United 2
(Whitfield, 45’+2, Wright, 59′)
Maidenhead 1
(Donnellan, 82′)
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United extended their lead at the top of the National League following a superb 2-1 victory over Maidenhead at Plainmoor.
A dominant first-half display only had Ben Whitfield’s injury-time strike to show for it, however Danny Wright’s second half effort soon gave the scoreboard a more telling story of how the first hour had unfolded. The visitors did pull back a late goal back from Shaun Donnellan, however the points remained destined to remain at Plainmoor.
United manager Gary Johnson named the same squad to the one that welcomed the Yellow Army back on Saturday, with the starting eleven and substitutes all present and correct after the 3-1 home triumph over Wrexham.
Once again, United were quick out of the traps, and could have been two goals up inside three minutes.
A scintillating move in the early stages saw Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Aaron Nemane link up on the cusp of the penalty area to feed Sam Sherring on the right-hand side, before a covering defender slid in to put the ball behind.
Jake Andrews’ delivery from the resultant corner was met almost perfectly by Kyle Cameron, however the defender’s header was aimed straight at visiting glovesman Taye Ashby-Hammond.
Wright was next to try his luck, however his finish also lacked the required direction, with the striker dragging his shot of the left-hand upright.
Just as they had done at the weekend, Torquay were bossing the territorial stakes by some margin, and some marvellous footwork from Whitfield in the ninth minute nearly forced the opener.
After dancing his way outside, then inside, two defenders, the United winger was well placed to send in a blistering drive that was palmed behind by the ‘keeper.
The same player went even closer seconds later, as s half-cleared corner fell to Whitfield 20 yards out – a deflection, followed by the crossbar, saw the ball go behind, much to the relief of United’s beleaguered opponents.
The corner was no less threatening thopugh, with Cameron’s looping backheader catching everyone out as it cannoned of the bar once again, before the ensuing melee saw Wright also robbed by the woodwork, as his shot from point-blank range frantically hacked away by a combination of post and defender.
It was frantic stuff, with Cameron again going close in the 13th minute, this time with a low drive from the left edge of the penalty area, as the ball sailed narrowly wide of the far-post.
As fabulously one-sided it was from a Yellow perspective, the scoreline wasn’t telling the same tale, however it was to their credit that Johnson’s men stuck to their passing principles, with little frustration evident as the match headed towards the 20-minute mark.
United just kept going, willed on by some passionate support from the terraces.
In the 21st minute, Wright showed typical physical strength from to hold off an opposing man, before threading the ball into the path of the onrushing Nemane, who let fly with a goalbound left-footed effort, which was blocked just in the nick of time.
A minute later, and Wright was on the opposite side of the box, this time deciding to go solo with a curling effort, which so nearly paid off – two or three inches would have probably done it.
With the game edging towards the half-hour, Cameron continued his own personal quest for a goal, reacting to Sherring’s deep knocked-down free-kick by sending in a low drive from 12 yards that Ashby-Hammond again had to be alert to.
Maidenhead deserved credit for staying in the game amid almost non-stop pressure, however the officials had to come to their rescue in the 34th minute, as a Jake Andrews free-kick from the right ended with Asa Hall heading the ball beyond the Maidenhead ‘keeper and into the net, however the cheers were brought to swift conclusion, with a foul signalled and the goal ruled out.
Disappointed but undaunted, Hall left fly from 25 yards three minutes later, with Ashby-Hammond caught flat-footed, as the ball came through a crowd of players to skid just off-target.
Just when a near-perfect half appeared to be consigned to the travesty of parity, the deadlock was broken two minutes into stoppage time.
When Sherring’s long ball forward was only headed half-clear, it was Hall who reacted quickest to hook a tempting ball forward back towards the danger area. Whitfield’s pace saw him beat the ‘keeper to the ball, however with plenty still to do, he added to his already impressive goal collection so far this campaign with a delightful lob over Ashby-Hammond to put United a goal to the good at the break.
The restart saw no immediate change in the game’s patter, with a driving run from Lemonheigh-Evans seeing the Welshman running diagonally away from goal, however his shot still forced a full-length parry from the overworked goalkeeper, who had to recover quickly to smother the rebound from Wright, who seemed set to double the advantage.
Maidenhead did settle somewhat after that, however with the visitors beginning to entertain thoughts of an equaliser, Torquay struck just short of the half hour mark. After winning a a throw on their left, the ball was worked inside to Adam Randell, who delivered a sublime ball onto the head of Wright, who calmly steered the ball wide of the stranded goalkeeper, and into the back of the net.
They saw that 2-0 is the most dangerous scoreline in football, and only moments later, Shaun MacDonald was called into action for the first time – and how well he responded.
Some impressive aerial play saw the ball lofted into the path of former Gull Nathan Blissett eight yards out. The visiting captain looked sure to reduce the deficit, however MacDonald produced a marvellous reaction save to palm the ball out of danger, to draw worthy applause from all inside the stadium.
Perhaps inspired by coming so close – and with nothing to lose – Maidenhead suddenly began imposing themselves for the first time in the game, with a number of promising attacks down the wings keeping the Torquay backline busy.
An 79th minute MacDonald tip-over from substitute Josh Smile’s 22-yard fierce drive provided further evidence of Maidenhead’s growing intent on salvaging a point, and three minutes later they grabbed themselves a late foothold in the game, as an 82nd near-post corner was glanced into the net by Donnellan to make it 2-1.
Had Andrews’ 87th minute free-kick dipped under the bar, rather than crashing back off it, the last few minutes could have been much more comfortable for all inside Plainmoor, however as it was, things remained slightly tense, despite a lack of real chances for teh visitors.
There was thankfully no late drama, as United saw out the final few minutes with relative ease to secure another welcome three points, and extend their lead at the top of the table to five points.
Next up for Johnson’s men is a trip to King’s Lynn Town on Saturday, as United continue to set the pace at the National League summit.
TUFC: 1. Shaun MacDonald, 4. Kyle Cameron, 5. Fraser Kerr, 7. Connor Lemonheigh-Evans (25. Billy Waters, 75′), 8. Asa Hall, 9. Danny Wright (35. Josh Umerah, 68′), 11. Jake Andrews, 12. Adam Randell, 16. Sam Sherring, 23. Aaron Nemane, 34. Ben Whitfield (15. Matt Buse, 82′).
SUBS NOT USED: 6. Gary Warren, 33. Lucas Covolan (GK).
Booked: Lemonheigh-Evans, 72′
MAIDENHEAD: 1. Taye Ashby-Hammond, 2. Jerry Wiltshire, 3. George Wells, 4. Shaun Donnellan, 5. Manny Parry, 9. Nathan Blissett (c), 14. Rohan Ince, 16. Ryheem Sheckleford, 18. Alex Addai (28. Josh Smile, 74′), 19. Ryan Upward (10. Danilo Orsi-Dadomo, 64′), 25. Sam Barratt.
SUBS NOT USED: 12. Bradley Keetch, 15. Seth Ofori-Twumasi, 26. Josh Oluwayemi (GK).
Attendance: 980