Passion in the right place for Torquay United

Eleven days may not be long enough for many Torquay United supporters to have forgotten or forgiven that 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Truro City on Boxing Day.

But one player who did not deserve the boos which greeted the final whistle was Ross Marshall, who had to be pulled away from a heated exchange with one Pop Side fan.

Marshall is probably playing the best football of his time at Plainmoor, especially since taking over at right-back from Shaun Donnellan, and a lack of enthusiasm is something he can never be accused of.

Manager Gary Johnson was asked about the incident this week and said: “You don’t want players arguing with supporters if you can help it.

“There are times when we’ve lost, it’s been pretty toxic towards the players, myself and the club.

“That player has got a lot of passion in him. Sometimes it’s human nature to stand your ground.

“I don’t condone it, but there is a passion among the boys. We know supporters are passionate and don’t like losing. We don’t.

“We don’t want them out – we want to win them over.”

The best way is a good win - and a ‘double’- at Plainmoor on Saturday over Eastbourne Borough (21st) and their new manager, former Gulls midfielder Adam Murray.

Johnson played down the chances of an imminent new signing at Thursday’s weekly press conference, but things move fast in football, especially at this time of year.

Those goalless defeats by Chelmsford and Truro, and the loss of loanee Theo Williams on Boxing Day, underlined just how thin the striking options are.

United face 12 matches in the next seven weeks, none of their seven injured players are expected back before next weekend’s FA Trophy tie at Hereford at the earliest and they need points now.

Johnson, incidentally, has denied reports that Donnellan has joined Scottish Premier club Livingston on a free transfer, insisting that an undisclosed fee was involved.

Borough (21st), beaten 4-1 by United at Priory Lane in November, have turned to Adam Murray after a run of only two wins in 15 league and cup games.

Good enough to play in the Premier League for Derby County as a teenager, he enjoyed a 500-game career as a versatile midfielder for the Rams, Mansfield twice, Carlisle, Torquay (2006-2007), Macclesfield and Oxford United among others.

Murray has gone on to manage Mansfield, Boston, Barnsley (caretaker) and AFC Fylde, where he won the NL North title last season, as well as assistant stints at Besiktas in Turkey under former Barnsley boss Valerian Ismael and, most recently, Cheltenham Town under Darrell Clarke.

Eastbourne’s ‘failure’, if that’s the right word, to make a bigger impact after turning full-time under new ownership cost Mark Beard his job after 3-0 and 4-0 defeats by local rivals Worthing over the holiday.

They will see the recruitment of Murray as quite a coup, even if arrives just as they’ve sold promising young forward Fletcher Holman to Wolves.

Holman, 19, scored 17 goals last season and had netted another five this term in one of the youngest teams in the NLS.

Saturday’s referee is Ashley Clarke from Birmingham.

Both United Women and the Under-18s resume league action this weekend after the Christmas/New Year break.

The Women travel to Portsmouth on Sunday to play Moneyfields in the National League Division One SW.

On Saturday morning (10.30am) the U18s try to extend their unbeaten South West Counties Youth League record against Mangotsfield United at South Devon College.