Louis Dennis and Jordan Young have a chance to join Torquay United history

Only twice in Torquay United’s history have two players scored 20 goals in the same season – but could it happen again this year?

Gulls’ forwards Jordan Young and Louis Dennis went into last night’s 30th match of the National League South campaign on 15 and 13 goals respectively.

With another 16 games still to go, and free-scoring United going all-out for promotion, there seems every chance that Young and Dennis could write themselves into the history books.

Both have just returned from suspensions. Dennis is over a three-match ban and Young celebrated his own return with both goals in the vital 2-1 win at Hornchurch eleven days ago.

Dennis, 33, has topped 20 once in his career, scoring 22 in all competitions for Bromley in 2017-18.

Young, 26, last season’s Player Of The Year, has yet to do it. Sixteen for Yeovil Town when they won the NLS in 2023-24 is his best so far.

Only 16 Torquay players have scored 20 or more goals in a season since the Second World War, although five (Sammy Collins, Tommy Northcott, Robin Stubbs, Steve Cooper, Jamie Reid) did it more than once.

But you have to go back more 70 years to the last occasions when two players hit 20 in the same season.

Collins, United’s all-time record marksman with 219 goals in 379 league and cup appearances (1948- 57), featured both times.

In 1951-52 Collins and Ernie Edds both scored 24 goals, and in 1954-55 Collins hit 28 and Harold Dobbie 20.

Last season Cody Cooke ‘finished’ with 20 league goals after his last-day hat-trick at Hemel Hempstead Town, but one of his earlier efforts, against Chesham, was eventually confirmed to Jordan Dyer.

Twelve months on Cooke has also returned to the fray after two months out with injury, scoring twice in last week’s 3-2 win at Dover Athletic.

He’s bound to be keen to add to his current tally of five over the next two and a half months. But it’s still Young, whose set-piece skills are in his favour, and Dennis leading the way.

A handful of men did it in the 1920s and 1930s, but to bring back some happy memories, here’s the full list of 20-goal men since WWII:

1946-47 Jack Conley 23, 1951-52 Sammy Collins 24 and Ernie Edds 24, 1952-53 Sammy Collins 27,1954-55 Sammy Collins 28 and Harold Dobbie 20, 1955-56 Sammy Collins 42, 1956-57 Sammy Collins 35, 1958-59 Tommy Northcott 21, 1959-60 Graham Bond 25, 1960-61 Tommy Northcott 28, 1961-62 Ernie Pym 21, 1962-63 Brian Handley 24, 1963-64 Robin Stubbs 25, 1964-65 Robin Stubbs 39, 1966-67 Robin Stubbs 22, 1970-71 John Rudge, 1976-77 Willie Brown 22, 1979-80 Steve Cooper 20, 1982-83 Steve Cooper 21, 1987-88 Paul Dobson 25, 2003-04 David Graham 23, 2007-08 Tim Sills 21, 2018-19 Jamie Reid 32, 2019-20 Jamie Reid 21.