blank header and with the ball in his arms, Dagnall deliberately kicked Covolan. After the referee consulted the linesman, Dagnall got sent off. However a few minutes later Yeovil took the lead by hitting a low shot from an angle into the goal after the ball fell loose in the box. Niate did not clear the ball and it was a well taken shot but was slack from Torquay. For the rest rest of the half Torquay could not create anything. There was too much short sideways passing, lacking any pace in their game and all too predictable. Yeovil were very well drilled and did not give Torquay any space. Torquay rarely got a goal attempt having much possession whereas when Yeovil attacked they typically looked dangerous and worked our keeper.

The second half went a similar way and it got rather frustrating and boring to watch. It was all huff and puff by Torquay and Yeovil held us comfortably. Torquay had a clear chance following a great cross from Lemonheigh-Evans which found Hall just inside the box. By the time Hall controlled the ball and shot a defender blocked his shot - it was a big chance gone. Torquay got the ball in Yeovil's box lots of times but Torquay could not find a way through and apart from their keeper's great save in added time, he had a very quiet afternoon.

Luckily we will not play teams as good as Yeovil every week and it is clear to me they are a much better team as they are strong in all departments. We are a long way off from being that sort of standard. It was clear again today that Niate is too error prone and we need to strengthen the defence. It should not be underestimated the number of times Davis at left back used to rescue our defence. Decent teams like Yeovil will punish us. Going forward today, Keating gave his usual shift and tried, Reid was quiet today but was only feeding off scraps. Whitfield continues to impress with his never-say-die attitude and provided our brighter moments today. At least we don't need to play Yeovil again this season and I suspect they will be in a higher league next season.