Monday, 2 January 2012 League Two Plymouth 1-2 Torquay Goals: Plymouth: Young 72 Torquay: Bodin 58, Mansell 64 Plymouth 23 Cole 02 Berry 14 Bhasera 22 Blanchard 28 Bignot 08 Walton 15 Young 20 Hourihane 11 Feeney 29 Chadwick (Sutherland 15) 31 Hemmings Substitutes 01 Larrieu, 03 Williams, 13 Soukouna, 21 Atkinson, 10 Sutherland Torquay 01 Olejnik 03 Nicholson 04 Ellis 05 Robertson 18 Oastler 07 Mansell 10 O'Kane yellow card15 Bodin (McPhee 89) 19 Stevens (Rowe-Turner 85) 22 Lathrope 23 Atieno Substitutes 13 Rice, 02 Rowe-Turner, 20 Aldred, 16 McPhee, 17 Halpin Att: 12,836 First Half Home park looked alive as the teams came out. The first 15 minutes comprised of half chances on both sides. Then after Hourihane had tested the Olejnik with a fair effort, Chadwick was substituted. Due to a hamstring issue which had caused him to go off earlier for treatment. Sutherland came on in replacement. After this Torquay went on the attack, Ellis and Stevens both had shots saved by Cole. After which Walton and Hourihane also went close for Argyle but neither team was able to break the deadlock. The rest of the half was played out in midfield - the only further action coming from O'Kane picking up a booking for a foul on Bhasera. The ref then blew for half time. Second half Torquay from the whistle wanted to take control and shots from Bodin and Stevens signaled the intent before a foul from Hourihane on Bodin led to a cross from O'Kane which fell at Bodins feet and the striker cooly sloted it past Cole for the opener. 0-1. Torquay then turned on the style and as Argyle struggled to clear an Atieno shot, Mansell slammed the ball into the net from close range and put the Gulls in the driving seat. 0-2. Argyle seemed to wake up a bit after this and were rewarded in the 71st minute as a smart cross from Walton was knocked in by Young for his first senior goal for the Pilgrims. 1-2. Young then tested the Torquay defence again with a shot that thundered towards the goal but to the dismay of the home fans in the Devonport end, Robertson managed to block and send the ball over the bar. Sub: Stevens off for Torquay with Rowe-Turner coming on. Argyle had a few corners that came to nothing before Torquay took Bodin off for McPhee. Plymouth pushed had for the equaliser late on but Torquay's defence proved to be too strong and the ref ended the match. 1-2. Stats: 23 Cole - 7 Not the greatest game, but again made some key saves. 02 Berry - 6 Good going forward supported the attackers well. 14 Bhasera - 6 Attacked well and make some key tackles. 22 Blanchard - 6 Defended well. 28 Bignot - 6 Sometimes MIA but as he is still playing out of position it was not a surprise. 08 Walton - 7 Rallied the players after the second goal and pushed forward. Great assist for the goal. 15 Young - 8 A positive game, worked hard and scored a good goal. Unlucky not to have got a brace. 20 Hourihane - 8 A good game for the midfielder, some passes went astray but good shots, looked more comfortable in the centre of midfield. 11 Feeney - 7 Worked hard but after Chadwick went off he was unable to win many balls from the big defenders. 29 Chadwick - 6 Unable to impact due to injury. 31 Hemmings - 8 Another good game, showing a promising run of form. A player I would like us to try and retain. Substitutes 10 Sutherland - 6 No real imput but, a few nice flick ons from him just failed to find a team-mate. MoM: Feeney Hobo's MoM: Young, scored his first senior goal and looked a threat going forward. Summary It was an entertaining match, with both sets of fans in good voice (mostly Torquay though). 12,836 is a figure we very rarely see at Home Park these days (let us see if, when Burton visit was not just a fair weather crowd). Torquay showed the quality of a top-half league team and deserved their win but, Argyle were not without their moments and hopefully with the return of Purse and a few new faces we can get back to the winning ways. COYG!
Thanks hobo for that report..........At least I learnt that Chadwick's injury was a hamstring..........lets hope a deal can be done to retain him..........and that his injury will mend quickly.
Theres no doubt that Chadwicks early exit seriously lessened our chance of scoring yesterday.Have to say how Feeney was judged MOM is beyond me,he was ineffective most of the game,ok shields and holds the ball up but he is too weak by far in front of goal,often when he should be running on to a ball he is often pedalling backwards to make contact.Briefly Walton was crap throughout apart from a couple of good long passes.Berry who has generally underwhelmed me played a blinder yesterday,excellent in defence and put through some good attacking balls.Hemmings easily MOM,exciting on the ball,excellent work rate looked as yhough he could score when ball at his feet.To be honest we were always going to need to raise our game yesterday to win,my own prediction was we would go down 2-0,so although disappointed yesterday given the big crowd and charged atmosphere I was not surprised at the result,given Torquays recent results and performances.
Pretty much agree with the summary but I would add that the free kick that led to the first goal was nowhere near a foul. I was staggered it was given and have absolutely no idea why. Not that the Ref was bad though but for me that was a mistake. They missed Chadwick as Feeney is not a holder up of the ball despite he tries very hard. He does tend to back in a lot and it looks like he is being fouled but often it is really the other way around. If he peeled off to receive the ball he would get a lot more in my opinon. Torquay are probably one of if not the best side I've seen here all season so far so it wasn't too big a surprise we got beaten by them. If they played like that week in week out then they would be well up there challenging for automatic promotion.
Having seen the Gulls a few times this season,including boxing days win over Swindon I was not at all hopeful about getting a win yesterday.Our downfall was giving the likes of Danny Stevens and O'kane too much room in our penalty area to play some neat short passes and inevitable scoring chances in contrast to our continual long passes forward to either the ineffective Feeney or the invisible man.The Gulls have a decent chance of the playoffs given their freescoring abilities and much improvrd defence.Swindon look an excellent side with high levels of skill and could well get automatic promotion.Best team this season -Crawley when they looked a class apart over Torquay some weeks ago.
I agree with your comment about the ref sensible, I thought (although there were a few odd decisions) that he was one of the best we have had this season. Knew the game and kept control. When Feeney and a Torquay CB looked to be kicking off he jogged over and calmed it down. It is a shame that some refs have no common sense at all.
He was a pretty decent Ref hobo and there were a couple of times there were pushes and shoves that another Ref might have taken action on. He did show a bit of sense for a change. Most of the decisions were fair enough although that one did cost us which was not his fault but the usual Argyle defending at such set pieces. At least this Ref talked to the players rather than pulling cards out left right and centre. Pity we couldn't have had him more often previously this season.
