Torquay United V Kettering 4th April 2009

That sounded pretty comprehensive to me. Losses for Histon, Stevenage, Cambridge and Burton, as well. And in front of over 2500 at Plainmoor. Happy days.

That's Andre Boucaud (or "Boo Cow" as the BBC Devon commentator insisted on calling him) and yes, in my opinion; the very best player in the BSP.

A product of the Tottenham Hotspur youth development and Academy, he has been "available" for any intelligent manager to pick up for years now and was struggling away in the Peterborough United reserve side when I first cast eyes on him (our FL Members Cup tie at London Road a few years ago) and I have always noted his career moves and changes.

If I was building a side for League 2, he would be top of my shopping list!

I saw it a little differently Enzo and thought it was as complete a team performance as I have seen for a very long time. Sadly agree regarding Greavsy certainly his age is unfortunately catching up fast but is still our best option in the middle with Wroe. Is there another season for him I'm not so sure. I thought everyone went about their jobs and did what they were instructed to do and Roscoe had a particularly good second half - its so easy to criticise and point out what went wrong for him today and you so rightly say he struggled trying to beat his marker out wide but we all know he Isn't a natural winger and looked so much better when he cut inside and layed the ball off. Kettering hardly had a decent effort on goal and we could easily have been 2 or 3 up at HT. They had a spell of decent possession at the start of the second half but never really threatened a determined and organised defence with as you say a very ariely dominant Bevan. Every player played their part today and yes Robbos clearances were a bit erratic but he did at least clear the danger with no nonsense defending just what we need at this time. Toddy Mans and Nicho were also very solid today and without doubt Sturrock deserved his MOM award and you could tell he has been playing at a higher level with some nice subtle and simple turns and passes and selfless running of the channels.
Must admit I cant even remember their No 17 one or two looked OK but as a team we were far superior today.

...one word for today's result and performance.....fantastic!

For me, by far, the best performance of the season too.

We simply did everything well.....that must be our best starting XI now i'd say. Robertson/Hodges is a coin flip perhaps, Robbo's extra threat from set pieces gets my vote.

The one main difference today was Sturrock.....what a great piece of business to get this guy in could be.
He left the field to a well deserved standing ovation after a man of the match performance.....the most important thing he adds to our attacking play is craft - his game is obviously built on running the channels and holding the ball up, today he offered us so much more, his awareness, passing, inventiveness, deft touches were just a pleasure to watch.
Sills and Sturrock as a partnership looks like it can take our attacking play to a new level.

Kettering are a decent side and they battled hard to stay in the match today, they are huge all over the park and its obvious to see why they are/were? challenging for the play offs.
They will bully most teams at this level.......we however, swept them away with ease....they couldn't live with us, we matched them physically and then destroyed them with good football played at a high tempo.

The first goal owed much to Carlisle's unselfishness......at the last moment he called Robertson to take his place as we had an attacking throw in, Carlisle sprinted back to mark Robbo's man on the halfway line, freeing Robbo to attack the throw.......Nicho's long throw was expertly flicked on by Siils at the near post.....Robbo arrived late to volley the ball high into the roof of the net from close range.
The second was a peach........and so needed, we were playing so well for so long, but 1-0 ....well, you always worry. Wroe drove into the box and must have jinked past 4 defenders (nutmegging the last one ) before squaring the ball to Sturrock, who slotted home with a minimum of fuss......a great goal.

2-0 didn't flatter us.......it could easily have been 6!

Ratings out of 10

Bevan 8 - came for crosses well and showed good handling, otherwise not much to do.
Mansell 7 - nice to see him back, solid display and got forward well.
Nicho - 8 great delivery today.
Todd - 8 looked solid and won his headers, foiled by a great save from a header just on half time.
Robbo - 7 improved as the game went on, no nonsence display and a crucial goal.
Hargreaves - 7 battled hard, as usual.
Wroe 8.5 - creative, passed well, great energy.
Dsane 8 - ran at them well, much better from Roscoe today.
Carlisle 9 - had a cracker for me, full of intelligent play, crossed well.....he looks a class above when confident.
Sills 9 - murdered their 2 giant centre halves, great display from the main man.
Sturrock 9.5 - he's too good for this level.......can we keep him??

Finally a word for the crowd, terrific support and atmosphere from the 1st minute today.....Bucks' blast had the desired effect!

What a fabulous day! There was a good feeling around Plainmoor today in lovely sunshine - a nice reception for young Lewis as he walked around the pitch today - great to see him make the half-time draw as well - I would have not been able to do it with so many people watching!

I can't really write enough positives about the game, and the team's performance - we were absolutely blistering everywhere on the pitch and not one player had an off-day IMHO.
We started well and exerted more and more pressure on the Kettering defence - I was surprised that we were able to cause so much problems in the air given the size of Geohagan (sp?) and the old-hand Branston at the back. Our play came from all areas of the pitch - Mansell, Wroe, Carlisle and Dsane - despite the lack of the goal, the crowd were right behind the team and it felt like it was a matter of time before it came.
Robertson slammed the ball home after a Sills assist - our dominance finally reaped some reward.
The team never took their collective foot off of the pedal today - there was such purpose, flow and drive in their play the whole game. They looked so incredibly fresh considering we are right at the business-end of a gruelling season.

We looked like we might let Kettering back into the game only for the odd fleeting moment - but they were profligate with the chances they did have and other than one excellent chance that they skied the hard work of the team restricted them to half-chances.

I'll leave it to someone else to "rate the players properly" but here's a quick run-down:
Bevan - exceptionately dominant in the air today when he was called upon - handling under pressure was very, very good. He didn't really have anything but routine saves to make and inspired real confidence.

Mansell - amazing recovery from the alien anal-probe / replacement of Paul McCartney in the Sgt Pepper album / conspiring with the CIA on the twin towers (delete whatever daft conspiracy theory some have come-up with as to explain his recent absence with a groin strain!). He was very steady today -covered well when needed and backed-up his team-mates well - a typical Mansell high-energy performance.

Nico - caused some real problems with his balls into the box. Steady game.

Robbo and Todd - very, very steady game at the back and threatening when in attack. Robbo's finish was excellent.

Wroe - probably the best I have seen him play for some time. Covered well at the back, regularly mopping-up the Kettering breaks and provided a good link from the defence to play the ball out. Did the simple things very well. His fantastic foxing of their man-mountain defender leading to Sturrock's goal was quality.

Hargreaves - typical "Hargreaves performance" - 100% effort and involvement. Looked much brighter than the last home game, (which was a bid jaded). I reckon there is plenty left in the tank and legs of this seasoned pro - hopefully he doesn't overdo it on the hookah pipe or eat a dodgy bit of lamb on his "Morrocan night" this evening! I'm sure that he'll be on Powerade and not the wine tonight.

Carlisle - probably the best I have see him play for some time. Intelligent both with the ball and when he was covering - crossing well from the wing and making some excellent interceptions.

Dsane - perhaps the best perfomance I have seen from him for us. He chased the ball when he didn't have it and used it very well when he did. He must have covered every blade of grass on the flank that he played on. Hopefully the ice bag on his thigh at the end was for a knock rather than for a strain. Would have been my MOTM if it wasn't for Sturrock Jr!

Sturrock - sublime. What a "complete striking performance" we were treated to today. His link-up play with Sills and the rest of the team was almost psychic - perhaps his vague look-a-like Derren Brown is a genetic relative!?
Watching him turn all of their defenders inside-out on at least two occaisions each was a masterclass in control and trickery. He has more than enough pace and matched a VERY physical (but not dirty in any way) team without resorting to fouling or backing-down in frustration. Good in the the air, excellent on the ground.
The home debut from this loanee striker was every much as good as the likes of Jason Roberts, Alan Lee, Dean Sturridge, Marvin Williams and Martin Gritton. He compliments Sills in every way - they looked great up-front together. He really did deserve his goal, which looked a certainty from the instant that Wroe tee'd him up.
If we had him for the rest of the season I would feel that we had one excellent addition to the squad - a revelation. He also looked like he enjoyed playing today every bit as much as I enjoyed watching it.

Sills played as well and as steady as he usally does - came close on a couple of occaisions and caused real problems to the Kettering defence.

Credit to Kettering today. They gave it a good go, they were very physical and well organised but played the game very fairly - the referee (who used the advantage well for both teams and did let the game flow after a poor bewildering start) had no need to go for a card.

Still don't think we'll overtake Burton for the top-spot- maybe about a 100/1 shot - and they never come-in do they?!
They'll be plenty more twists and turns this season if we can produce performances like this.

All in all - a great afternoon's entertainment and something to build-on for the small matter of playing Burton in 48 hours time!

We have finally found the perfect strike partner for Sills. Sturrock was a couple of moves ahead of most players on the pitch.