United’s Under-18s sealed their title-winning campaign with a superb display of never-say-die spirit to salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Yeovil Town at South Devon College on Saturday morning.
Having trailed to a Yeovil goal since the first half, Chris Todd’s battling side eventually grabbed a share of the spoils with virtually the last kick of the game, as substitute Jayden Gilbert slotted home.
Despite bossing the early stages, Torquay were unable to boast the goal their play deserved, as Lewis Brooks went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock, with a stunning drive that cannoned of the crossbar.
After soaking up all that The Gulls could throw at them, the visitors began to created a few opportunities of their own, with goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott producing a couple of excellent parries to keep his side on level terms.
However, after more Glovers pressure forced a corner, a deep delivery into a crowded goalmouth paid off, with the ball bouncing kingly for Town’s No.7 to lash the ball home from six yards out.
United responded though, and were unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty just before the break, as Alfie Collings appeared to have been pushed over whilst chasing a loose ball inside the 18-yard box.
Following the change of ends, the starlets in yellow swiftly went about restoring parity, with Harvey Field hitting the woodwork with a close-range header, as the ball once again refused to go in.
With the visiting glovesman having to produce a number of saves in order to repel Todd’s team – one from Jack Winsor was particularly impressive – the watching Yellow Army began to fear that for once, it may not be the Champions’ day.
That feeling was intensified midway through the half as some neat build-up play preceded James Rowe slotting the ball into the net from the edge of the penalty area, only to see an official’s flag rule the goal invalid.
When, with the match now deep into stoppage time, Sammy Stayt fired over from a similar range, it appeared as though Torquay would suffer just their second league defeat of the season.
Todd’s charges weren’t quite done just yet though.
Having already looked at his watch twice, the referee allowed play to go on just enough for a hopeful ball into the box to give Brooks something to chase. After forcing the Yeovil No.1 into spilling the ball, Stayt showed admirable composure to send it back goalward, where substitute Gilbert was perfectly placed to level things up from point-blank range with seconds to spare.
A true Champions’ response!
United U18s: 1. Matt Wonnacott, 2. James Rowe, 3. Joe Edmonds, 4. Alfie Collings (c) (Ben Aldous), 5. Callum Thomas, 8. Sam Bishop (Isaac McCut), 9. Theo Cadby, 11. Lewis Brooks, 14. Jack Winsor, 18. Sammy Stayt, 21. Harvey Field (Jayden Gilbert).
SUBS NOT USED: 23. Lloyd Marshall, 16. Dan Grant
Despite admitting his side weren’t at their best, United’s Head of Youth was delighted with the spirit shown by his side, with two cup finals still to come.
“It sums the lads up,” began Todd.
“It wasn’t our best day, by any stretch of the imagination, but we still had a lot of chances, and on another day we take those chances and win the game – in my opinion – comfortably. Credit to them [Yeovil], they pushed us hard today, but it showed the character of the boys that they’ve come away and not lost. It’s important, because it shows they’re fighting, even with it not meaning a lot, because we’ve won the league already.
“Overall, I’m really pleased with their attitude and commitment at the end, and Jayden Gilbert steps up again and gets the late equaliser like he does. There’s a lot of first-years out there, and they’re growing all the time and they’ve stepped up this year. There is massive promising signs for next year, which is all very exciting. They are all doing very well, and they are working very hard, it shows their never-say-die attitude at the end there.
“That was really good for us, because it was like a dress rehearsal. We were behind and that could happen in one of the finals we have remaining, we have to get that late winner or maybe get back into the game, so it’s good to see that they have that in them. We changed it around a bit, something we don’t really do in a 4-3-3, and we got the just rewards in the end, which was great.”