No Cooke in the attacking kitchen a major issue for Torquay United

Manager Paul Wotton waited until the end of his post-match interview at Dorking Wanderers on Saturday before uttering the two words which hang over much of Torquay United’s current frustrations.

They were ‘Cody Cooke’ (writes Dave Thomas).

Talking about injuries can often sound like excuses from the mouths of managers. And that may well be the case at clubs higher up the food chain.

When you’ve got millionaire internationals on the bench, it’s a bit much to complain about a calf strain or two.

But the loss of a key player can be a near-crippling issue in the lower divisions, where few clubs have a ready-made replacement or the money to go out and buy one.

Few positions in the team, especially in the muck-and-nettles terrain where United play, are more important than centre-forward.

Cooke may not be the best No.9 ever to pull on a Torquay shirt, and he wouldn’t dream of claiming it.

But ask any other central defender in the National League South who they least fancy playing against, and Cooke would be near the top of every list.

The 32-year-old striker – he still manages to be one of the feared targetmen at this level, run a financial advice business and be father to a young family – led a limited Gulls attack last season, scored 20 goals and was a huge reason why they went so close to promotion.

He was doing pretty well again when, after United’s first away win of the season at Salisbury a month ago, he sustained a pelvic injury before the next game at home to Dagenham & Redbridge.

Without him up front, United did beat bottom-of-the-table Chippenham Town at home last midweek, but they failed to score against Dagenham (0-0) and have lost at Chesham (1-2) and Dorking (1-3).

More worryingly, it seems that Cooke’s absence may be measured in months rather than weeks.

The Gulls have been here before.

On Boxing Day 2020 they beat Yeovil Town 6-1 at Plainmoor to move nine points clear at the top of the National League.

Then-manager Gary Johnson had a proper side at his disposal (see below) – only one of the 16 with boots on that day had not either played in the Football League or have since gone on to do it.

But that festive rout of Westcountry rivals, sadly watched by only 1,323 fans because of Covid restrictions, also came at a cost.

After scoring United’s second goal, Danny Wright had to go off with a hamstring injury that required surgery.

Midfielder Armani Little, who broke the deadlock, picked up a similar injury, but he was back within a month.

Wright did not play again until the following April 2, when he scored the winner against Woking (1-0) at home.

Johnson had Josh Umerah available, but he couldn’t carry Wright’s mantle, and neither could an 18-year-old loan signing from Crystal Palace, Rob Street.

Street was highly rated by Palace, and he’s gone on to forge a career for himself with Shrewsbury, Cheltenham, Doncaster and Lincoln.

But as a teenager in 2021 he wasn’t man enough to do the job that Wright had been doing. After scrambling a 4-3 win at Weymouth, United lost 2-1 in the New Year return at Yeovil.

Without Wright, they won only two of twelve games over the next three months, Sutton United overhauled them, lifted the NL title and, after Wright scored twice in a rousing 4-2 Semi-Final victory over Notts County, they lost to Hartlepool on penalties in a Final that’s still too...no, we won’t go there!

Fast forward five years, and now Wotton is grappling with a similar predicament to the one that Johnson faced.

He admitted at the weekend that Louis Dennis isn’t a ‘Cooke’ and Sonny Fish, who might be, is some way off the match-fitness levels required and has still to prove it anyway.

QPR starlet Cian Dillon, whose loan is up, is promising, but still (no fault of his own) roughly where Street was in 2021.

So, you can bet your bottom dollar that Wotton, his assistant Mike Edwards and football adviser Neil Warnock have been exploring every avenue this week, to try and find a replacement, even in the short-term, for Cooke.

It’s not easy, by any means.

Centre-forwards like Tim Sills, Wright and Cooke do not grow on trees these days, and clubs who may have one or two are nearly always reluctant to part with them.

So wish Wotton & Co, and the Bryn Consortium, good luck as they try to come up with an answer to what’s turned into a new and pressing problem – without breaking the bank, of course.

Footnote: the United team that beat Yeovil at Christmas 2020 read: Shaun MacDonald; Dean Moxey (Fraser Kerr), Kyle Cameron, Sam Sherring, Gary Warren, Armani Little (Josh Umerah), Ben Whitfield, Aaron Nemane, Adam Randell, Danny Wright (Jake Andrews), Connor Lemonheigh-Evans; subs not used – Lucas Covolan, Matt Buse.

The Gulls have been drawn at home to Maidstone United in the FA Trophy, tie to be played on Saturday, November 15.