Warnock enjoys a perfect ‘guest’ victory for Torquay United

Three decades since he last led Torquay United from the touchline, Plainmoor Football Director Neil Warnock took full advantage of his unexpected return to the dugout with a 1-0 FA Trophy victory over Truro City.

The one-match touchline suspension for manager Paul Wotton, which was only confirmed to the Gulls on Saturday morning, presented Warnock with an opportunity to join assistant boss Mike Edwards in guiding the Yellows to victory.

Wotton’s ban came after reaching three bookings in the National League South but a glitch in the FA disciplinary portal caused a delay in the confirmation. Thankfully, it all worked out perfectly for the Gulls….Warnock delighted the crowd with his reminder of a glorious past, while Wotton had an elevated view of a battling win over his former club.

The only goal of a tight affair arrived early in the second period, Dan Hayfield steering a lovely free-kick beyond the Truro custodian to seal a place in the next round.

“Dan has that in his locker,” said a satisfied Wotton. “It was a tight encounter, I didn’t think there was much in the game and we worked incredibly hard. We knew before the game we would have to deal with endless long throws and entries into the box

“We dealt with that really well and we had a couple of really good opportunities on the transition, just that little bit of quality let us down in the final third, which we are working on.

“I don’t think our goalie has had much to do in a real tight game and we play Truro again in the not too distant future. It’s been a tough fortnight, a little bit frustrating, but we’re still unbeaten in November and our desire and character was excellent.

“Seeing it from a different viewpoint in Bristow’s Bench, you get a great view of the game, and we stood up to it. Ed Palmer and Jordan Dyer will have headache with the amount of balls they headed, but we’re happy to be in the next round.

“We’ve got that character, we’re a tough team to beat. It doesn't mean we won’t lose games, of course we will, but we’ve got the fundamentals of boys who work hard, they dig in and we can physically compete with teams.

“Truro are a very robust team and very good at what they do, so we had to stand up to that. We’re building and it’s a cup competition that we want to do well in, and we’re through the first hurdle.

“We got into good areas but I’m not sure we’re quite getting the rub of the green at the moment. We’re having to work tremendously hard to get anything and I was a little baffled on so many bookings for both sides.

“We now go into two of the toughest games you can have, away to Boreham Wood and then home to Weston-super-Mare, who are flying, on the Tuesday night.

“The boys have earned a little break and it’s important to enjoy wins. They’ve carried the frustration of the Tonbridge draw and the Maidstone draw, you can see that because they care like we all do, so we now enjoy our weekend.

“We know we can get better, all of us, but both teams worked tremendously hard. It was 22 players going hell for leather and fortunately we came out on top.”

The Torquay line-up saw a debut for new loan signing Jordan Thomas, alongside Ed Palmer, Oscar Threlkeld and Keke Jeffers, who were also given a starting berth, but the early running was in favour of Truro, Dom Johnson-Fisher forcing a near-post save from James Hamon.

A slick United move opened up a game with limited opportunities when Jordan Young’s initial effort fell to Matt Carson for an excellent cross headed narrowly wide by Cody Cooke. Truro responded with the ball in the net, United rescued by an offside flag.

The game needed a moment of genuine quality and Hayfield provided with a sumptuous strike 22 yards from goal, curling a delicious free-kick into the top corner.

Truro, enjoying a fine season in the league, responded with a spell of concerted pressure but United held firm to book their progress.