United 3
(McGavin 4′, Ash 31′, Collins 76′)
Weymouth 1
(Bolton 41′)
United produced a determined performance on Tuesday evening, as they secured a gritty 3-1 win over Weymouth at Plainmoor.
An action-packed first 45 minutes saw the home side race into a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Brett McGavin and Brad Ash, until Elliot Bolton’s reply halved the visitor’s deficit just before the break. Things got rather feisty in the second period, however Lewis Collins eventually sealed the result, prior to Weymouth being reduced in numbers for the final stages, with Calvin Brooks leaving the field early.
United manager Gary Johnson made a couple of changes to the side that ran out 2-1 winners at home to Tonbridge on Saturday, with Dylan Crowe and Theo Williams replacing the suspended Ross Marshall and Dillon De Silva respectively, with the latter player dropping down to the bench.
It didn’t take long for The Gulls to get going.
This time last week, a magical McGavin free-kick helped secure a 4-1 win at Eastbourne. This week, his early effort put Weymouth on the back foot as early as the fourth minute.
After Jack Stobbs’ central run saw the United upended illegally 25 yards from goal, it was always going to be Torquay’s No.14 who would be tasked with delivering – and so he did, curling a beautiful right-footer over the wall and into the top-corner of the net.
It was nearly 2-0 five minutes later, as a Stobbs cross from the right found a clever run from Ash at the near post, however on this occasion, the former Terra could only rattle the woodwork.
Johnson’s men continued to boss proceedings thereafter, although there was a scare midway through the half, as an ex-Gull nearly punished his former club, as Dan Roberts’ right-wing cross picked out Keelan O’Connell by the penalty spot, only for the winger to head over the crossbar.
United appeared to take note of that, and just past the hour mark, they doubled their advantage.
McGavin’s dart through the centre circle opened up a range of opportunities, and despite his delightful through-ball into the path of substitute Ethon Archer not receiving the finish it deserved due to a last-ditch challenge on the edge of the box, the rebound fell straight to Ash, who reminded the Dorset side of his calmness in front of goal, with a precise strike into the low corner.
It was his fourth goal in his last six outings, as the in-form hitman draw level with Aaron Jarvis at the top of Plainmoor’s scoring charts this term.
The men in yellow weren’t quite able to completely shake off their opponents though, and four minutes before the break, Torquay’s lead was halved.
After Stobbs was pulled up for a foul on the left hand touchline, a deep free-kick into the United area was only partially cleared to Bolton on the edge of the D, who thumped his half-volley through a crowd of players and into the net.
Bolton nearly levelled things up moments later, however on this occasion, his effort from inside the box was to high, and cleared the crossbar.
With Ben Thomson nearly punishing Johnson’s side on the break on the stroke of half-time, Mark Halstead’s smart parry of his 15-yard shot was probably a good time to bring the match to a pause, from the Yellow Army’s perspective.
When things got back underway, it should almost instantly been 3-1.
After taking up a dangerous position at the near-post, Archer was provided with a glorious chance to re-establish the two=goal margin, however despite being unmarked twelve yards out, the former Three Bridges man could only blaze his shot wide of the post.
Despite the setback, The Gulls continued to take the game to Weymouth, although their opponents remained a threat on the break.
Although a third enforced change left all in United camp cursing their bad luck, it did prompt a special moment for the Club’s youth department, as former Under-18 centre-back Calum Thomas came on for his first-team debut.
With all the changes understandably disrupting the yellow’s rhythm, it looked like it would be more and more about holding onto what they had rather than being too gung-ho, however on 76 minutes, a superb counter-attack saw Torquay make it 3-1.
After claiming a high-ball with relative ease, Halstead’s vision and awareness to the opportunity – not to mention distribution saw his delivery into the Weymouth half send Collins on his way down the left flank, and after rampaging down the left flank and into the area, the former Newport man smashed his shot high inside the near-post for his first goal of 2023/24.
After walking the proverbial tightrope for a large proportion of the game, the referee’s patience finally gave out on Weymouth with eight minutes left, as Brooks’ late challenge on Ethon Archer proved one too many, as he received his second booking, and with it, the accompanying red card.
Johnson’s men went closer to extending their lead than Weymouth did to reducing the arrears, but when the final whistle sounded, the vast majority of Plainmoor stood to acclaim a performance of true grit and desire, and a fully merited three points.
Onwards and upwards.
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead, 2. Dylan Crowe, 4. Tom Lapslie (30. Ethon Archer, 27′), 10. Lewis Collins, 11. Brad Ash (7. Ryan Hanson, 56′), 14. Brett McGavin, 19. Theo Williams, 21. Dean Moxey (c), 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 26. Archie Harris, 27. Jack Stobbs (24. Calum Thomas, 67′).
SUBS NOT USED: 17. Dillon De Silva, 22. Rhys Lovett.
Yellow Cards: Collins 74′, Archer 90+2′
WEYMOUTH: 1 Gerard Benfield, 3. Leo Hamblin, 4. Anthony Cheshire, 6. Olu Durojaiye, 7. Keelan O’Connell, 8. Tom Bearwish (c), 9. Dan Roberts, 10. Brandon Goodship (11. Joel Robinson, 55′), 12. Ben Thomson (14. Ezio Touray, 80′), 16. Elliot Bolton, 17. Calvin Brooks.
SUBS NOT USED: 2. Callum Small, 13. Jason Matthews, 15. Tyrique Clarke.
Yellow Cards: Durojaiye 16′, Brooks 52′, Cheshire 70′
Yellow Card / Red Card: Brooks 82′
Attendance: 1,640 (63 away)