Fresh from sealing their place in the FA Trophy quarter-finals with victory at Southport on Saturday, United return to National League duties, as they take on Wealdstone at Plainmoor on Tuesday evening.
A dramatic seven days for the visiting side prompted a new man to take charge of the team for their Trophy defeat to Darlington at the weekend, however there’s no doubting that the players will be relishing the task of trying to gain a positive result at the home of Gary Johnson’s league leaders tomorrow.
Who’s The Boss?
Stuart Maynard has taken charge of The Stones, initially on a temporary basis, following the departure of National League South promotion-winning boss Dean Brennan a week ago. Initially arriving at Grosvenor Vale in May 2019 as Assistant to Brennan, Maynard was rekindling a partnership that had seen the two men work together at previous clubs Hemel Hempstead Town, Billericay Town and Kingstonian.
Having represented the Ruislip-based club as a player some twenty years ago, Wealdstone’s fans will be hoping that his past association with the club helps to inspire the current squad to arrest their current slide, and work their way back up the league table.
How have they been doing?
November’s 1-0 away success at Halifax gave little clue of the upheaval that would follow some three months later, with a fifth win from their opening eight encounters seeing The Royals emerge as Torquay’s nearest challengers at the National League summit. However, just one victory has followed in the ten games since, including a 2-1 home defeat to The Gulls, with that dramatic loss of form seeing the club plummet to 18th place, just three points above the dreaded drop-zone.
If the side can reproduce the early season form that earned them wins against the likes of Wrexham, Chesterfield and Altrincham – not to mention a televised 3-3 draw at home to Sutton – then another encouraging result in South Devon may not be beyond Maynard’s charges though.
Player To Watch
30 year-old Danny Green’s arrival at Wealdstone five years ago saw the midfielder finally establish himself in senior football, following a decade which had seen the Harlow-born man turn out for no less than fourteen different teams. A spell at Dagenham & Redbridge, then plying their trade in League Two, provided ample proof of his potential, and although unable to cement himself a spot in the starting line-up at Victoria Road, over 150 appearances for his current club make him one of the first names on The Stones’ teamsheet.
Played For Both
Michee Efete got his first taste of regular football during a loan spell at Plainmoor in 2017/18, as Gary Owers’ Torquay side battled in vain to retain their fifth-tier status. Having made three appearances for parent club Norwich City’s U23 side in the Football League Trophy, his departure from Carrow Road saw the defender enjoy stints at Maidstone, Bath and Billericay, before a move to Grosvenor Vale in the summer of 2019 heralded arguably his best spell of form to date.
Previous Encounter
The last time the two sides met at Plainmoor, both sides were eyeing promotion from the division below, however it would be Johnson’s team that would eventually clinch the National League South title.
An exciting clash in late March 2019 saw both sides display their attacking flair, as goals from Kalvin Kalala and Jamie Reid saw The Gulls race into a two-goal lead. That deficit was halved prior to the break by Jeffrey Monakana’s strike for the visitors, and despite Jean-Yves Koue Niate notching a third for United with nineteen minutes remaining, an almost instant reply from Jerome Okimo set up a nerve-jangling finale. Torquay held out for a crucial 3-2 success though, setting the scene for the promotion party that followed just a fortnight later.
In association with LV BET
Torquay United AFC will once again be providing full Livestream access for this fixture, including an hour-long pre-match show here.
The club will also be providing commentary of the match via Official TUFC Radio here.