United 1
(Ash 77′)
Plymouth Argyle 1
(Whittaker 30′)
A superb showing from United saw them secure a fully-merited draw with Championship neighbours Plymouth Argyle at Plainmoor on Tuesday evening.
The four-division gulf that separated both sides, was anything but apparent in the early stages, with United giving as good as they got in the early stages.
It wasn’t until the 9th minute that Argyle created their first opening, and when it did come, it was a former Plymouth youngster that came to The Gulls’ rescue, as Ollie Tomlinson cleared a Morgan Whittaker shot just short of the goal line, after his low diagonal strike zipped past the advancing Mark Halstead.
United went close themselves three minutes later.
After a loose pass out from the back was immediately pounced upon by Jack Stobbs, his squared pass onto the edge of the box saw Brett McGavin fire towards goal. His initial effort was repelled, but only as far as Lewis Collins from a similar distance – this time the Gulls winger saw his instinctive volley flash narrowly wide of the upright.
Whittaker responded for the visitors again on 16 minutes – this time with a curling effort – but Halstead was well-placed to gather the ball comfortably in his midriff.
Although Gary Johnson’s side were giving the Pilgrims’ backline plenty of work themselves, Argyle were getting some joy of their own down the right-hand side, with Halstead called into another save – albeit a comfortable one – again on 20 minutes, as Callum Wright twisted inside Tomlinson, before firing in a left-footed shot.
The breakthrough eventually came on the half-hour.
After Wright’s 22-yarder forced Halstead into a parry, a deep corner into a packed area was half-cleared via Aaron Jarvis’ header. Unfortunately the ball fell kindly for Whittaker on the edge of the penalty area, and this time he made no mistake, volleying past Halstead and into the net.
There were genuine penalty appeals for Torquay soon after, with Plymouth defender Julio Pleguezuelo appearing to handle the ball under pressure from the ever-willing Brad Ash, but with the officials not spotting anything untoward, the deficit remained as the match edged towards the change of ends.
There would be one more chance before the whistle, and it fell United’s way, although Asa Hall’s effort from 20 yards had too much on it, as it rose over the crossbar.
Nevertheless, it was a very promising first 45 for the men in yellow, blue and white.
They wasted little time in reminding their opponents of their intent once the action got back underway, with Ash making headway down the left, before letting fly with a right-footer that warmed the palms of substitute goalkeeper Callum Burton.
Down the other flank, a delightful exchange of passes between Jack Stobbs and Donnellan ended with the latter delivering a low ball into the path of Collins inside the area, with his shot towards goal deflected behind.
Plymouth weren’t finding it easy to create anything of note as the game reached the hour mark, with only Freddie Issaka’s shot on the turn worth noting, although even that cleared the ‘bar by some margin.
Johnson’s men were asking the more pressing questions in attack, with one cross from the right byline taken off the head of Ash on the six-yard line, just as the former Weymouth man looked set to send Trialist A’s ball home.
A golden opportunity to restore came – and went – in the 74th minute, as a swift Torquay break saw Stobbs split Plymouth’s retreating backline by threading the ball into Ash’s path, yet with only the glovesman to beat, his unselfish nature worked against him, as his pass to strike partner was cut out.
United’s new striker wouldn’t have long to wait before he was celebrating though.
With Stobbs finding space wide on the right flank, his beautiful delivery beat everyone bar its intended target, with Ash adding the perfect finishing touch in the form of a delicious diving header to make it 1-1.
Far from settling for a an excellent friendly draw, it was to United’s credit that they went on the offensive looking for more.
The ball hardly left the Plymouth half during the closing stages, and when the final whistle went, the show of appreciation from the Plainmoor faithful was just reward for an evening of hard-graft, genuine quality, and plenty of optimism for the future.
With one Devon Derby behind them, the next test for Johnson and his men comes in the shape of another, as Exeter City make the trip to the English Riviera on Saturday (22/07/23 3pm KO). Tickets are available HERE.
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead (22. Rhys Lovett, HT), 4. Tom Lapslie (7. Jack Kennell, 90+1), 8. Asa Hall (2. Dylan Crowe, 69′), 9. Aaron Jarvis, 10. Lewis Collins (24. Calum Thomas, 75′), 11. Brad Ash (3. Dan Martin, 52′), 14. Brett McGavin, 15. Trialist A, 16. Shaun Donnellan, 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs.
SUBS NOT USED: 6. Liam Poole, 18. Mason Elliott, 21. Taylor McNally, 28. Jacob Wellington.
Attendance: 3,585 (1,424 away)