FL2: Torquay v Accrington Stanley 27th Feb 2010

What was all the commotion at the end about did Buckle lose it?

Lucky, lucky, lucky Torquay United, those were the only words going around in my head as I drove home back to Paignton from today’s game as believe me despite how it might have sounded on the radio we were not the best team out on the pitch today and could not have complained if we had lost the game.

My first chance to see Macklin and Rowe-Turner play and have to say I felt they were both very poor and can’t see what Paul Buckle sees in them and they surely won’t be starting for us on Tuesday will they? Don’t know why Jake Thomson did not even make the bench and he looked a very unhappy boy sitting in the family stand when I got into the ground just after 2pm.

The Accrington players were out warming up and once again it was nearly 2.20pm before our boys came out and for some reason Paul Buckle did not come out as he has been doing, maybe he was trying to do something different to try and change his luck.

The pitch was very wet underneath and not looking as good as it has done in the past, but we have to be thankful that the three hours of rain that was forecast to fall before 3pm never arrived as if it had of done, then the pitch may have been unplayable.

Before I talk to much about the match itself I want to say a few words about some of the players we have here, Barnes really is not going to be our savour I’m afraid and for me Bucks took off the wrong forward when be brought on Muzzy. Can’t think of one good thing Macklin did in the first half and he lost the ball far to cheaply for me and never looked like beating anyone and was so guilty of just standing around and watching the game go on around him.

Rowe-Turner looked lost and was beaten to many times with far too much ease when anyone ran at him, once again can’t think of anyone thing he did that made me think he had something about him. Branston what a man he is, so vocal and does his job so well and when there is any sign of trouble between the players, he's the man who steps in and clams everyone down.

Ellis brave and courageous and has to start every game if we are going to stay up. Wroe needs to hand the captains arm band over to Branston and needs to try and get his game back on track, far too many poor passes made, he also needs to practice free kick taking.

Benyon worked hard and did so well to make our first goal happen and he needs to be playing of someone who has more to offer upfront than Barnes. Carlisle was brilliant when he came on for the second half, boy have we missed him. Zebs is just wasted playing out on the wing and it makes no sense to play him out there when we have a winger on the bench and two who did not even make the subs bench.

Bevan was forced to make a good save in the first minute of the game when Branston gave away a needless free kick just outside our box; Bevan just got his hands on the ball and was able to palm it out wide of our goal.

The a few minutes later Malkin lost the ball so cheaply on the edge of the Accrington box and two passes later the Accrington forward is in our box with only Bevan to beat and fortunately he shot across Bevan and the ball just went past the far post.

We sure miss Nico at free kicks in my view and we won one in a good position just out side the Accrington box and the ball was laid to Wroe who hit it high and wide and a good chance went begging.

Barnes maybe should have scored a bit later on when he burst into the box and hit a powerful shot with his left foot that must have only been a few inches wide of the right hand post. I felt we were guilty of giving the ball away in midfield far too much and Accrington were trying to play a good passing game and were the better team in the first half. We could have gone in one down at half time as near the end Maklin gave away a needless free kick and while the first shot got blocked the ball ended up wide on the left and was played back to the edge of our box and thankfully the resulting shot went wide.

My pen decided it did not want to work for the second half so I was unable to make any notes, the first thing to say it was great to see Carlisle come on and he received a great reaction and I should add at this point that our fans were wonderful today and sang their hearts out to try and lift the team. The only thing that got a bit mad was a few who decided to get far too vocal toward Paul Buckle when the halftime whistle blew.

Benyon did so well to hold the ball up and slip it out wide to Carlisle who played Benyon back in only Benyon's touch was far too heavy and the ball just ran too far in front of him, but the ball came back out side the box and there was Mansell to drive the ball home past the Accrington keeper.

While I was over the moon to see us score I just felt the goal had come too early in the half and we might just end up sitting far to deep and being under the cosh for the remainder of the half. I think the Accrington manager could clearly see that Rowe-Turner was our weakest link at the back and made a change and brought on a right winger of the bench, he was soon beating Rowe-Turner with ease and it was a great cross from him that resulted in Accrington getting their equaliser.

He sent in a powerful cross with Rowe-Turner nowhere to be seen and the Accrington who steamed into our box just hit the ball first time on the volley and gave Scott Bevan no chance at all.

Our player’s heads dropped and we just resorted to hoof ball football and as Barnes was unable to win a single header the ball kept coming back at us and I felt there was only going to be one team who would score again and that was not us.

A change needed to be made and Bucks took off Benyon who was clearly disappointed and sent on Mussy and what a great part he played in what should have been our second goal. He was in their half very close to the touch line and had two Accrington players coming at him, he knocked the ball past them toward the corner flag and sent in a magic cross to the back post and up jumped Carlisle who headed the ball and I could not believe it when it hit the crossbar and came back into play again.


I felt Rowe-Turner was a very lucky boy to only get a yellow card for the foul he committed on the winger who came off the bench and ran rings around him, it sure upset the Accrington manager an a few players, but good old Guy was there to sort the situation out and stop it getting out of hand.

The board went up and there was three minutes extra time to play and I was thinking it was just another game we were winning and had failed to take all three points. Then the ball is played into the Accrington box and from my angle I thought it was Barnes who hooked the ball into the net, even from where I was I could see he was off side and was just expecting to see the linesman flag go up. But no the goal was given and when it was announced on the PA I soon realised it was an own goal.

As I said at the start of this post we were lucky to get the three points, but we did and now we need to hope we can get three more on Tuesday night.






Unhappy Jake sits in the stand














Thought the ref(on the right) looked a bit fat





The goal that gets set up on the poside at the boots end for our keeper to pratice in gets put away.








Benyon did this!!!!




Aussie sorts it out

"Do what he's gotta do"?? What exactly are you advocating for a full back to do? You yourself seem to ackowledge that Rowe-Turner ran the risk of leaving his team mates a man short in a crucial match which lay in the balance. Did it not appear to you that Rowe-Turner couldn't cope with his man through his complete lack of skill and positional sense? The only thing left was to foul him. In my opinion the scenario you outline comes from pure inexperience - the same inexperience that our side has been riddled with in recent times. Would you have felt the same had he been sent off and we went on to lose?

I think you are letting the 3 points cloud your judgement - fair enough - we hadn't won in 11 and lets enjoy the best set of results and at last the best slice of luck any of us could hope for. However, Rowe-Turner is not good enough for this level. He was hopeless at Cheltenham the other night and his signing is one of a number of strange signings like Macklin and Camara that demonstrate the current shambles of our recruitment policy - They make a mockery of the oft quoted line on these boards of the care and research that Paul Buckle apparently takes when bringing players to TUFC.

What a pretentious, priggish thing to ask Enzo.

When the going get's tough, the tough get going and try putting your ridiculous point of view to tough old pro's like Peter Darke, Jim McNichol or Guy Branston....................just the sort of characters I'd want in my team in a battle when someone is threatening to piss all over our party.

There is a time and a place for every characteristic in the game in the real world Enzo and don't forget that Justin learned a lot of his lesson's in life from Harry Smith who, even in his fifties; would have gobbled the likes of you up for breakfast and shat you out in pea sized Maltesers

La la la....La la la we scored more goals than you (Torquay United FC) that is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Happy as a sand boy, sweet dreams. ;D

At last a win !!!!

It wasnt great by any means but its three points in the bank . Yes we had good fortune but there have been several occasions this year when other teams have benefited by the lucky break we got today.

I thought the atmosphere was reasonably good inside plainmoor today. We could have been a goal down within 5 minutes when we were cut to ribbons at the back and an accrington forward missed a good chance to give Accrington an early lead.

Barnes then had a chance on a one on one at the other end but shot wide. Defensively I thought Branston and Ellis played very well and seemed to get their heads on to anything directed in the air. Branston was encouraging Ellis virtually non-stop . He certainly looks and acts more of a captain than wroe.

Not a lot of action as the first half went on and you got the feeling that this was a game that we had a good chance of winning if mansell and wroe could get hold of the ball in midfield.

Macklin had a very disappointing half and hardly seemed to get into the game. It was no surprise when he was substituted at half time and I was especially pleased at the welcome afforded to Wayne Carlisle when he entered the fray at the begininning of the second half.

We started the second half much brighter and got the breakthrough shortly after the break. A move found Carlisle on the right who played an intelligent ball to benyon just inside the accrington box. Benyon seemed to miscontrol but fortunately the ball found its way to mansell who found the bottom of the net with a low shot to the bottom right hand corner.

We then had a good spell for five or so minutes but could not fashion another chance and then steadilt began to drop deeper and deeper . The gap between the midfield 4 and the forwards got larger and Accrington found plenty of room to play the ball around.

Accrington finally made us pay when their right winger found plenty of space to cross the ball and the striker flashed the ball home from close range giving Bevan no chance. Apart from this Accrington created very little which emphasises the good games had by branston and ellis.

Carayol replaced the hardworking Benyon and showed a flash of his promise when he skinned two defenders and crossed the ball from close to the byline. The cross was a beauty but unfortunately Wayno ran in a little to early and was therefore underneath the ball and could not direct the ball under the crossbar. It looked like this was the golden opportunity missed as the game moved towards the closing stages with the game looking like a draw.

Rowe-turner capped a very unconvincing display with a challenge on the right winger which looked sure to produce a red card from the ref but fortunately for him it was only yellow.

We were well into injury time when a long ball was launched from the back. Barnes looking offside to me ( The popside lino had had a shocker all game ! ) chased the ball with a retreating Kempson who quite beautifully struck the ball past the on rushing keeper and into the corner of the accrington net .

Cue pandemonium on 3 sides of the ground. It was just then a case of playing out the final minute before the referee brought proceedings to a close and joyous scenes.

Yes we got lucky, but there have been plenty of games this year when we havent. It turns out to be a huge 3 points when considering the other results of the struggling teams today.

Hopefully it should give a bit more confidence for tuesday night with another important game in our quest to retain that hard worked for league status.

A nice beer will certainly taste good tonight. ;D ;D ;D

What is pretentious or priggish about my question?

I agree - there is a time and place for every characteristic in the game or "real world" as you like to put it. There is a world of difference between an old pro letting an opposition player know that they are there and what type of afternoon lies in store for them when compared to the last role of the dice of an incompetent, outclassed player who is out of his depth. I don't know who Peter Drake was, but players of the likes of McNichol and Branston have little relevance to my question about Rowe-Turner. As did the rest of the your post.

I hadn't forgotten that Justin learned a lot of his lessons in life from Harry Smith - those thoughts are rarely out of mind when I take any decision in life. Given your extensive knowledge of my footballing career, maybe you'd like to explain exactly how Harry Smith, even in his fifties would gobble me up and shat me out in pea size maltesers? Is that a bit like what Shawcross did to Ramsey earlier this evening? Your unhealthy urge to have a dig at anything I write has led you to make what, even by your standards, is a post of great ignorance and poor taste.