United 0
Boreham Wood 1
(Fyfield 3′)
The Gulls went down to defeat on Saturday, as Boreham Wood repelled United’s efforts at Plainmoor.
An early goal from Boreham’s Jamal Fyfield had Torquay chasing the game from almost the first whistle, and despite a concerted bid to drag themselves level, the equaliser they deserved just wouldn’t come.
Following the midweek defeat at Bromley, United boss Gary Johnson made two changes to the starting eleven, with Corie Andrews and Shaun Donnellan replacing Thomas Hughes and the suspended Ross Marshall.
Things couldn’t have started much worse for The Gulls.
Three minutes in, and a cross-shot from Josh Rees made its way all the way across to the back-post, where Fyfield was perfectly placed to slide in and give his side the advantage – appeals for offside sadly forlorn.
Redemption very nearly came about just six minutes later though, as Andrews’ knock-down of a Ryan Hanson long throw saw Ali Omar send in a terrific half-volley from eight yards, however his goalbound effort was blocked short of the goalline by a visiting defender.
In what remained a closely-fought first 45, The Wood would threaten again in the 21st minute, as Lee Ndlovu’s break into the right side of the 18-yard box ended with a pull-back to Rees, who thankfully hooked his six-yard effort wide of the far upright.
A minute later, and the action reverted back up to the other end of the pitch, as Andrews diverted a high ball into the path of the rampaging Tom Lapslie, who sent a first-time volley over the crossbar from eight yards out.
That end-to-end pattern continued for a period thereafter, with Rees once again taking aim at Mark Halstead’s goal. However his latest effort from 20 yards also went wide, following a pass from another former Gull in Tyrone Marsh.
Marsh would threaten himself four minutes before the interval, producing an acrobatic volley from a Dennon Lewis corner on the edge of the box, as United’s stubborn opponents went in search of a second goal.
Johnson’s side were creating a few openings themselves though, with a ferocious effort from Brett McGavin looking to be arrowing into the back of the net on the stroke of half-time, before five minutes of additional time allowed time for Andrews to glance a back-header narrowly off-target via a McGavin free-kick.
Hanson’s header from a Dean Moxey cross didn’t quite have the direction required to seriously trouble visiting goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore, resulting in the men in yellow facing a deficit at the change of ends.
Once things got back underway, Torquay set about restoring parity with purpose, as a neat passage of play involving Ben Wyatt, Hanson and McGavin down the left ended with the latter nearly catching Ashmore out at his near-post on 50 minutes.
How Boreham got away with their lead intact in the 58th minute is anyone’s guess.
A through-ball was played towards Will Goodwin was played perfection, however after Ashmore smothered the United man’s initial effort – in amongst some dubious and desperate defending that saw Goodwin hit the deck – a follow-up effort from Lapslie saw appeals for a secondary offence of handball also waived away.
The pressure continued to mount on the visiting goal, with the next chance for Johnson’s team coming on 63 minutes, with Moxey’s free-kick from the right seeing Omar’s close-range effort scrambled off the goalline.
The Wood remained a dangerous opponent on the counter though, with Lewis firing wildly off-target from eight yards after Hanson’s defensive header fell kindly to him three minutes later.
As the clock ticked down, The Gulls’ attempts to find a leveller intensified.
Andrews, sprinting onto an inviting ball into the penalty area, was denied at the last by Ashmore in the 80th minute, before a flurry of corners saw all hands to the pump just about keep United out.
Halstead did have to come up with a fine save to prevent substitute Danny Newton firing home from the edge of the D with two minutes remaining, as Torquay began to commit more and more bodies to attack, however the ascendancy remaining with the home side, with Asa Hall nearly announcing his arrival off the bench with a last-minute equaliser, before Wood’s increasingly overworked ‘keeper leapt into action to tip it over the ‘bar.
The presence of Halstead heading upfield for United’s last two corners added another degree of drama to an engrossing 90 minutes, but sadly, it couldn’t quite bring the goal the Yellow Army craved.
United: 1.Mark Halstead, 2.Dylan Crowe (11.Kieron Evans, 71′), 4.Tom Lapslie (8.Asa Hall, 81′), 5.Ali Omar, 7.Ryan Hanson, 10.Corie Andrews, 14.Brett McGavin, 15.Ben Wyatt (26.Nelson Iseguan, 80′), 16.Shaun Donnellan, 19.Will Goodwin, 21.Dean Moxey (c).
SUBS NOT USED: 22.Rhys Lovett, 23.Ollie Tomlinson.
Boreham Wood: 1.Nathan Ashmore (c), 3.Femi Ilesanmi, 5.Will Evans, 7.Josh Rees, 9.Lee Ndlovu (14.Danny Elliot, 75′), 10.Tyrone Marsh (11.Danny Newton, 67′), 12.Jamal Fyfield, 15.Dennon Lewis, 17.Jack Payne, 19.Erico Sousa, 20.Zak Brunt (18.George Williams, 82′).
SUBS NOT USED: 6.David Stephens, 8.Alfie Egan.
Yellow Cards: Williams, 87′, Sousa, 90+4′
Attendance: 2,222 (35 away)