Torquay United are giving their all for the cause

We all know the cliché ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ – but isn’t it great that the Gulls have flown out of the blocks at the start of this new season

Every Wednesday in the Herald Express, our Torquay United correspondent Richard Hughes takes a sideways look at what's going on in the world of the Gulls. This week, he looks at the great start the Gulls have made

If there was one message that Paul Wotton wanted to get through to us the fans when he took over as manager of Torquay United in the summer – it was that his teams would always give 100% and their all for the cause.

And on a Bank Holiday weekend that saw the Gulls playing two games in three days – and having to travel to the end of the Metropolitan Line to take on promoted Chesham United after a home game against the much-fancied Dorking Wanderers, the players showed they are ready to do exactly that.

We all know the cliché ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ – but isn’t it great that the Gulls have flown out of the blocks at the start of this new season, with four wins from five games to earn second place in the early table? There may have been errors in the two games, for neither of the wins were what you might call ‘plain sailing’, but one thing you couldn’t really accuse anyone of was not giving their all. Talking to Wotton on Tuesday, he used the word ‘resilience’.

Read More - Chesham United 2 Torquay United 3 - Gulls strike late for stoppage-time winner

Read More - Torquay United fans get the start to the season they dreamed of

He said: “At the moment they are showing really good resilience. If you go over the five games, going one-nil down to Enfield early, they showed resilience. They showed resilience coming back from the disappointing defeat at Farnborough. And then resilience on Monday, going one-nil down and two-one down.

“If you concede the first goal it is rare you come back, I think it is like 72% you don’t win the game. But to do it from one-nil down and two-one down away from home shows tremendous resilience – so that is a huge positive.”

After winning the first game of the new era 2-1 at home to Enfield Town, the manager stuck with the same 11 for the trip to Farnborough, where Torquay suffered their only defeat so far. He has been able to use five substitutes from five this season though, so has been able to make more changes mid-game, but using the squad has been his policy since that game at Farnborough, with four different players in the starting line-up for the Chesham game from the one that took to the field at 3pm on Saturday for the Dorking game.

He changed the strikers from Ben Seymour and Brad Ash to Cody Cooke and Jaydn Crosbie – but Seymour and Ash both came off the bench at Chesham and ran at a tired Chesham defence, with another sub, Dean Moxey making his first appearance for the season, supplying the cross for Ash’s 96th minute winner. Don’t be surprised if there are more changes for the visit of Aveley on Saturday. Also, don’t be surprised if the line-up is unchanged!

Wotton said: “It was vital at Chesham that we used all five subs. All five came on and in their own way helped change the game.”

I can hear some fans questioning my earlier assertion that all the players gave 100%, when second half sub Omar Mussa lost the ball a couple of times trying to get it forward.

But, really, that was what he was on the pitch for at that stage of the game: to get the ball forward, use his undoubled skill to bamboozle tired defenders and add an element of doubt in their minds.

I said to someone in the pub yesterday I might have started with Seymour and Ash at Chesham and ran at them early, instead of employing two big men who didn’t get much change of the defence in the first half. But then, what do I know, because Ash got that last touch on Moxey’s low cross and it was 3-2 when most of us had come to terms with a ‘good away point’?

Wotton said: “Squad depth is really good at the minute. We have got a couple of walking wounded, but apart from Jordan Dyer, it is only contact injuries and fatigue really.”

Getting used to a new manager was always going to be a learning curve for the supporters – especially after five years of one: Gary Johnson – but I think no one can complain yet about the attitude, determination and grit of this hastily assembled set of players. And everyone loves a win from what was formerly called a ‘Gary Time’ goal. But that's ancient history.

Join DevonLive's WhatsApp community for top stories and breaking news sent directly to your phone

DevonLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join us. Once you sign up for our updates, we'll send the latest breaking news and biggest stories of the day straight to your phone.

To join our community, you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select 'Join Community'.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the DevonLive team.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.

To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

Click here to join our WhatsApp community.