Torquay 0 Swansea 0

The Famous Five

A trip out of the rain and wind of South Wales, to just the wind of the South Devon coast for this latest encounter. A couple of changes to the line up saw us skip onto the field as:

As early as the first minute Hill brought Cutler into the game with a shot that was comfortably saved, and for the first ten minutes the game was largely played out in the Swans' half, with only a couple of wind assisted visits to the Torquay end of the pitch. One headed attempt from Thomas during that period was the only instance of potential threat on the Torquay goal.

On 12 minutes, Jason Smith pulled up with what looked like a hamstring problem, and he was replaced by Lee Jenkins who took over the right back berth, with O'Leary moving into central defence alongside Tate, and also taking the captain's armband.

As the game progressed the Swans settled and started to look the more dominant team. On the half hour a great cross by Britton aimed at Nugent, found the striker offside. This was closely followed by a slight error by Tate which Cutler tidied up. The game was moving fast now, and an excellent break by Britton who was having a great game already saw him push the ball across the face of the Torquay goal only for the advancing Nugent to fail to connect.

Five minutes before half time, Mumford took a knock, but was able to carry on after some attention from Richie Evans.

The Swans' first corner of the game followed quickly, with a goal line clearance keeping the score sheet blank, and ending the fifth consecutive 45 minute period of football without a goal from either the Swans or the opposition. We had our chances in the first half, and held the upper hand having defended well, and looking dangerous in attack, at least until we reached the critical area of the field.

The second half, despite an excellent start by the Swans when some pressure was exerted on Torquay, did not see us capitalise on our first half performance, and the probability of us scoring seemed to diminish as the game went on.

Martinez became more involved and influential as the game went on, but the outstanding player on the field today was Leon Britton once again, who was tireless in his efforts, and by far our most dangerous player.

Howard replaced Thomas for the last 10 minutes of the game, but at the end we had to defend well, and survive an injury time corner scare, to travel back to Swansea with a point. Unfortunately, despite earlier setbacks, both teams below us also secured a point with late equalisers.

It was a game we could have won, and maybe should have won, and once again we did not look 13 places worse than the opposition. We desperately need that killer touch in front of goal and in today's conditions, maybe should have taken advantage of the wind strength and adopted a 'shoot-on-site' approach. The wind certainly made it difficult for the keepers.

Carlisle at home followed by Southend and Kidderminster away fill up the next couple of weeks, and we need to learn where the net is in those games as we cannot afford many more scoreless, or non scoreless one pointers.

Player ratings:

• Cutler - 8 – 3rd clean sheet and yet to let one in, must be some kind of record.
• Smith – not rated due to short time on field. Hope the injury isn't too serious.
• O'Leary – 7 – One needless handball but otherwise solid.
• Tate – 8 – Excellent again. Composed assured and excellent distribution.
• Hylton – 8 – Looks quality now he's settled in.
• Martinez – 7 – Usual composed performance. If we were to critisise,could get forward a little more.
• Britton – 9 – Man of the Match again. His solo effort in the first half would have been goal of the millennium had it gone in.
• Mumford – 6 – Got forward once of twice but never looks like scoring anymore. Was once the Famous Five's first choice for first goal scorer. Not even considered any longer.
• Watkin – 6 – Did OK, but little or no threat on goal. 
• Thomas – 6 – Little to suggest his goalscoring form will return shortly.
• Nugent – 6 – Not getting the crosses he would want.
• Jenkins – 7 – - Did well at right back, but again we would like to have seen him get forward more.
• Howard – as for Smith. Unusual choice to replace Thomas, but helped bolster midfield for last few minutes.
  
  
• Ref - 7 - Hardly noticed, which is always a good sign.  

In all our years of watching football matches, we have never seen so many sea gulls around a ground as there were today. Just as a word of warning to those fans who have taken the opportunity to turn this trip into a weekend outing.

As we reached the ground and parked the car, some doughnuts which Giggsy had bought at a knock down price in Tescos yesterday, fell out of the car and onto the road. The only answer was to feed them to the gulls.

They were cheap because they were past their sell by date, and having seen the amount that these gulls ate, we'd suggest that if you are taking an early morning stroll tomorrow before boarding the coach for the journey back, wear a hat, to avoid the inevitable after effects that the gulls will want to share with everyone beneath them.

More pictures

Pic 1  Pic 2  Pic 3  Pic 4

Final score  Plainmoor Ground Attendance: 3,287

Torquay 0 - 0 Swansea

Teams

29   Arjan Van Heusden 2   Reuben Hazell 14   Matthew Hockley 22   Craig Taylor 17   Simon Clist 11   Kevin Hill 6   Alex Russell 3   David Woozley 9   Tony Bedeau 20   Martin Gritton 19   Jo Kuffour Neil Cutler   33 Leon Hylton   3 Andrew Mumford   7 Jason Smith   5 Alan Tate   12 Leon Britton   35 Roberto Martinez   27 Kevin Nugent   15 Kristian O'Leary   4 James Thomas   9 Steve Watkin   10

Substitutes

1   Kevin Dearden 16   Jimmy Benefield 26   Kevin Wills 7   Steve Woods 10   David Graham Michael Howard   20 Lee Jenkins   2 Gareth Phillips   18 Craig Stiens   32 John Williams   19

Substitutions

D Graham for T Bedeau (33) K Wills for K Hill (45) L Jenkins for J Smith (13)

Substitutions

D Graham for T Bedeau (33) L Jenkins for J Smith (13)

Referee: P Armstrong

   Stats supplied by Soccernet.com

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