United make the long trip to Kent tomorrow evening, as they take on Maidstone United at the Gallagher Stadium.
With Gary Johnson’s side looking for an instant response to Saturday’s 0-4 home defeat against St Albans, they will up against a Maidstone side that have already grabbed national attentions recently, thanks to their 2-1 win at Ipswich Town, which prolonged their FA Cup campaign – one which saw them defeat in The Gulls at Plainmoor in the final qualifying round earlier in the season.
Who’s the boss?
George Elokobi took charge of the Stones in a caretaker role following the departure of Hakan Heyrettin in January of 2023, and despite being unable to stop Maidstone from being relegated he was given the job on a permanent basis in March.
Elokobi’s career saw him begin at Colchester United, and while at the U’s he also had a brief loan spell at Chester. Wolverhampton Wanderers were his next club and in a six year stay at Molineux he helped them to promotion from the Championship and into the Premier League in the 2008/09 season, when they finished as champions. During his time at the Midlands club he also had spells on loan at both Nottingham Forest and Bristol City.
Upon his release from Wolves in 2014, the defender spent a season at Oldham Athletic, before he made a return to Colchester in 2015 for a two year stay. which also included a loan spell at Braintree. Leyton Orient and Aldershot were his next two clubs before he joined Maidstone in 2019, and after three years at the Kent club he announced his retirement from playing football.
How have they been doing?
Even when not considering their FA Cup exploits, it’s been quite a season from a side that last season finished below The Gulls in the National League last term.
Currently 4th in the table with 50 points from 30 games, victory on Saturday may have been only their second in five games, but it was a particularly impressive one – at home to runaway leaders Yeovil Town.
Player to watch
Midfielder Sam Corne wrote his name into Maidstone United folklore last month, with his strike midway through the second half a Portman Road earning his side an unforgettable 2-1 televised FA Cup shock at Ipswich Town.
Previously with Welling, Braintree, Greenwich and Ashford, Corne has previously received international recognition in the shape of an England C call-up, and having always possessed an eye for goal, he is sure to be a key attacking threat for United to watch out for tomorrow evening.
Played for both
Goalkeeper Lucas Covolan will never need much introduction to Gulls fans, after his heroic actions at Ashton Gate three years ago so nearly sealed United’s return back to the Football League.
Covolan began his career in his home country of Brazil before being brought to the UK in 2016 by Whitehawk, where he played 23 games while also having a five match loan spell at Lewes. Worthing were his next port of call in 2017, and in a two year stay at the West Sussex club he made 59 appearances, before moving to the English Riviera in 2019 to join up with Johnson’s newly-promoted Gulls.
The Brazilian shared the goalkeeping duties with Shaun MacDonald during his time here, but will always be fondly remembered for scoring THAT goal in the Play-Off Final against Hartlepool in 2021, and despite him also saving two of the penalties in the shoot out, it just wasn’t to be United’s fairytale ending.
Lucas then moved to Port Vale for two years upon him ending his time here at Torquay, and last season he also spent time at Chesterfield on loan, before his release from Vale Park has led him back to the National League South, this time with Maidstone United.
Previous encounters
Torquay have a largely miserable record against The Stones, with United’s 1-0 home win over them last season their only victory in ten outings – all other matches have ended in the Kent side’s favour.
If The Gulls are to get back to winning ways tomorrow, they will have to improve on a record that has seen then score just once in four previous encounters at the Gallagher Stadium, with their last three visits all ending in 1-0 victories for the hosts.
Ticketing details for tomorrow’s fixture are available HERE, whilst live commentary of the full match will be available via TUFC Radio HERE.