United 2
(Lo-Everton 59′, Wilson 88′)
Farnborough 2
(Fonguck 11′, Bloomfield 75′)
A late leveller gave United a share of the spoils at Plainmoor on Tuesday, as Neil Warnock’s battled back twice to secure a point.
After Wes Fonguck’s early strike gave Farnborough the lead, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton levelled things up in the second half. It looked as though Mason Bloomfield’s second for Farnborough may have sealed an away win, before Kieran Wilson’s late equaliser made it all-square once again.
Neil Warnock’s first Gulls teamsheet in 33 years saw two amendments to the side that suffered defeat against Chelmsford three days ago, with Dan Hayfield and the injured Cody Cooke replaced in the starting eleven by fit-again Matt Worthington and Will Tizzard, who was making his full debut following his substitute appearance on Saturday.
The visitors began the match well, with Warnock’s men forced to soak up a number of corners, before the pressure finally told on 11 minutes.
After fending off the attentions of a couple of United defenders, Boro striker Fonguck worked space for a shot from twelve yards, and calmly slotted a low shot past James Hamon and into the net.
Although no-one could question the commitment from those in yellow, Torquay were unable to seriously impose themselves during a testing first 45 minutes, although Matt Worthington’s 20-yard curler almost saw parity restored just short of the half-hour.
There was no change to the scoreline at the change of ends.
Following the restart, The Gulls laid siege to the opposition goal, although clear-cut chances remained at a premium.
A string of corners served as a warning to the visiting backline that Warnock’s rejuvenated troops meant business, and just before the hour mark, they made it count.
Lo-Everton, who had just seen a flag-kick head straight into goalkeeper Tommy Reid’s hands, sized up his 59th minute effort to perfection, with the corner curling over Reid directly into the net to make it 1-1.
The game began to open up, but just when United looked poised to find a winner, a second goal for Farnborough left them staring defeat in the face instead.
After Billy Clifford’s shot spun into the box, Bloomfield reacted quickest to fire past Hamon and make it 1-2.
For a while afterwards, it looked like the deficit would be doubled, but the gutsy Gulls hung on, and with two minutes remaining got their just rewards.
Munashe Sundire’s long throw into the box provided United’s attackers with the chance to benefit from a spot on pinball-in-the box, with Wilson showing a cool head to fire through a crowd of bodies to equalise in the nick of time.
Young sent a curler inches wide in time added on, but Farnborough had their chances too – in the end, a draw was probably about right.
UNITED: 1. James Hamon, 3. Jay Foulston, 6. Munashe Sundire, 7. Louis Dennis, 8. Jordan Young, 11. Dylan Morgan (23. Kieran Wilson, 83′), 16. Ed Palmer, 18. Matt Worthington (c) (20. Dan Hayfield, 73′), 24. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (27. Matt Jay, 73′), 26. Jordan Thomas, 28. Will Tizzard.
SUBS NOT USED: 17. Sonny Fish, 21. Adam Seedhouse-Evans (GK) .
Yellow Card: Thomas 73′
FARNBOROUGH: 29. Tommy Reid, 2. Boyd Beacroft, 3. Michael Stickland, 5. Ollie Robinson (c), 8. Alfie Tuck, 9. Rakish Bingham (28. Michael Klass, 73′), 10. Wes Fonguck (4. Billy Clifford, 64′), 19. Toby Bower, 24. Hakeem Sandah, 27. Cortney Senior (26. Mason Bloomfield, 65′), 30. Louie Holzman (16. Renny Smith, 73′).
SUBS NOT USED: 7. Glenn Gabriel, 11. Micah Anthony.
Yellow Card: Holzman 21′, Reid 76′, Tuck 90+5′
Attendance: 3/074 (30 away)
