Torquay United V Histon 20th December 2008

Interesting game - I feared that it might be a "game of two halves" but it transpired to be a "game of six sixths" and fortunately 5 of those were overwhelming for us!

Histon played las you would expect a part-time team missing their two key centre-backs and a keeper carrying an injury for nearly the entire first-half, we played like a team with individuals who know how to get the best from their team-mates and are not afraid to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and pound the opposition's goal.
Some of the football that we played in the first half was sublime at times, they were struggling to get anywhere near us. Hargreaves, Hodges, Woods and Sills provide a great platform to allow their team-mates to do the "pretty stuff", although I felt today that the aggressive approach (that doesn't mean dirty - just "right at 'em" with the challenges) came from all the outfield players.
I imagine that Histon's committed approach has been a key factor in their success of the last few seasons, but today they were outgunned in every way.
Sill's workrate (and that excellent assist for Wroe's goal) shows why we ae so fortunate to have a player of his calibre in our side - he offers so many dimensions.

Sometimes you walk away thinking "a win is a win", but I went away delighted with that performance today. We've seen all the players perform as well as today, so perhaps the most encouraging sign was the performance of Matt Green.
Green has been very much a bit-part player and has shown very little of note other than the goal at FGR. Today (after it seemed he was running on marbles for a bit) he terrorised the Histon team with his pace and direct approach to goal.

You can look at the league table and compare that we are nice points behind the total we were on at the same time last season (and Burton are two points worse-off than Aldershot) but this team surely is better equipped to deal with second half of the season compared to the squad last season?

***EDIT** Dave R, I noticed that about the Histon defensive line - it was incredibly high and had HUGE gaps in it! Even with their personnel that they had missing, I was shocked with their poor discipline. Without wishing to sound critical of our attackers, Histon would have been fortunate to go-in 4-0 down at half time.
With regards to Naisbett not going for the first goal that Dsane scored, he was carrying an injury that hugely impeded his movement. I was very surprised when he re-appeared for the second half - especially after the save from Carlisle (when he should have scored!) he seemed in agony after the temporary sure of adrenaline wore-off and the pressure was off. They should have taken the option and played their reserve keeper as was suggested they would yesterday.

brilliant performance 2day by all the lads,wroe was outstanding but 1 thing i always notice on this board is the lack of praise nicholson gets,i gave mom to wroe but nicholson was defo 2nd,the balls and the vision he had for picking people out today were top draw,well done to all the team but i at least like to see credit where its due.

Just some random thoughts....

Lee Mansell owes me £200 after I had a fiver on TUFC winning 4-0!! (Stupid rubbish defending for their goal)

For the first time I can remember, there were audible 'oohs' and 'aahs' during one particularly sublime TUFC move near the end of the first half involving Wroe, Sills and Green among others.

Radio Devon commentator made me wait five minutes just to speak to him about getting the internet commo sorted out....writing his first half match report by the looks of it, in very camp red ink....and it was crap!!

Although defending him in the past when others have been critical, thought Dsane was bloody hopeless today apart from the two goals

Carayol? Going backwards as the season goes on? Beginning to think a little bit too much of himself perhaps?

Nicky Wroe - best midfielder TUFC has had since Alex Russell. MOTM by a country mile.

Nicho - excellent game in general and so deserves to get a goal.

Crowd - sensational in the second half after Histon's goal. Well done to the drummer and the singers.

Nice to see PB watch the game from 'up on high' as it should be watched...that's one for the comedians among us!!

As for Histon, Oyebanjo is a fantastic right-back and inept centre-back, Ada should have been sent-off, they might as well have had Dave R in goal since Naisbitt could barely move by the end and the rest of them seemed to have one eye on the next round of the FA Cup already.

Jon - did I win anything in the draw LOL!!!!

Hugely enjoyable game today which would have been appreciated by partisan fan and neutral alike. I had my occasional lapse into complacency on 48 minutes - "we really are a good team, you know" - only to be immediately deflated by Histon's goal. Then - not long after we'd been discussing that the Nicky Wroe wonder goal was overdue - our man makes it 3-1. A few scary moments before the late fourth by which time even Homelandsgull (at least I think that's what he calls himself) started to show the first tentative signs of relaxation. When that happens you know the game is won...

A game to leave a warm glow...until the other results come through. This one will run and run and Wrexham are coming up on the rails, aren't they?

Great to meet so many forum members on the Popside today including an enjoyable half-time meeting with Jon and this site's Godfather. Also a few tales from my top-step companion about how he sat his matriculation papers in the old social club back in Division 3 South days (or was it "O" levels during the Malcolm Musgrove era?). Either way, is there anybody else out there who has sat exams at Plainmoor?

Apologies if it has been mentioned before, but that volley that hit the bar from Nico would have not only broken the net if it was 3 inches lower, but probably taken-out a couple of people in the family stand! I'm sure that I could see a dent in the woodwork!

Nico was excellent again yesterday - his supply from corners seemed to dry-up last season after many teams "rumbled us". This season though we are ramping-up the nmber of goals coming from corners again - there were some great corners yesterday from both Wayno and Nico

Does anyone have the link to assists and other similar stats?

Saturday's game was fantastic. Apart from a little wobble at the start of the second half we tore Histon to pieces. I believe the crowd played their part as well when the Histon goal went in because things could have gone a little wrong at that point, despite our complete dominance. Bearing in mind the crowd was only 2200 there was a great atmosphere.
Matt Green was a complety different player to what I have previously seen him play like. Nicky Wroe seems to be getting better and better and I believe that Torquay need to consider another midfield partner for him when Hargreaves is injured / needs a rest.
Well done the players and management team - great stuff to watch and be part of.

It was an extremely entertaining match. When we play at that tempo, we are a right handful!

Nicky Wroe was superb once more. He really has worked at his game since that awful display against Ebbsfleet. All credit to him and the coaching staff.

It's funny that the "experts" were up in arms at Buckle playing a left-footed veteran midfielder at left centre back - and now Hodges is performing brilliantly in that role. I can see what Bucks was thinking in trying Hargreaves there. A left footer gives much better cover to Nicho, and an ex-midfielder gives a far more cultured feel to our play. I still think Hargreaves has the natural attributes to make a success of that role. I suspect that the decision to move him back to midfield was more driven by the fact that we could not do without him in midfield than anything else. In that Ebbsfleet game, Thompson and Wroe were woeful and surrendered the midfield without a scrap.

The other think I noticed on Saturday was how often Sillsy pulled out wide and how that stretched their defence to pieces and really opened them up. It's pretty obvious that sometimes things work and sometimes they don't - you can't win them all. I recall people moaning like hell at Sills pulling wide in games where we played badly and claiming that the tactics were idiotic. They looked good on Saturday!

And yes, I was surrounded by "Buckle outers" on the pop. When it went to 2-1, there were cries of "Sort it out Buckle!" Somebody said "none of them are trying" which I found unbelievable given the tempo we had played at. Somebody said "Look - Buckle's told them to sit back! It never works." I thought that rather ignored the fact that their goal came from a breakaway when, if anything, we had committed too many men forward.

Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good rant! Sort it out Buckle!