Day of destiny awaits Torquay United

Twenty-one years since they won that most dramatic of promotions to League One at Southend,

Torquay United head to mid-table Hemel Hempstead Town on Saturday (3pm) full of hope that they can pull off a triumph that would, perhaps, be even more remarkable (writes Dave Thomas).

Just as in 2004, the Gulls must win and hope that events elsewhere give them a helping hand.

And just as Roots Hall, United have the Play-Offs as a considerable consolation prize up their sleeves.

But the top of League Two in 2004 was an oasis of calm compared to the bedlam of the National League South in 2025.

No fewer than six clubs could still mathematically win the title on the last day of the regular season.

That’s unlikely. But almost anything else, in this most unpredictable of campaigns, could quite possibly happen.

To let the likes of Eastbourne Borough, Worthing, Boreham Wood or Dorking Wanderers in, both leaders Truro City and second-placed Torquay would have to draw or lose.

Neither was seriously tipped for promotion back in August – Truro because they’re, well, ‘only’ little Truro and United because they’d just escaped from the threat of relegation and the trauma of administration.

The Gulls, by the way, have done a league-and-cup treble over the Tinners, but they’re level on points and two goals behind their Westcountry rivals.

Truro’s last match is at home to St Albans City (21st), which would be a home banker if Saints, who beat Hemel (1-0) in front of more than 4,000 fans on Monday, didn’t need at least a point to have a chance of staying up.

If Truro win, United must beat Hemel by at least two goals more to overtake them.

If that happens and they finish level on goal-difference, Torquay would go up on goals-scored.

Every Gulls fan has been poring over the almost endless permutations which could arise. Yet they could all fly out of the window with one kick in the first few minutes on Saturday.

At Southend back in 2004, Steve Woods and David Graham scored in the first eleven minutes, which massively cranked up the pressure on Huddersfield Town, who were away to mid-table Cheltenham Town.

United went on to win 2-1 and an increasingly nervous Huddersfield, despite scoring early themselves, allowed ten-man Cheltenham to equalise in the 75th minute, draw 1-1 and the Gulls went straight up on GD.

It’s Truro’s to lose. United are first and foremost defending second place, and a win clinches it.

That would take them straight to a home semi-final (May 3) and victory then would also bring the final to Plainmoor (May 17 or 18).

We’d all have taken that when the season kicked off on August 10, wouldn’t we?

Manager Paul Wotton has made the old ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ mantra his own in recent weeks, but he made several good points when he repeated the message in his pre-match press conference.

“It’s far from a free hit for us, but Truro have everything to lose,” he said.

“There’s definitely no pressure on us.

“We have achieved our aim of getting into the Play-Offs, so that’s done. Anything else is a bonus.

“I have a tremendous sense of pride to be managing this football club.

“We have given the fans hope and a chance to achieve something monumental.”

Wotton added that, if United don’t end up winning the title, he hoped to be among the first to congratulate whoever does.

Centre-back Jordan Dyer is out for this weekend, but Wotton reported that his latest hamstring injury may not be as bad as first feared.

Matt Jay, who also came off in Monday’s 3-0 win over Weymouth, is ‘wrapped in cotton wool’ as he tries to beat a hip problem.

Beyond assorted bumps and bruises, there are no other new fitness worries.

United, whose average league attendance (3,865) is the highest for more than 50 years, will be cheered on at Vauxhall Road by nearly 2,000 fans.

Those figures alone take some believing.

Saturday’s referee at Hemel will be Matthew Scholes from Telford.