Gary Johnson: 'The whole stadium went up'

A relieved Gary Johnson made no attempt to hide his delight after Torquay United had put Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Worthing behind them with a late but deserved 2-1 win over Chippenham Town at Plainmoor.

Aaron Jarvis slammed home Bradley Ash’s cross in the 93rd minute after defender Ross Marshall had capped a fine comeback appearance with a thunderous opening header.

Chippenham, who equalised within two minutes of Marshall’s goal, had Luke Spokes sent off for a second booking in the 84th minute, but Torquay were already piling on the pressure in the closing stages and Jarvis’ winner sent a noisy 2,000-plus crowd of Gulls diehards home happy.

“I’m so pleased that we’ve given something back to the supporters who were here,” said manager Johnson.

“The whole stadium went up when we scored the winner.

“I’m very happy with the result. We had a horrendous performance on Saturday, and we had to put that right.

“There was no shortage of spirit, and I hope everyone saw that. The lads have put in a good shift.

“We got loads of crosses in and created plenty of chances.”

Johnson, who reported that skipper Asa Hall had been taken to hospital for further investigation after suffering a first half ankle injury, was quick to praise Marshall.

The former Stevenage defender has returned after close-season operations on both his eyes, and Johnson said: “He’s had a terrible time, not playing and worrying about his eyesight, but there was no doubt that he could see that cross OK.

“It was a great run from his own half, and you could see his determination to get in that box.”

Of Jarvis, he added: “I don’t know about Gary-time – it was Jarvis-time tonight. And he played three quarters of the game with a dead leg.

“He was having treatment at half-time, but he went out there and played his part in the second half, not only with the goal but also his chasing and running.”