Gulls are starting at the top

A blistering start from Torquay United provided the platform for an all-round mature display that moved the Gulls top of the league.

Goals from Will Jenkins Davies and Jordan Young inside the opening seven minutes set the tempo for United against a powerful Farnborough side, who gradually fought back to make the game a terrific contest at a pulsating Plainmoor.

After surging into the two-goal lead, Paul Wotton’s Torquay troops had to withstand spells of heavy pressure from the visitors, and that defensive resilience was just as pleasing to the boss as the quickfire goals.

“The boys were great today, very rare that I give them loads of praise, but I thought they were fantastic,” said Wotton. “We couldn’t have had a better start, and it wasn’t just the two goals, it was our intensity, our play in the first 20 minutes was fantastic at times.

“And then the game changes because Farnborough are a good team, they’re well organised and they’ve got good players. You saw a different side to us and James Hamon had one save to make in the 95th minute.

“Our defensive display was top class, stopping crosses, dealing with long throws, dealing with set-pieces, blocks on the edge of the box.

“Of course, we can tidy up and be better on the ball, but it is a big marker for me. We are all learning, we are all trying to get better and after ten minutes people might have been thinking it was Chelmsford revisited, when we were 2-0 up and ended up drawing 2-2.

“Today we didn’t, so we’re learning and progressing.

“The start ultimately won us the game, but I’ve been involved in enough games now to know there are two options for the away team: you can roll over and accept it or, this is where I give Farnborough a ton of credit, you can keep coming and coming, and we had to change shape [to deal with them].

“It was a really good day for us, third v fourth, the crowd was fantastic and just before Christmas as well.”

In addition to the jubilation of three well-earned points, Wotton introduced new loan signing Jack Wood to the Yellow Army with a second-half cameo from the bench.

“Woody is someone I tried to get in pre-season, I’ve been trying to get him for a long time, and for whatever reasons, he wasn’t available from Southend,” added Wotton.

“The opportunity arose this week and he’s a very good player. He’s direct, he’s young, he’s hungry and wants to do well, and he’s got good quality on the ball as well.”

Results elsewhere helped United move top of the pile with just one game remaining before Christmas Day. While Wotton is not getting carried away, the Yellow Army will no doubt turn out in huge numbers again for the visit of Hemel Hempstead this weekend.

“I don’t care that we’re top of the league, and that is genuine because we’re not even halfway through yet,” concluded Wotton.