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PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Thread Started on Jul 28, 2010, 11:25pm »
Our last preseason game before we start the season proper and one thing about this preseason is that unlike others before where we have seen so many players in the games have a trial, this time its all been about Paul Buckle being able to experiment a bit with the players and formations as nearly all of them were signed up before the preseason games started.
We always seen to play well against Yeovil and win and the way we have played in our other preseason games against higher league clubs there is no reason why our boys can’t end the preseason with another win under their belt.
Yeovil should bring a good number of fans down and let’s hope we see more TUFC fans turn up for this game. Hopefully we will get some good match reports from this game and then we can all look forward to the following Saturday with hopes of having a good season.
Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #1 on Jul 30, 2010, 11:17pm »
Doesn`t seem much interest to anybody seeing as it could give us an idea as to who starts against Northampton.
Billy Kee is looking really good and Benyon is looking sharper after every game. Gritts offers experince, has control and an extra dimension. Potter looks good with postioning, Bevan hieght plus expeirnce with everyone else and Brantons leadership, hard tacklng no nonsence style is something we needed to have. A team thats has something of everything nearly apart from the depth in squad. Though admitly every lower league side has that problem nowadays.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #2 on Jul 31, 2010, 12:53am »
Paul Buckle has said that while the last preseason game normally sees the team expected to be picked for the first proper game of the season starting, he is prepared to use this game to carry out further experiments with the team and formations.
I would expect we will see what he considers his best eleven to start the first half and then see changes made during the second half.
Not many get too excited about preseason friendly games I'm afraid, but I'm looking forward to it and will write a report on the game when I get home.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #4 on Jul 31, 2010, 7:00pm »
Another solid performance with a fortunate goal at the start of the second half being the difference between the two sides.
The line up included all three strikers but with the formation being hard to gauge other than to say that Kee was on the right and Zebroski on the left but not in a standard 4-4-2 pattern. The downside of this is that there was a heck of lot of space behind Kee on our ring wing and I felt that Robertson was exposed at times. At one stage, the left winger charged into the box and no one went to tackle him and we were lucky that his short cross wasn't tucked into the back of the net as it deserved.
At the other end, we were having some success, a good long range shot from Wroe forced a good save, there was some good interaction between Benyon and Kee and Zebroski continues to look sharp on the wing, although in the first half this was on the left side.
No changes at half time apart from Zebs and Kee swapping wings. The goal came from an in swinging Nicholson cross on the right wing and for some reason one of the Yeovil defenders (Number 8 maybe ) ran across the keeper at the last moment completely obscuring his vision and the ball bounced underneath him and up into the net for a surprising and rare Nicholson goal.
The rest of the half was quite entertaining with plenty of goal mouth action and some good touches that didn't quite come off to double the lead. Towards the end Yeovil did step up the pace and their number 17 on the left wing looked dangerous every time he got the ball and gave Robertson and to a lessor extent, Stevens a torrid time. They were unlucky not to score but ran out of time.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #5 on Jul 31, 2010, 7:05pm »
After a week at work where I ended up feeling very old by Friday night and getting up very late this morning feeling like a zombie, I really needed a good enjoyable Saturday afternoon and boy have I had one.
Due to needing to do some maintenance on the forum when you were all in the land of nod, I did not get to bed in the end until 2am and it sure was a very long day yesterday and the reason I was so late getting up today.
I got to the ground very early and had a very good meeting with Dean Edwards in his office and came out very pleased with the arrangements I have been able to make with Dean and I will post some details on that a bit later this evening.
Let’s get the only two negative things out of the way before I go any further. Number one the crowd, I only counted 50 Yeovil fans and just where were our supporters for a game that looked an attractive fixture even if it was only a preseason friendly.
Number two, If Lou was still in charge of the Junior Gulls they would have been out on the pitch when our players came out of the tunnel, the more I think about the reasons for getting rid of her, the more angry I get as it’s the kids who are missing out and I will watch with interest what happens next Saturday in our first league game proper.
Thanks TFF for making me so many good friends up at Plainmoor and I had great chats with Chris Hayes, Timbo, tufc01, Jon, Chelstongull, plus a really great chat with forevertufc and I also gave Aussie a very big hug just because I felt he needed it and Joe came and found me and paid his £10 sponsorship money.
What a great game as well thrown into the bargain and we made a good Yeovil side that had some good players in it, look very ordinary and for most of the game we were much the better side and the one that always looked more likely to win it.
For the first two of three minutes Yeovil really looked a good side and I felt we might end up defending our box for most of the first half and seldom get into their half. But we very quickly got up to the pace of the game and played some of the best football seen at Plainmoor for sometime.
Every single player looked good on the ball, used it so well when they did have it and were hungry to get the ball and worked so hard not only as a unit but for each other. Guy was one second patting Mark Ellis on the back and then letting him know he had not done the right thing or was not on the pitch where he should have been, you have just got to love this man and we really are so lucky to have him here this season.
I think Bucks started with the team and formation he might go with against Northampton next Saturday and he lined up the team in a 4-3-3 formation with Gritton, Benyon and Kee upfront, Zebs Mansell and Wroe in the middle and Robertson, Ellis, Branston and Nico at the back with Scott Bevan in goal.
We did end up at the end of the game playing a 4-5-1 formation due to the subs Bucks made, but our best football was played using the 4-3-3 formation that made us look very solid and provided us with so many good attacking options and created a lot of chances. I do feel it’s the sort of formation we should be looking to play at home games providing we have the players fit to do so, but maybe play 4-4-2 in away games as the home side should be looking to attack more than they might if they were playing away from home.
Grits was winning all the balls thrown up to him the air and we was not just needlessly flicking the ball on to anywhere but was always looking to place the ball to one of our player. He did just that for our first meaningful effort on goal, he was so strong holding of the defender behind him and got a downward header back towards Wroe, Wroe looked second best to get to the ball first but he also was strong and made the ball his just inside the Yeovil half, He got his head down and ran to the edge of the Yeovil box and fired a powerful right foot shot that the Yeovil keeper just managed to get his hands to and keep out.
Yeovil looked dangerous on set pieces and Scott Bevan did well to push a close range header from a Yeovil corner over the bar, his great height making it look much easier save than it was.
We saw how good Gritton, Benyon and Kee can combine when all three play together and one move involving all three of them was one of the best bits of play in the first half. Grits won his header yet again and this time flicked on to Kee in a more advanced position. Kee played it to benyon and then took the return pass from Benyon just inside the right hand side of the Yeovil box, he played a great ball into Benyon along the ground and it looked a certain goal, but somehow Benyons effort got blocked and out for a corner.
We very nearly then go caught out with too many players in the Yeovil half for one corner we had won. The ball came out to the edge of the Yeovil box and their very speedy number 11 ran from the edge of his box to ours unchallenged and fired a great shot at goal that Bevan did well to tip over his bar.
Yeovil’s number five got very lucky or knew what he was doing when Mansell took a quick free kick to Robertson who played it out to Kee who then sent a low hard ball across the face of the Yeovil goal and their number 5 was facing his own goal and somehow got the ball over the bar and it could so easily have been an own goal.
Yeovil still were having the odd shot on goal and mostly from long range, one 30 yard effort saw Benyon once again being forced into making a good save having to stretch his large frame to get his hands to the ball to keep it out of the goal.
Young Mr Benyon should have done much better than he did after being put in on goal and one on one with the keeper after a great ball played over the top to him by Mansell. He was in the left hand side of the box and the ball just needed stroking past the keeper towards the right hand post. To be fair the keeper stayed big for long enough and Benyon shot more at him in the end but it was still a half decent save, only Elliot really should have scored.
The funniest moment of the first have was provided by Nico, he picked up the ball to take a long throw-in into the Yeovil box, only he started his run up to the line from the steps ON the pospide, just as he got to the gap in the wall he caught his feet on the step and had to abort the throw-in. So the first half ended and we were much the better side and the few who bothered to turn up gave the players the send off their efforts and display fully deserved.
We started of the second half with the same eleven players and Zebs nearly scored a special goal early in the half with a side scissors sort of shot just inside the box that forced the Yeovil keeper to make a good save.
Not sure if Guy just got lucky or if it was the case he was fully in control of the situation, but Yeovil’s number 11 who was causing plenty of problems in the second half with his running with pace with the ball out wide on the left, hit a low hard cross that went passed Bevan and Guy was standing facing the ball close to the back stick and goal line. The ball hit Guy and I was just expecting the ball to go over the line, but somehow the ball went back towards Bevan who was able to grab hold of it while on the floor.
We then saw Bucks make a number of changes and I wanted to have a better look at young Damon Lathrope and he really impressed me far more today. He was getting stuck in winning the ball back and also has a great eye for those killer passes and I think he is going to be a player who will become a Plainmoor favourite if he plays as well as he did when he came on today.
He played a great ball to O’Kane who played an even better defence spitting pass for Grits who just failed to get to the ball before a Yeovil defender did. He also had played another good ball to Wroe who took a shot from the edge of the box only the shot was well blocked in the end.
Not to sure what happened for our goal, Nico fired in a free kick and one second the keeper looked liked he was going for the ball then he got caught in two minds what to do and from my angle I was not sure if Grits had got a touch on the ball, but the keeper ended up making a theatrical dive in the end with the ball going over him and into the net.
Yeovil came close to getting a goal very near the end of the game, from a cross into our box their number 17 got a good downward header in on goal and it looked to me it skinned the post and behind for a goal kick.
If we play with the same conviction, passion and work rate next Saturday then there is no reason why we won’t get our season off to a fine winning start.
Let’s get the only two negative things out of the way before I go any further. Number one the crowd, I only counted 50 Yeovil fans and just where were our supporters for a game that looked an attractive fixture even if it was only a preseason friendly.
I don't think that crowd of just under a thousand was at all bad Dave. Every pre-season game can't be viewed as a huge money raiser and quite often the true value of such games (namely, giving the manager the opportunity to try different aspects of play and sharpen others) is overlooked in pursuit of the quick buck and you have to look no further than Harry Redknapp's protestations at Tottenham Hotspur's ridiculous pre season programme which has robbed him of any opportunity of doing any menaningful work with his squad prior to the start of the season next Saturday.
No, a game against Yeovil is far more pertinent to the oncoming League 2 programme than struggling to cope with a leading Championship club or chasing shadows against a Premiership outfit. A game against Yeovil coming at the end of a four game Plainmoor pre-season programme is hardly riveting, "must see" stuff for financially challenged folk and little more exciting for those who can afford the fourth game at the ground in a short period...................and in my opinion, only a lunatic would follow a side away to a pre-season friendly unless it was within ten miles of their home.
excellent win,1-0 nicholson,terrible gate,914 to be precise,but there have been a lot of friendlies though
914 and about 25 from Yeovil. Still the 891 Torquay fans all got behind the lads and applauded each period of good play. I thought Yeovil just shaded the first half in terms of pressure but we looked more dangerous and had better opportunities. Bevan made 2 or 3 excellent saves. In the second half we bossed the game and it was only in the last few minutes that they managed to exert a bit of pressure. They also seemed to get a bit arsey in the last few minutes with their number 14 guilty of some over zealous tackles and their left back Nathan Jones getting a bit stroppy with the crowd.
But all in all a good performance against good opposition. The lads look, sharp, fit and strong. The defence looks pretty solid. I'm not sure that 4-3-3 will get the best out of Billy Kee. Gritton had a good game. He does hold the ball up very well. Lathrope came on later on got himself a booking. Probably trying too hard to make an impression but he's not afraid to get stuck in and he passes the ball nicely. O'Kane and Halpin also came on. If he can beef up a bit O'Kane will be some player and Halpin might well develop quite nicely.
« Last Edit: Jul 31, 2010, 8:18pm by Chris Hayes »
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #8 on Aug 1, 2010, 5:53pm »
The first of our pre-season games that I've been able to get along to & an entertaining 90 minutes it proved to be.
I was particularly looking forward to getting my first look at boy wonder Billy Kee but, understandably I suppose, PB is still experimenting & tinkering with formations etc...& pre season is the time to do that. Consequently young Billy played a little wider on the right than I was expecting & it was Gritton & Master Elliot who took up the more central striking positions.
A good tempered game giving little trouble to the officials who were decked out in fluorescent strawberry, the guy with the whistle bearing a resemblance to Biff from Emmerdale to anyone who would admit to watching it 10 years ago.
Not quite Ramsay's wingless wonders but I did feel we were noticeably lacking width compared to a usual Buckle line up where a Jake Thomson, a Muzzy, or a Carlisle would aim to get crosses in from wide.
Zeb was nominally a wide man....mainly on the left but he would occasionally pop up on the right..often came inside (to good effect) but rarely flew down the wing before delivering a pacey cross.
Some decent shots from both sides...the early highlight being Nicky Wroe controlling it well, running through from just inside the opposition half before shooting from the edge of the 'D' resulting in a good save from Yeovil's keeper.
Wroe had a fine game & would surely have no trouble stepping up a division or two if the opportunity ever comes his way. The midfield did well as did the defence, once again marshalled by the imposing figure of Mr.Branston.
Elliot Benyon had the sort of game I imagine he's had on the occasions Merse has seen him play....tried hard but to little effect & when a scoring chance did present itself he wasn't quite able to tuck it away as he should have.
Yeovil clearly have a number of talented youngsters being developed by Manager Skiverton, or as the lady stood in front of me constantly referred to him 'Skivenor'
This to me could possibly be a combination of Skiverton & Chivenor...the Royal marine base which I believe houses some sea king helicopters...a mode of transport very much associated with Yeovil.
A goalless first half ended & a collection of young Aussies came onto the field to help hand over the 50/50 prize money which due to the low gate only amounted to £190. However the holder of ticket number 19084 seemed pleased enough as he strode out in shorts & flip flops from the Popside & collected his money. He must have opted for anonimity as no mention of who he was or where he was from was forthcoming.
Our own Aussie leaned against the Family Stand chatting & then proceeded to lead a young forker around the pitch being careful not to get in the way of Macklin who was warming up in mauve boots with pink flashes. Hideous on first sighting but after 10 minutes I'd got to quite fancy a pair for myself
The pre match & half time din from the PA hasn't improved from last season & when Yeovil made the first substitution of the 2nd half taking off Andy Williams (a personal favourite of Lady Alpine's) it further reminded me how pleasant some decent music would be....in fact even dusting off an old Davybeat cassette & playing that would be an improvement.
I almost forgot..we did witness a goal , even if it was a slightly strange one. Nico sent over a relatively tame cross & it seemed that the defender made a late decision to duck out of the way & leave it for the keeper. This came as something of a surprise to the man with the gloves and the ball was fumbled into the net.
The half time change from white to yellow shorts had clearly brought us good luck. The big concern however , being that the numbers on the shorts did not correspond with the numbers on the players shirts. One can't help wondering when Lathorpe picked up his booking did the ref note down number 21 from his shorts or number 23 from his shirt. Either way I expect the Devon F.A to have a complete field day with this....probably to such an extent that they'll forget all about the Joma South West Cup
Lathorpe had come on to replace Billy the Kid just after the hour mark. O'Kane came on at the same time to replace Mansell & was responsible for the pass of the match....one that Dave highlighted earlier , a lovely diagonal ball that split the Yeovil defence & which Gritton would have been onto if he had been a split second more alert.
Gritts left the field to be replaces by Danny Stevens (shirt 19 shorts 28) & his amazing custard yellow boots.
A late spell of Yeovil pressure saw them graze the outside of Bevan's post but it wasn't enough to prevent the Gulls victory & to bring the curtain down on an impressive set of pre-season results.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #9 on Aug 2, 2010, 11:37am »
Don't people like to spout bollocks at times?
Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton: "We didn't get the ball wide. I know it's quite a small pitch, but we couldn't really stretch them enough to create the one v ones we normally do"
Ok then Tel OUR pitch is 112x74 yards that equals 8288 square yards ~
YOUR'S is 115x72 which is 8280 square yards ~ not very good at sums are we? ............and I thought the extra 2 yards width of OUR pitch would have been of particular benefit in finding that extra space you wanted your players to find!
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #10 on Aug 2, 2010, 6:18pm »
Cheers Alpine, I was having a wee chat with our very own Steve Breed ( Travel Club Organizer ) and manager of a local outfit just to say hello really, catching up with people who I haven`t seen or spoken to for a whole outseason is in my book a must do! Nice pickies mate!
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #11 on Aug 5, 2010, 10:26am »
A bit late but a few points from Saturday’s game, which was summed up perfectly well by Dave .
The general consensus of opinion at my work (Yeovil) from those that went to the game, was that we were the better, fitter and hungrier of the two teams and all bar one of them said we fully deserved to win, the other thought that they should have equalised in the dying minutes when the ball flashed across the box, which is a fair point but didn’t mean they deserved to get a draw from the game.
During lunch with several of the Yeovil fans before the game they suggested a small wager for the game and I happily took them all on. They were a little bit wary over the form of the two teams during the pre season, not that too much can be read into PSF’s?, as they had lost a few and we had won most. And the respective results against Bristol City were in our favour.
It is always interesting to get a viewpoint from opposition fans as they obviously see it from a different angle.
All of them were mightily impressed by Branston, and most thought he was the Man of the Match (I disagreed). They loved his organisation, physical presence and no nonsense approach and all wished he was lining up for them this season.
They were also impressed with Zebroski (my man of the Match, again). He always looked dangerous and had the beating of their man whenever he chose.
The thing that impressed them most was our desire to win and the fact that we played the better football. They felt that their own players looked unfit compared to ours and not hungry with no desire. They felt that our players were well up for the game and went into it as if winning it was everything.
It’s hard to disagree with anything they said. Also it’s nice to keep hold of the bragging rights in an office where I am completely out numbered, even if it was only a ‘friendly’.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #12 on Aug 5, 2010, 1:29pm »
One thing I forget to mention in my last post, was the importance, or not in some cases, of Pre Season Friendly’s.
Whilst I agree with the train of thought that not much should be read into PSF’s. However, we can easily forget to see what CAN be taken out of these games.
Statistically it was a very successful Pre season. Beaten only once, by a Championship side. We beat a Championship side and 2 league One teams, and we beat all of the varying non League clubs that we played. We scored a hatful of goals and conceded very few.
You can argue that some teams will just give as many players a game as possible a game and play all manner of different formations etc etc, whilst this is true, surely no team goes out with the attitude that it doesn’t matter if they lose??, surely everyone wants to win?? Doesn’t winning games, any game, breed a winning mentality and confidence??
The players played like they were enjoying it, they were relaxed, they played with confidence, they played well, played some nice footie and deserved to get the results they did. Hopefully they can take this into the first few games of the season and pick up from where they left off last season.
I know I get excited very quickly and am easily pleased, but I felt that it was a very good pre season and I am increasingly confident that we will do well this season. Win the first couple and who knows.
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Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #13 on Aug 5, 2010, 8:21pm »
You never need to worry about being a bit late adding your views on any games Rich, I always have and always will enjoy reading your take on a match and more than often I agree with you on the most important parts of the game.
One thing I did fully agree with you on was this
The players played like they were enjoying it, they were relaxed, they played with confidence, they played well, played some nice footie and deserved to get the results they did. Hopefully they can take this into the first few games of the season and pick up from where they left off last season.
All those things stood out a mile and it tells me we have a very happy dressing room full of players who will want to do well for Paul Buckle, Torquay United and all its fans.
Re: PSF: Torquay United v Yeovil 31st July 2010 « Reply #14 on Aug 6, 2010, 11:49pm »
I am pretty optimistic about this season. Sky Sports had us for relegation which is quite rather silly realy in my opinion, I personally think we have a better team than last season; lacking in depth but that can be sorted out with loanees or youth now and again.
Northampton will be tough; will be expected to be around the play-offs but lets see if we get Guy Branston crash, bash and smash our way past them into the play-offs.