Paul Wotton: “1-0 away from home is my favourite result”

Torquay United manager Paul Wotton played a large chunk of his career under legendary Plymouth Argyle boss Paul Sturrock, who was famous for his love of a 1-0 win away from home.

Wotton has clearly taken that mantra into his own coaching career, revelling in a composed and disciplined 1-0 triumph at Hampton & Richmond Borough in the National League South.

On a blazing hot day in the capital, ‘freakishly hot for October’, United demonstrated excellent professionalism with a young side, grabbing the only goal through a tremendous Cody Cooke header on 20 minutes.

The Gulls had chances to extend the lead, Brad Ash harshly denied a second after a dubious offside decision, but possibly the most pleasing aspect for the boss was the defensive assurance from his team.   

“It was a very good performance away from home,” said Wotton. “We kept a clean sheet, scored a good goal and we were excellent defensively. We’ve contained Hampton to nothing really, James Hamon had nothing to do away from home.

“We know they’ve got really good movement and rotations, but we stuck to our game-plan really well. Overall, our attitude, work-rate and commitment on a really hot day was excellent.

“We can tighten up in loads of areas, of course we can, but I’m not convinced it’s offside for Brad Ash’s goal and we could have scored two more goals with better finishing.

“We defended our box well and in midfield, we coped well with their rotations and everyone worked really hard. We looked a bit leggy at the start of the game because two weeks without a game isn’t ideal but it’s still a really good performance.

“It was a young side out there, Finn Tonks, Finley Craske, Sam Dreyer, Matty Carson, Will JD, so it’s not like we had a wealth of experience to see the game out, which is stuff you only learn from playing matches, so I’m thrilled.

“It is really hard to win a game of football, really tough to get three points away from home in this league, so it’s a great day for us. We talk so much about mentality and today was a good mentality.

“Again, it is a work in progress, we’ve got so much to learn because we are brand new.”

There was a final word for the magnificent Yellow Army, who made the long trip in huge numbers, and were rewarded with three more valuable points.

“The fans were unreal,” added Wotton. “That is incredible support away from home, Torquay is a long way and it gives everyone a nice weekend.”

Torquay United U18s have been drawn away to Wimborne Town in the FA Youth Cup and there was a resounding 12-0 victory for Torquay United Women over St Austell on a soggy Sunday at Coach Road.

The goals were scored by Ellie Bishop 2, Tracey Cross, Lexie Watts, Lucy Solloway 3, Emily Elliott 3, Chloe Williams and Natascha Bevan.