United 2
(De Silva 2′, Dolan 49′)
Yeovil Town 1
(Hall O.G. 90′)
United ended Yeovil’s unbeaten run on Saturday, as Gary Johnson’s men won their Isuzu FA Trophy tie at Plainmoor.
An early goal from Dillon De Silva saw The Gulls make the perfect start, and that lead was doubled soon after the restart. Duncan Idehen’s late header prompted a nervous last few minutes, however United hung on to progress through to Round Three at the expense of their Somerset rivals.
United manager Gary Johnson made four changes to the side that beat Havant & Waterlooville away last weekend, with Dylan Crowe, Brett McGavin. De Silva and Dolan replacing Asa Hall, Lewis Collins, Jack Stobbs and the cup-tied Ethon Archer. New signing Archie Harris took up a place on the bench, following his arrival from AFC Bournemouth yesterday.
The match was barely 90 seconds old when Torquay struck, with three of the four returning faces involved in the build-up.
After receiving the ball from Crowe on the left wing, Dolan delivered a delivered a delicious cross-field ball to the opposite flank, where a rampaging De Silva darting towards the penalty area, before cutting inside Town defender Alex Whittle and curling a fine left-footed shot into the bottom corner, past goalkeeper Joe Day’s outstretched hand.
Then men in yellow remained in the ascendency, and on 16 minutes it was nearly two.
Ryan Hanson’s pass into Theo Williams by the penalty spot prompted the ball to be laid into the path of Brad Ash on the edge of the box, with his rising shot heading for the top corner, until Day intervened with a fine parry to keep the ball out.
Ash went close again six minutes later.
Another pass from Williams, this time 20 yards from goal, saw Ash take a moment to size up his options before sending a low curler narrowly wide of the post.
It was almost one-way traffic at this point, but just before the half-hour mark, the visitors created a chance of note of their own.
Will Dawes’ footwork saw him take the ball away from Brett McGavin and Shaun Donnellan, before forcing a superb full-length save from Rhys Lovett, just when Dawes’ precise drive looked to threaten United’s lead.
Johnson’s men were soon back a it though, with a short corner ending with Dolan sending a chip towards the back-post that had Day desperately back-peddling, before seeing the ball drop just behind – rather than inside – the net behind him.
Another Dolan effort – this time a low diagonal drive from 20 yards followed soon after, however, that strike was also slightly off-target.
It remained 1-0 to The Gulls at the change of ends, with the only frustration being that their lead wasn’t more.
That was soon rectified, as the second half started in almost exactly the same manner as which the first had.
After serving ample notice of their intent, Dolan was rewarded for a number of near-misses in the opening period with a fierce drive from 20 yards that fizzed past Day on its way into the far corner of the net.
Hall, introduced just after the goal, made his presence felt with a excellent shot from 18 yards that had Day flying into action in the 53rd minute, before Jordan Maguire-Drew sent the ball over the crossbar at the opposite end of the pitch soon after.
The Glovers did impose themselves a little more thereafter, with the summoning from the substitutes bench of Exeter loanee Sonny Cox and former Gull Frank Nouble showing an intent to protect their long unbeaten run, whilst giving the Yellow Army two more reasons to back their side in the closing stages.
An ambitious effort from Maguire-Drew from all of 45 yards ion the 71st minute nearly caught Lovett out following a misplaced goal kick, as Torquay were forced to soak a fair degree of pressure for the first time in the game.
Yeovil eventually broke through with a minute of normal time.
A ball from the left wing found Idehen in space at the back stick, and his header back across goal just evaded the fingertips of Lovett.
It was all hands to the pump for the final stages, however ultimately it was a case of too little, too late for Yeovil, as United secured the victory – and FA Trophy progression – that they fully deserved.
UNITED: 22. Rhys Lovett, 2. Dylan Crowe (26. Archie Harris, 66′), 7. Ryan Hanson (8. Asa Hall, 49′), 11. Brad Ash, 14. Brett McGavin, 16. Shaun Donnellan, 17. Dillon De Silva (10. Lewis Collins, 73′), 19. Theo Williams, 20. Callum Dolan, 21. Dean Moxey (c), 23. Ollie Tomlinson.
SUBS NOT USED: 13. Filip Chalupniczak, 24. Calum Thomas.
Yellow Cards: Dolan 90′
YEOVIL TOWN: 21. Joe Day, 3. Alex Whittle, 9. Jake Hyde, 10. Jordan Maguire-Drew, 11. Jordan Young (19. Sonny Cox, 59′), 15. Josh Owers, 16. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (8. Matt Worthington, 71′), 17. Will Dawes (30. Frank Nouble, 63′), 20. Zac Bell, 27. Duncan Idehen, 32. Josh Staunton (c).
SUBS NOT USED: 18. Alex Fisher, 24. Charlie Cooper, 39. Rhys Murphy.
Yellow Cards: Owers 34′
Attendance: 1,740 (322 away)