No hiding place after Torquay United display at Maidstone

Torquay United manager Paul Wotton branded his team’s performance in the 1-0 defeat at Maidstone as ‘not good enough’.

A late strike from Charlie Seaman separated the two sides in a top-of-the-table clash in the National League South, but Wotton was blunt in his assessment of a display that lacked quality in attacking areas.

As ever, the Gulls produced plenty of effort and endeavour, but the failure to create genuine chances allowed Maidstone to control the game, and there was no argument with the final result, which condemned United to a second successive defeat after the home reverse to Hampton & Richmond seven days earlier.

“I don’t think we were good enough, Maidstone were sharper into second balls, they dominated midfield and not a good enough performance away from home against a top four team,” said Wotton.

“We prepped all week, knew exactly what was coming but we lacked quality in attacking areas. Our final decision, our final pass was really poor and I’m very disappointed.

“In the three games before today, we missed opportunities and I felt we played well, but we didn’t play well today. Even at the end, we were getting into good areas and can’t get across people in the box.

“We didn’t look like scoring a goal, so not a good day for us.

“In the first half, they got into some dangerous areas down our left-hand side, but we were really sloppy on the ball. Our talented boys were giving the ball away very cheaply.

“At the start of the second half, we came up the pitch a bit more and got closer to them. It was a much more even game and there was only ever going to be one goal in it. Unfortunately, we know how good a strike the lad who scored has got, because he did it at our place, so how nobody goes out to block the ball…I’m dumbfounded!

“We brought some players on and we huffed and puffed, but in reality, I don’t think we deserved anything out of the game.

“Our set-pieces were poorly executed and that goes back to what I was saying about not enough quality in the final third.”

A frustrating day was made even worse by injuries to Jordan Dyer and Jordan Young, both of whom hobbled out of the action.

Whether they will be fit for Saturday’s visit from Eastbourne remains uncertain, but one definite on Saturday is that Wotton will expect a positive reaction from his team.

“Jordan Dyer is a recurrence of his hamstring injury, which is obviously very disappointing, and Jordan Young felt his groin. It’s another negative on the day and we can’t sugar-coat it, we weren’t good enough,” added Wotton.

“We’re fortunate to have an awful lot of games to go. We’ve lost back-to-back games and we have to regroup, focus and work hard in training.

“The boys have always reacted to a poor performance before and we have to do it again because there is no hiding place.”