Experience paves the way for Torquay United

There is a time for youthful exuberance in football and also a time to lean on experience.

The current plight of Torquay United calls for the latter, and the old heads answered that call with a performance full of fight, desire and dedication.

On Devon Day at Plainmoor, captain Asa Hall returned to the starting line-up after a spell assisting interim boss Aaron Downes and, playing in the less familiar role of a central defender, the skipper scored the winning penalty against Hampton & Richmond and led his team to three huge points in the quest for survival.

The likes of goalkeeper Mark Halstead, veteran Dean Moxey and midfield duo Tom Lapslie and Kevin Dawson added to the ‘experienced’ quota, something United will need to repeat in the testing trip to league leaders Yeovil Town on Good Friday.

“I’ve been assisting Downesy for a couple of weeks but it was nice to get back out on the grass and to get the win,” said Hall.

“It was brought up in the week to play in that position again and it’s worked really well. We got the clean sheet and lots of experience on the field, with Laps and Kev in midfield, along with me, Deano and Mark. Downesy has worked really hard on getting the lads to be positive and be switched on.

“I’ve learned a lot in the couple of weeks on the sidelines and feel I can relay that to the lads on the pitch. Devon Day was a great success, everybody has enjoyed it and we just need to keep it going now, as a few more wins will get us safe.”

Downes added: “Asa has been a phenomenal player for this football club and he showed it again. The experienced boys in the team were fantastic.

“People like Asa and Moxey were able to lead us to a clean sheet, as well as Mark Halstead. That experienced trio led us to the win. We’ve not had as many clean sheets as we would like but the intensity in training has been fantastic, which showed on the pitch.”