FL2: Torquay United v Barnet 22nd August 2009

I would echo Chelston's comments on the game entirely. Unfortunately we did not get on in the club shop quite as well as the fat blokes. Still no sign of certain kids sizes.

I did try to post my comments late on Saturday, but managed to lose them in the process. Dave, I do normally write them in word but I didn’t have much to say so thought I would get away with it, lesson learned again.

I have read all the comments so far and there are a few people who have said they were watching a different game to the other, but i think i must have been watching a different game from most, because i actually thought we were unlucky to get beat. We most certainly deserved a point, didn’t we?

Barnet were no great shakes, not sure how that free kick crept/blew in but we did enough to get something out of the game.

To use a football cliché, It was a game of two halves, the first half was poor, though not as bad as Dagenham. It was also frustrating, however we looked a different side in the second half and certainly did enough to get something out of the game.

Back to the first half, the biggest problem for me, and the reason we didn’t get a foot hold on the game, was the performance of the wingers. Stevens and Carayol were unbelievably poor in the first half and neither could have had any complaints if they had been substituted before or at half time. They were BOTH guilty of sloppy play, BOTH guilty of not tracking back and neither were threatening going forward.

Fortunately Carayol improved a bit as the second half wore on, however they both had a chance to cement their place in the absence of Carlisle and not only did neither of them seize that chance, but they must be wondering which ONE of them will start the next game because unless Carlisle is injured he DEFINITLY starts.

Boy did we miss Mansell and Carlisle before they came. Once they were on we looked a different prospect down that right hand side.

I actually thought Benyon had a good game, out of the three strikers he was the best and looked the most likely to score. He did get caught offside a few times but he also found lots of space and showed some great touches at times, none more so than the touch back to Wroe before his shot was superbly tipped onto the post by their keeper.

Wroe and Hargreaves had a quiet first half, mainly because Barnet did use their flanks, which they exploited. Wroe was another who came into it as the game wore on, the same couldn’t be said for Hargreaves. Maybe too many games in such a short spell after missing quite a bit of pre season??

I obviously didn’t have such a good view of the handball incident as the referee, or his assistant, but in my view that WAS a penalty.

The fans have come in for a bit of stick, but to be honest there was not a lot to shout about in that first half other than at the ref and at that knob Furlong, who wanted to fight with anyone who was had the audacity to mark him.

It was a bit of a scrappy game at times and the amount of shirt pulling, from both sides, was something to behold. That said some of the bookings were just crazy, Muzzys for being fouled?? And although Furlong deserved a Yellow (and a good kicking), when he did get it it was debatable whether we should have even got a free kick there.

The best move of the game was the one that lead to us hitting the post. Some great control & passing split Barnet wide open and we were unlucky that their goalie got a finger tip to it. When we did run at them through the middle, Wroe did have a similar chance before the one that hit the post, they opened up liked the Red Sea.

It was by no means one of our better performances and not as bad as Dagenham either, but I really believe that we did not deserve to lose which makes it even more frustrating. Driving back from Dagenham was disappointing but at least I could reflect that we deserved to lose. Driving back on Saturday, with the prospect of a night of X-Factor, was disappointing, frustrating and annoying.

I thought it was me or it was an age thing, but that has bugged me for several seasons now

Stop the Music at least 15/20 minutes before kick off, let those that want to start the singing start and those that want to talk, talk.
Its made worse by those crappy speakers.

Whilst I'm on a rant, another thing that could be stopped is that big flag moving down the pop-side. By all means do it 15/20 minutes before kick off, but not as the players are coming out or when they break out after shaking hands, its the first chance to get to see who is playing but then a great big flag gets in the way

You may have worked out that i usually get to the ground about 15 minutes before kick off.

Why on earth is Benyon being singled out for (lets say for politeness) attention. He was at least as effective as Scott Rendell. TUFC01's match report is, in my opinion, a fair reflection of the game and he was actually there!!

Nicky Wroe seemed to have the hump in the first half. He offered no encouragement to the unfamiliar right side of Robbo and Muzzy, he just gave them 'daggers' on a number of occasions.
Compare that attitude to Lee Mansell when he came on and Wroe's performance, in the first half, was a particular disappointment.

Fair one. I think he also gave the ball back to Barnet when their keepers laces came undone and he had kicked the ball into touch.

And did you see him running after Furlong with his autograph book at the end?