Match Report

Going into this game, both sides had very different form. Torquay had won four out of their last five league games while Sutton hadn’t won since September. However, a goal in each half saw U’s pick up their first win since the 4-0 victory over Chesterfield, beating the Gulls 2-1.

The game kicked off at a frantic pace, with the opening 10 minutes seeing both sides launching quick attacks. Torquay got forward firing crosses in from both flanks, the most notable of which saw Sutton almost being undone by a quick corner. The corner was taken short and after a few quick passes, The Gulls managed to work their way into the box and get in a short range shot, which was dealt with by the debutant Nik Tzanev, Ben Goodliffe hooking the ball clear to prevent the rebound being forced in. 

Things changed for the U’s in the 12^th minute when a quick tactical switch, which saw Kyle Reid and David Ajiboye switch wings, immediately led to a goal. Ajiboye now on the right, managed to pick the pocket of the Torquay defence, took on four defenders, ran into the box and with a powerful low shot gave U’s the early lead. 

As the saying goes, goals change games, and for the following 15 minutes the 92 travelling Sutton fans would have been more then happy with what they were seeing. The U’s piled pressure down both the flanks putting  several crosses into the box, testing Torquay’s resolve. This almost led to a goal in the 25^th minute, where Kyle Reid danced down the left hand side and crossed the ball into Ajiboye. He headed the ball down for Eastmond, who played it back to Ajiboye, who again took on several defenders at once but was unable to get his shot away. 

However, Torquay not long after mounted their own attack on the Sutton goal, which unfortunately for the U’s resulted in a goal. On the 32^nd minute Ben Wynter found himself with acres of space on the right hand side after U’s had given possession away at a free kick and fired a hard low effort across Tzanev and in to the net. 

This then saw the game swing again, with Torquay starting to dominate proceedings. After doing well down the right hand side, this then led to the Gulls looking to this area for a second. On the 35^th minute, Wynter found himself free on the right hand side and again took a low powerful effort at goal, however this time Tzanev saved the effort from the right back.

The second half started in the same way as the first with both sides creating lots of opportunities. The first really threatening effort came in the 53^rd minute when after a few probing crosses from either side of the flanks, Reid floated a cross into the box which found Omar Bugiel, whose header had to be tipped over the crossbar by Lucas Covolan. From the resulting corner, Reid and Bugiel linked up again, as the ball found the Sutton front man, whose shot was saved by the Gulls keeper. Torquay then looked to catch Sutton on the counter with a quick attack, but Tzanev was able to clear the danger.

The two teams were then caught in a midfield battle for the subsequent 15 minutes with both sides being very wary of losing the ball and allowing the other to attack. This then led to the important second for the U’s. Tzanev’s 69^th minute free kick was flicked on into the box and found Harry Beautyman, who ran at the goal and powered the ball under the keeper to make it 2-1 for the U’s.

With 20 minutes left on the clock, the game turned into a bit of a scrappy affair, with Sutton desperate not to give away possession and Torquay desperate to get the ball back. This lead to a feisty moment in the 76^th minute, as Craig Eastmond was adjudged to have committed a foul on the edge of his own penalty area and, despite the protests from the Torquay team, the referee’s decision was a free kick instead of a penalty. The free kick was a low powerful drive into the area, which led to a scary pinball moment for the U’s but luckily the final shot went wide of the post. 

Torquay’s final roll of the dice came in added time, where Jamie Reid found space down the right hand side and fired a shot into the box. This was saved and Tzanev also denied substitute Manny Duku as U’s held on to claim a much needed victory.

Torquay: L Covolan, B Wynter, K Cameron, J-Y Koue Niate (sub M Duku 83), F Vincent(sub K Kalala 28), M Buse, J Reid, R Cundy, S Janneh, B Whitfield(sub O Koszela 90), R Medford-Smith. Subs n/u R Keating, S MacDonald. Booked: Cundy, Buse.