Droylsden 1 United 2
A first minute strike from Tim Sills and a header from Roscoe Dsane ensured United came back from the trip to the north west with a win as they defeated bottom club Droylsden at the Butchers Arms ground.
Paul Buckle made three changes to the side that drew with Altrincham on Saturday; Chris Robertson replaced Mark Ellis in the heart of the defence while Saturday's scorer Kevin Hill and striker Lee Phillips made way for the returning duo of Tony Bedeau and Tim Sills respectively.
What could you do in 34 seconds? Spend a fortune on a betting site or pick out the good points in a Budget speech? Well, Torquay United can score a goal from the start of a match in that short space of time! The two players not involved in the Altrincham match combined to give United the lead at a windy Butchers Arms; Tony Bedeau got the ball wide and crossed from the right, Roscoe Dsane let the ball run and Tim Sills was on hand at the far post to finish off the move. The perfect start to the match was almost cancelled out two minutes later when a header from Dugdale was cleared off the United line by Lee Mansell who was positioned perfectly to deal with that very eventuality.
To be fair to Droylsden they didn't let the early goal deflate them too much and were prepared to try and test Simon Rayner in the Gulls goal from long range although the United 'keeper wasn't given much to do as most of the shots were off target. On the quarter hour mark United nearly doubled their lead when Dsane played Bedeau in on goal but Paul Phillips in the home goal made a good save to deny the United midfielder. Droylsden were having a fair share of possession but United were looking very comfortable at the back and the makeshift Droylsden attack looked lacklustre compared to United's bright start to the game.
If a second goal was going to come it was clearly going to be United and this time it was the quick thinking of Chris Hargreaves that brought the opportunity; Hargreaves laid off a quick free kick to Kevin Nicholson who, as the Droylsden defence failed to react quickly enough, struck a trademark cross from the left that was met by Roscoe Dsane who guided his header wide of Phillips to double United's advantage. More long range shooting from the home side still couldn't raise a save from Rayner and United were happy to play the remaining time out in the same comfortable fashion that they had already produced.
The best that can be said about the second half is to say it was scrappy. Droylsden had the wind behind them and gave it a go in terms of trying to make the best of their set pieces and the shoot on sight tactic. Denham had the first meaningful attempt of the second period but his shot was saved by Simon Rayner who then gathered quickly. United almost increased their goal tally but no Torquay player could get on the end of a Nicholson free kick on the hour mark.
Paul Buckle's side were looking quite composed and there was no need to push on and do anything silly with a two goal lead but 2-0 isn't always the comfortable score line it looks. The match was being disrupted by plenty of free kicks although the tackling throughout the match was nothing more than firm but fair but, nevertheless, the flow of the match was affected by the stoppages and the strong wind. It was the strong wind that had a hand in Droylsden's goal; Mackin picked the ball up just outside the United area and he wasn't closed down quickly enough and was able to let fly with a powerful shot that had the wind behind it and seemed to move in the air before flying past Simon Rayner.
The last twenty minutes now became a different proposition for Torquay. Droylsden certainly weren't cutting swathes through the United midfield and defence but, it was an uncomfortable period for United knowing that one slip up could ruin all the good work that got them the lead. As the match headed towards its climax Roscoe Dsane was booked for a tackle and Kevin Hill was sent on to replace Chris Zebroski in a tactical substitution. The home side were battling but United had withstood the period of pressure and actually looked more like scoring the games fourth goal and in the 90th minute Dsane had a chance to finish the match off but after being put clear his touch let him down and Phillips in the home goal was able to gather the ball.
Four points from six on a mini trip away is not a bad return and United's coaching staff and players will be looking to continue right through now until the final league game and hopefully go into the play-offs in good form and giving any opposition plenty to be thinking about.
