Torquay 4-0 AFC Wimbledon

As the saying goes 'good things come to those who wait' and that certainly was the case for Torquay last night. We had currently gone a difficulty of eight games without a victory so tonight meant everything.

As I arrived at the ground with my dad, we brought our tickets for the next three upcoming matches all for a reasonable price of £35 which we considered to be a bargain! We made our way up into the gulls nest as pure usual where we met Olie and Sam and like usual, the banter with them two vs my dad was in full swing. What with our current form and performance, I was definitely pessimistic about the result ahead. Wimbledon weren't doing too bad themselves so I saw nothing other than a defeat.


The lineup for both teams were;
Torquay (4-3-3) Olejnik, Oastler, Saah, Ellis, Nicholson, Mansell, Lathrope, O'Kane, Bodin, Howe, Stevens. Subs: Leadbitter, Rice, Mcphee, Halpin, Atieno
Wimbledon (4-4-2) Brown, Hatton, Stuart, Mcnaughton, Johnson, Jolley, Porter, Moore, Wellard, Midson, L.Moore. Subs: Ademeno, Bush, Minshull, Turner, Mulley.


Robertson was dropped for this game as he had failed a fitness test on his hip, which allowed Oastler to revert back to right back. The first thing I noticed as I stepped into the ground was the fantastic support that Wimbledon had brought seeing as it was a cold and horrible Tuesday evening. A staggering 385, so fair play to those who traveled down. 


As soon as the whistle was blown, Wimbledon were certainly the dominant of the two sides and first to break the defensive line. A cross from Moore met Jolley in the right position but was unfortunately unable to deliver the a finish as the ball fell straight to the hands of Olejnik. In fairness, credit where it is due, this is the best in which I have been our defense so far this season. They looked strong and held it together well. 


Wimbledon had another chance on goal but lucky Saah had it covered and finished with a perfect clearance which fell to the feet of Stevens who was able to escape up the wing and strike a wonderful shot on goal which flew past the hands of Seb Brown and into the top left hand corner. 1-0 Torquay.


Although the Dons were a goal down, that didn't stop them as they maintained their moderate pressure. That wasn't enough though to stop the Gulls as Eunan O'Kane fought the ball from Mcnaughton and raced towards the goal before striking a delightful shot over the Dons keeper. 2-0 Torquay


First first half was fast approaching the close, but Torquay weren't finished yet. Three minutes into injury time, Stevens fed the ball to O'Kane who crossed over to Howe who was superbly on the far post to volley the shot in to make it 3-0. That meant it was three shots on target and three goals well deserved.

Tekkers

Half time and it was definitely one to remember. Normally, they announce the winning ticket number of the 50/50 draw and then pull another ticket out for someone to come and do the crossbar challenge. However, on this occasion no-one came forward to claim it. Therefore, Dean Edwards the commercial director picked someone from the fans, and who better to do it than Olie! (@oliemarles10) Fair play to him, he was up for it although, slightly puzzled as to why he took his shoes off but nevertheless he showed amazing tekkers! Unfortunately he didn't hit the crossbar.


There was one change in the second half with the superb Stevens taking a seat on the bench. He's been suffering with flu all week and tonight really had drained it out of him. Therefore, he was replaced with Taiwo Atieno. Wimbledon still weren't going to let the score line get the better of them and still continued to push forward. However, it finally come to an end when in the 56th minute when O'Kane intercepted a sloppy pass from their defense with enabled him to play the ball to Atieno who was unfortunate to lay the ball back but that didn't stop Howe picking up the pieces and smashing a tremendous low shot towards goal from 25 yards. 4-0 Torquay


The closing minutes were just around the corner and the atmosphere when the final whistle was blown was something else. The Gulls really had stepped up their game and just proved that we are capable of stringing together a result. Thoroughly deserved!


MOTM; Eunan O'Kane


This Saturday, we take on Hereford at home. Match report to follow...