De Ja Vu nightmare for Torquay United

A week earlier, Torquay United led 2-0 at Chelmsford City in the National League and conceded two late goals to eventually lose a painful match 3-2.

Fast forward seven days, via a 1-1 draw at Weston-super-Mare, and the Gulls again led 2-0, Boreham Wood the victims of a storming first-half showing that yielded goals from Jordan Young and Matt Jay.

After the break, Boreham Wood, who are one of United’s main promotion / play-off rivals, gradually cranked up the pressure but it seemed the Gulls had learned their lesson until Abdul Abdulmalik pulled one back on 82 minutes.

The tension rose about 50 notches, not helped by eight minutes of stoppage time, and in the eighth minute of those agonising extras, Junior Dixon pinched a draw for his side with the last kick of another frustrating game.

All the drama of the conclusion was a distant concern when Young opened the scoring on nine minutes. Jay pinched the ball in midfield, threaded a lovely pass to his midfield buddy and Young slipped a tidy finish under the body of goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore.

The Wood settled into their rhythm and there was little to choose between the sides for much of the first half, but Jay is a man in form, having scored in the games at both Chelmsford and Weston.

A third in three duly arrived moments before half-time, Will Jenkins Davies winning a top tackle in the engine room and the ball fell for Jay to power forward and fizz a confident finish into the bottom corner.

The sun was shining and all smiles at Plainmoor.

United weathered an early storm after the restart, Jayden Richardson smashing the woodwork for the visitors, but it was generally fairly comfortable for the Yellows, who continued to carry a mild threat on the counter.

On 75 minutes, United custodian James Hamon was forced into his first major save of the afternoon, expertly fielding a drifting cross that was heading into his net. This was followed by another low save to deny Dixon.

It was, however, third time lucky for the Wood forwards, and there was an element of luck in the goal from Abdulmalik, as his ambitious attempt from distance somehow did enough to beat Hamon.

Plainmoor fell silent and those old wounds from Chelmsford were opening up. The Gulls survived seven minutes of stoppage-time tension but when Abdulmalik picked out Dixon with a precise low cross, the visiting forward steered the ball home for a nightmare repeat.

TUFC Remaining Fixtures
March 4: Chippenham A
March 8: Tonbridge A
March 11: Salisbury H
March 15: Dorking A
March 22: Bath H
March 29: Aveley A
April 5: Chesham H
April 12: Slough H
April 18: Truro A
April 21: Weymouth H
April 26: Hemel Hempstead A