Reaction to the win against Torquay

By Nathan Jackson
February 11 2006

The Imps finally managed to end the Torquay curse by winning 2-0 nearly 6 years after their last week over the Gulls. It wasn't particulary a great performance from the Imps, however, it did move the Imps within a point of the playoffs. Ollie Ryan also continued to show his lack of skill

I know what you're all expecting, you're all expecting that usual pessemistic review of the game where we were lucky, where we won't make the playoffs, blah blah blah. Well this week, you'll be surprised......just.

Let's not beat around the bush, that was a dire game, devoid of any real quality and if the Imps do make the playoffs, we will definatly have to improve. However, the sign of a good squad is one that wins when they haven't been playing well and that's what's happened in the previous 3 games. We now have a great chance of making the playoffs and this coming week will decide how our season will go. A minimum of 4 points is required over the next week.

I'm still convinced that Gary Birch should start the games because quite frankly, he did more in his time on the pitch than any of the other strikers did today. Gritton still seems to lack match fitness and Yeo didn't really do anything all afternoon. Don't even get me started on Ollie Ryan, how useless can a player be?

Overall, I'm very pleased we won but as I say, there are some very good sides above us and we will still have to improve to get in the playoffs.

Alan Marriott - 6 - Alan didn't have a lot to do today to be honest and I can only recall him having to make 1 save.

Jamie McCombe - 8 - Jamie gets better every week. Is now arguably our best player and if he continues of this sort of form, he'll be getting scouted by teams a lot higher up than League 2.

Gareth McAuley - 6 - To be honest, I didn't really notice he was there, he didn't seem to do anything during the afternoon and the first time I noticed him was when the person I was sitting next to asked where he had gone just after half time.

Colin Cryan - 7 - I'll be honest, Cryan is one of those players that you never ever seem to notice, however, whenever you do notice him, he's often playing quite well and the precision of his balls are top class.

Jeff Hughes - 8 - Jeff continues to improve with every game and rounded off a perfect week for himself with a good performance and a goal.

Scott Kerr - 5 - He gave the ball away too often and he seems to be getting exhausted frequently.

Nat Brown - 4 - He's one of those players who gets stuck in, gives all his effort but is inevitably not very good at football.

Lee Frecklington - 5 - He had a quiet game and was definatly getting tired towards the end. However, he still showed enough to see him continue to get considered for the first team.

Oliver Ryan - 1 - No, no, bloody no. I'm sorry but this guy shouldn't be a professional footballer. Today was him in typification, he missed easy chances, ran into his own players, constantly passed the ball to the opposition player. Even all those people who wanted to give him a chance earlier in the season now admit that he's crap and I think Keith's now realised it as well. No offence to the lad personally but god knows how many of your easy chances another striker would score.

Simon Yeo - 5 - Didn't seem to do anything and was often seen failing to make an effort to get to balls close by too him. He was provided with several quality balls to run onto, however, all he seemed to do was stand there and moan and there's no doubt that this was his worst game since rejoining the Imps.

Martin Gritton - 6 - He should have scored a few but if it wasn't for a combination of bad luck and Oliver Ryan running into him, he probably would have scored and he certainly looks useful.

Jude Stirling - 2 - Today, the Imps fan's saw something that they hadn't seen so far, Jude Stirling actually kicking the ball and to be quite honest, I wish I never had. Jude is a great lad and his throws will prove useful in the future, however, he is an awful footballer.

Gary Birch - 7 - Why Birch is overlooked in place of Oliver Ryan is unbelieveable. Birch again showed that he has the potential to play higher and in his short time on the pitch, he did more than the other (apparantly better) strikers did in the entire match. As you may have guessed, I rate Birch because unlike other strikers, he doesn't just swing a leg at everything that comes his way, he takes his time, thinks about it and looks to see what other options are available.

Lee Beevers - 5 - Nothing really happened to be honest.

"It's funny, I don't think we've been at our best in the last 3 weeks but we've won all 3 games so it makes up for all those games earlier in the season where we were playing better but didn't get the run of the green. We've had a couple cleared off the line and a goal disallowed so overall, I'm pleased."

"In all fairness, they were running us around in the first half and I had to change it at half time and I think it worked well. We can only play as well as the opposition allow us to play and they kept a lot of the ball."

"It's a while since we won 3 on the trot, we're going to go to Barnet and try to keep that going.

"I am disappointed with the result but, on the whole, I'm not too down about the performance.
Their first goal was a cruel deflection and their second Andy was too far off his line but by then we were pushing on chasing the game."

 
"Apart from that I thought we bossed the game. Lincoln are doing well this season and they are hard to beat but now our players have got to look to put it right on Tuesday night. The other results went against us so it's backs against the wall time again."

John Cornforth, Torquay manager 

"Poor first half, they were running the show. Midfield were poor and we weren't creating anything. Much better second half - change of formation worked and we could have had three or four.
Disappointed with Gritton - Keith said on radio he'd pulled his calf muscle, but I still wasn't impressed. Ollie struggled and never got a chance to show his pace - forward line didn't look cohesive to me. I was surprised Frecklington was substituted, thought he was playing well. Birch made a difference when he came on. For all the negativity about him, he is one good player with his back to goal. He has vision, and involves other players. I may be in the minority, but I have always rated him." juryservice

"Even though we won, I thought they wanted it more.Marriot(for us) showed good hands, McCombe and McAuley were again solid, Hughes was good, Cryan was so/so especially his distribution, Brown played well marking a very awkward basketball player, Frecklington was lively, Kerr was good, Ryan and Gritton never got going, Yeo didn't get any service. Birch did well I thought and should of earned a start, Beevers is no better and Stirling- good throws not good defending for me." jamesimp