GULLS ARE SENSING A GREAT ESCAPE
BRETT WILLIAMS may well have broken Dover hearts once again as Torquay inched closer to National League safety with a vital win at Crabble yesterday.
The striker scored the winning goal in the first leg of the play-offs for Forest Green at the same stadium last season and his double yesterday leaves Athletic needing Braintree to avoid defeat at Aldershot next week if they are to make the top five.
For Torquay and their 244 jubilant fans, however, it looks like the great escape from the clutches of National League South has been achieved, though manager Kevin Nicholson is not resting on his laurels.
The Gulls boss said afterwards: “Yes we can enjoy the feeling of winning, but as of tomorrow morning when the lads do their recovery session, they had better make sure they are only thinking about how they can do their bit to beat North Ferriby next week.
“Dover is a tough place to come, as you know what they will give you, and it is why they have had so much success recently.
“We stood strong we will have to do it in the next match with the same intensity, aggression and hard work and vigour. If we do that we are a match for anybody.”
Nicholson concluded. “They are great group of guys and it seems the penny is finally dropping.”
The home side needed to win to guarantee a spot in the end-ofseason lottery and started brightly, Ross Lafayette and Ricky Miller tested Brendan Moore early and the visiting keeper had to be alert to turn away Ricky Modeste’s attempt from a tight angle.
Miller’s snap-shot volley from close in had Moore scrambling across his goal-line, but thankfully for the stopper the ball flew narrowly wide.
And Williams made the Whites pay just before the break, rising highest to nod his side in front from Bournemouth loanee Jordan Lee’s pinpoint cross.
Miller almost levelled terms instantly but Moore denied his low effort with a finger-tipped save.
From the minute the second half kicked off, a sea of yellow shirts swarmed any Dover player who touched the ball in the visiting half, desperate to get the ball as far away from their goal as possible.
The ploy left Miller frustrated and restricted the league’s top scorer to one effort from long range before Torquay doubled their lead.
As Athletic pushed forward, the Gulls countered, with Luke Young finding Williams in space and he made no mistake from 12 yards out, smashing home in the box past a helpless Mitch Walker.
The visitors lost by two late goals to Lincoln recently and substitute Aswad Thomas’ loop“But ing header from a free-kick had the Torquay players’ nerves jangling as Dover continued to create chances.
Moses Emmanuel reacted first to his own rebound but was unable to get the better of Moore while Connor Essam’s flying header attempt was inches away from connecting to the ball.
Miller had the best chance of the lot at the end but his scooped effort agonisingly fell on top of the net.
Dover’s play-off fate is now out of their hands but boss Chris Kinnear was still upbeat afterwards.
“It is disappointing as Torquay only had two shots,” he said.
I am proud of the lads and the supporters. The players have given everything and we have been in the top seven or eight most of the season.
“We’re not expecting any favours from Braintree, they are going to try and win at Aldershot for themselves, we just have to do ourselves justice against Macclesfield and Barrow.
“No-one will feel sorry for us and we will just get on with it, so we are still going to give it everything over these last two games. We can still make the play offs.”