Post by rjdgull on Jul 20, 2011 22:26:37 GMT
First game of the season for me and boy, did I like what I saw! 
Apart from the first five minutes, the starting eleven really dominated the match and even after the substitutions kicked in, still managed to score with a good strike from debutante Morris.
The feature for me tonight was the partnerships that are developing well together. Kee and Howe form a strong partnership up front and Howe looks the business. Mansell and O'Kane look really good with Eunan taking over the midfielder play-maker role - what a difference a year makes! Saah and Robertson look solid at the back. Olejnik has a safe pair of hands and one hell of a throw on him. Oastler and Macklin worked well together with Lloyd one of the better players in the first half and Joe in the second half with basically everyone playing at a high level. Personally, wouldn't be bothered if the season started on Saturday although that fortnight is needed to continue to build on fitness levels.
The first goal started with Danny who cut in from the left wing and passed the ball up to the edge of the penalty area where he received it back in a more central position and played it out wide to Macklin who pinged in a beautiful ball that Howe hit first time as it bounced, into the bottom left hand corner of the net. A nice cross from Kee in the left corner again came to Howe but this time it spun away just over the crossbar.
Next Eunan had a good chance after he got in one on one but with loads of time crossed it to Danny but a gilt edged chance was denied by the defender just intercepting the ball. The second goal when it came was after some good work by Howe to win the ball sent Macklin away and his cross was on the money for Kee to head home with the keeper unable to stop the ball trickling in! Just when I thought the half couldn't get any better, Howe managed to use his strength to rob the defender and another one on one chance went begging with the shot going just wide of the right hand post.
That was the last of Howe as the second half saw McPhee come on in his place up front. Oastler looked particularly good in both attack and defence as this half wore on. Of course, the substitutions, about 20 odd, made the play somewhat disjointed and it wasn't as good as the first. Exeter could have scored a few goals with one mix up in defence saw the ball come to an Exeter player and the shot go over an effectively open goal. However, Morris showed a lot of promise when he came on and took his goal well when a Ray Spear cross was just missed by another sprawling Torquay player and came to him with time and space in the area and he made no mistake. Looks to get forward and I forecast that he will score a few goals this season particularly if Macklin continues in the same vein that he did tonight.
So, a very encouraging result, made all the sweeter against our local rivals, with lots of positives and very few negatives. The majority of the first half team will line up against Burton on the basis of tonight's performance with almost certainly Morris and perhaps Nico instead.
Apart from the first five minutes, the starting eleven really dominated the match and even after the substitutions kicked in, still managed to score with a good strike from debutante Morris. The feature for me tonight was the partnerships that are developing well together. Kee and Howe form a strong partnership up front and Howe looks the business. Mansell and O'Kane look really good with Eunan taking over the midfielder play-maker role - what a difference a year makes! Saah and Robertson look solid at the back. Olejnik has a safe pair of hands and one hell of a throw on him. Oastler and Macklin worked well together with Lloyd one of the better players in the first half and Joe in the second half with basically everyone playing at a high level. Personally, wouldn't be bothered if the season started on Saturday although that fortnight is needed to continue to build on fitness levels.
The first goal started with Danny who cut in from the left wing and passed the ball up to the edge of the penalty area where he received it back in a more central position and played it out wide to Macklin who pinged in a beautiful ball that Howe hit first time as it bounced, into the bottom left hand corner of the net. A nice cross from Kee in the left corner again came to Howe but this time it spun away just over the crossbar.
Next Eunan had a good chance after he got in one on one but with loads of time crossed it to Danny but a gilt edged chance was denied by the defender just intercepting the ball. The second goal when it came was after some good work by Howe to win the ball sent Macklin away and his cross was on the money for Kee to head home with the keeper unable to stop the ball trickling in! Just when I thought the half couldn't get any better, Howe managed to use his strength to rob the defender and another one on one chance went begging with the shot going just wide of the right hand post.
That was the last of Howe as the second half saw McPhee come on in his place up front. Oastler looked particularly good in both attack and defence as this half wore on. Of course, the substitutions, about 20 odd, made the play somewhat disjointed and it wasn't as good as the first. Exeter could have scored a few goals with one mix up in defence saw the ball come to an Exeter player and the shot go over an effectively open goal. However, Morris showed a lot of promise when he came on and took his goal well when a Ray Spear cross was just missed by another sprawling Torquay player and came to him with time and space in the area and he made no mistake. Looks to get forward and I forecast that he will score a few goals this season particularly if Macklin continues in the same vein that he did tonight.
So, a very encouraging result, made all the sweeter against our local rivals, with lots of positives and very few negatives. The majority of the first half team will line up against Burton on the basis of tonight's performance with almost certainly Morris and perhaps Nico instead.