United 4
(Collins 3′, Ash 16′, Stobbs 47′, Hall 90′ pen)
Exeter City 1
(Trevitt 90+2′ pen)
United turned on the style against their League One opponents, as Exeter were put to the sword at Plainmoor in a feisty 4-1 Devon Derby success for The Gulls.
Despite the official title of ‘pre-season friendly’, it was real blood-and-thunder stuff from the first whistle, with both sides exchanging glorious chances inside 90 seconds.
First, a swift break upfield saw James Scott make the most of a slip in the Gulls’ backline to play in Sam Nombe into a shooting position on the edge of the penalty area, however City’s No.10 thankfully dragged his effort just wide of the far post.
Gary Johnson’s side responded in an almost identical manner barely a minute later, with Brad Ash taking the ball down in space on the left of the box, before drawing a smart parry out of the advancing Vin Sinisalo.
Celebrations for the Yellow Army weren’t far away though.
With the left-edge of the 18-yard area once again opening up, Lewis Collins took aim before sending a delicious diagonal volley past the Exeter goalkeeper from distance to open the scoring in the 3rd minute.
Things got even better on 16 minutes.
Having won an inviting free-kick 25 yards out, a partial clearance saw Tom Lapslie send the ball back into the danger area, where Aaron Jarvis made the intelligent decision to lay the ball off to Ash 20 yards from goal, with United’s new No.11 duly curling his low left-footer into the net, and add Exeter – like Plymouth – to his list of pre-season victims in the process.
The action didn’t stop there, as straight from the kick-off, an off-the-ball incident saw City’s Pierce Sweeney receive the ultimate punishment, receiving a straight red card for his altercation with Tom Lapslie.
United’s League One opponents were now 2-0 and a man down, and struggling to find a foothold in proceedings.
The tackles continued to fly in, and The Gulls continued to run the show, with two bookings, a red card and a stern talking to Grecians boss Gary Caldwell from referee Paul Johnson providing ample proof this was not a standard pre-season offering.
Torquay just wouldn’t let up.
Four minutes before the break, Jack Stobbs’ corner from the right caused chaos inside the area, and with the Torquay wideman’s second delivery picking out Jarvis at the back stick, it took a last-ditch goal line clearance to prevent Johnson’s side going even further ahead.
Just before the change of ends, Demetri Mitchell showed a turn of pace to get United’s defence backtracking, however after seeing his options reduced by new boy Finley Craske, Mark Halstead got down low to make a comfortable save to keep his side two goals clear at the break.
The second half certainly had its work cut out matching the first’s offering, however it started just as well.
With Brett McGavin’s run towards the City penalty area seeing Collins and Stobbs both providing dangerous options either side of the him inside the box, it was the latter who applied the finishing touch, with a delicate, delicious, lob over the Sinisalo to extend Torquay’s already-healthy lead.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect was the authority United continued to show during the second period, with the one-way traffic showing no signs of letting up as the game entered the final quarter.
Substitute Dan Martin just failed to get onto the end of a right-wing cross, whilst Ash saw a rising drive from the corner of the box just clear the far upright, as Johnson’s men went in search of a fourth goal against their beleaguered neighbours.
The fourth duly came just before the final whistle, albeit in bizarre fashion, with Ross Marshall’s shirt-tug leaving the substitute central defender with no shirt on his back at all, leaving the referee with a pretty straightforward decision to make.
Asa Hall sent the City glovesman the wrong way to add further polish to an astonishing afternoon.
A highly debatable penalty – it looked as if Ryan Trevitt was the offender, rather than the victim – saw Trevitt gifted the opportunity to strike the ball just wide of Halstead for a late consolation, but at 4-1, there wasn’t too many celebrations in the travelling City camp.
All this, of course, will mean nothing on Day 1 of the National League South season. But there’s absolutely no denying Johnson’s men were very, very good this afternoon.
There’s now just one more pre-season test until the action starts for real on against Dover in a fortnight, as Southampton B make the trip to Plainmoor next Saturday (29/07/23 3pm KO). Tickets are available HERE.
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead, 4. Tom Lapslie (18. Will Jenkins Davies, 55′), 8. Asa Hall, 9. Aaron Jarvis (6. Ross Marshall, 69′), 10. Lewis Collins, 11. Brad Ash (7. Ryan Hanson, 79′), 14. Brett McGavin, 15. Finley Craske (24. Calum Thomas, 89′), 16. Shaun Donnellan (2. Dylan Crowe, 69′), 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs (3. Dan Martin, 55′).
SUBS NOT USED: 22. Rhys Lovett.
Yellow Card: Lapslie (17′), Jarvis (35′)
Attendance: 3,014 (1,110 away)