Truro 1
(Palmer 90+3′)
United 2
(Jude-Boyd 24′, Ash 39′)
United ended their away day blues with a vital three points on the road, as The Gulls triumphed over Truro in Gloucester on Monday.
First-half strikes from Arkell Jude-Boyd and Brad Ash put United in charge, and although Ed Palmer pulled one back for the ‘hosts’ late on, Torquay held on for what could yet prove to be a hugely important victory.
Aaron Downes made three changes to the starting line up from the Welling game as Ash, Brett McGavin & Ollie Tomlinson came in to replace Kevin Dawson, Ethon Archer & Ross Marshall, with Archer joining Calum Thomas & Austen Booth on the bench in the other changes to the squad.
In a cagey opening to the game it was Duane Ofori-Acheampong’s challenge on Tom Harrison on two minutes that earned him an early booking, and set out United’s stall that they were here to fight hard for the result.
Truro were trying to open United up down their left hand side with Dan Sullivan & Ryan Law but Jude-Boyd and Asa Hall were equal to their attempts.
Jude-Boyd responded with a cross into the box on 11 minutes ran across the area, however Ofori-Acheampong couldn’t quite get to it.
Downes opted to make a switch on 19 minutes, with Acheampong replaced by Archer, and although it may have changed his original plan of action, it seemed to work a treat.
Just five minutes later, The Gulls made the crucial breakthrough.
Jude-Boyd, the QPR loanee who has shown up so impressively since arriving at Plainmoor, ran down the right flank before cutting inside and curling a marvellous effort past home goalkeeper James Hamon and into the back of the net.
Torquay didn’t hang around in doubling their advantage either.
This time the goal came down the opposite side of the pitch, as Dean Moxey’s dart down the left ended with a pin-point delivery, with leading scorer Ash perfectly placed to tap home his 12th goal of the campaign in the 39th minute.
It nearly got even better before the break too.
After Will Jenkins Davies worked himself into shooting range on the edge of the box, his firm drive was heading into the net, before former United ‘keeper Hamon’s legs intervened,. It just about kept his side in the contest.
Following the change of ends, Torquay remained pretty in pink, as they continued to boss proceedings.
Although one of many former Plainmoor players, Danny Sullivan, struck the woodwork ten minutes in, by and large everything the White Tigers threw at the Torquay defence was dealt with with the minimum amount of fuss.
Downes’ men were in no mood about settling for a two-goal margin, with Jenkins Davies and Archer both nearly punishing City following a penetrative counter attack, as Hamon was forced into making an important double-save to prevent his side’s task becoming even greater.
On 75 minutes, Jude-Boyd produced a marvellous run and cross down the right hand touchline, and with Ollie Tomlinson meeting it with a firm near-post header, Hamon was again in action, although this time his gather was relatively standard.
Truro came close to reducing the arrears came via a long ball forward with ten minutes left, as substitute Dom Johnson-Fisher momentarily evading the attentions of Moxey, but his hooked effort from just inside the box allowed the underworked Mark Halstead to flick the ball behind.
Just moments later, Torquay were on the front foot once more in search of a third.
It was Archer again who forced City to panic, as the former Three Bridges man nipped in between two stranded defenders to meet another tempting right-wing cross. This time an increasingly defeated-looking backline looked mightily relieved though, as Archer’s close-range effort went wide of the near-post.
United’s defence had looked well-drilled and organised all evening, and although it was therefore slightly disappointing to see a rare clean sheet taken away from them in the closing stages, Ex-Gull Palmer’s close range header in the third of four minutes of stoppage time arrived far too late to make any difference to the result.
It’s just three points – no more and no less – but you couldn’t help but feel that when the full story of this season is told, this result will serve as a particularly important chapter within it.
TRURO: 1. James Hamon, 2. James Melhado (7. Adam Porter, HT), 3. Connor Riley-Lowe (c), 5. Ed Palmer, 8. Will Dean, 10. Danny Sullivan, 14. Josh Hinds (12. Dan Rooney, 65′), 15. Andrew Neal (16. Dom Johnson-Fisher, 75′), 17. Finn Tonks. 18. Tom Harrison, 20. Ryan Law.
SUBS NOT USED: 6. Sam Sanders, 11. Luther Munakandafa.
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Arkell Jude-Boyd, 4. Tom Lapslie, 8. Asa Hall (c), 11. Brad Ash, 14. Brett McGavin, 18. Will Jenkins Davies (5. Austen Booth, 90′), 19. Duane Ofori-Acheampong (30. Ethon Archer 19′), 21. Dean Moxey, 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs (10. Lewis Collins, 73′).
SUBS NOT USED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 24. Calum Thomas.
Yellow Card: Ofori- Acheampong 2′, Tomlinson 21′, Halstead 88′
Attendance: 384