Heat, drama and positive signs at Plainmoor

Plainmoor sizzled in the presence of an England legend and, despite some worrying medical moments, Torquay United delivered an encouraging display against Championship visitors Plymouth Argyle.

The game was decided for Wayne Rooney’s Argyle by a penalty from Ryan Hardie early in the second period and a Bali Mumba strike on the hour, but the Gulls will be very pleased with their workout in the sunshine.

Manager Paul Wotton, coming up against his former club, expressed his satisfaction with the performance just two weeks before the new season starts at home to Enfield.

“They are a very good Championship side, playing four leagues higher, and you can see the way they move the ball,” said Wotton. “Overall, we gave a really good account of ourselves, we looked fit, worked hard and defended very well.

“We didn’t have a lot of the ball and it was important we got that defensive work into them. I’m never happy and I thought the two goals we conceded were awful, and could be avoided, but it’s also a positive that Plymouth haven’t carved us open. Another huge positive was our defending of set-pieces and our attacking set-pieces were very good.

“We’re testing ourselves against top opposition, the Championship is an outrageous league, full of talent. We’re gelling and working together, Finn Tonks came off with a little niggle but other than that, we’re injury-free.

“We’re in a good place, both sets of fans were amazing, the sun was out and a good day. We have a squad of 22 now and that’s us done. I’m glad we only have one loan signing because I like having permanent lads, being around them all the time.

“We know it’s a work in progress, the fundamentals of the game are really pleasing. We have to do all the boring bits of the game, they need to know what I want from them and I think the fans can see they’ve got a winning group out there.”

After surviving an early scare, United went close through Dan Hayfield and Brad Ash but the first period was a disjointed affair with some worrying moments in the crowd, as medical supervisors treated a few fans who felt unwell. Thankfully, the club later reported that everyone was ok and no hospital treatment required.

Back to the pitch, and United’s resolve was broken when former United loanee Will Jenkins Davies stumbled in the box and Hardie despatched the soft penalty. Mumba then gobbled up a rebound to complete the scoring.

The Gulls continued to probe Argyle and defended stoutly throughout, with Sam Dreyer a particular positive for a United team that is growing nicely through pre-season.

United: 1 James Hamon; 3 Jay Foulston, 4 Jordan Dyer, 5 Sam Dreyer, 8 Roddy Collins (6 Austen Booth HT), 9 Ben Seymour (19 Cody Cooke HT), 11 Brad Ash (10 Omar Mussa, 64), 14 Matt Carson, 17 Finn Tonks (16 Ed Palmer 74), 18 Oscar Threlkeld (c) (15 Jadyn Crosbie 83), 20 Dan Hayfield (7 Lirak Hasani 66).