Johnson didn’t like what he saw from his beaten Gulls
TORQUAY United were beaten 2-0 at Boreham Wood on Tuesday after showing little of the endeavour that saw them beat Wealdstone 5-0 on Saturday.
It was a disappointing performance from the Gulls, who went in one-goal down at half-time, and were hit by a second goal from the penalty spot within a minute of the start of the second.
Torquay’s best chances came at the end of the game when Boreham Wood goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore made some decent saves to keep the Gulls out.
Manager Gary Johnson said: “I don’t like losing games like that. For an hour and 20 minutes I thought they dictated the game.
“We had sort of bits and pieces going on, but nothing much. We didn’t get our game going.”
Johnson did say that he thought Boreham Wood were taking their time over everything to break up the flow - and that the referee did nothing to stop that. But the Torquay manager also admitted: “It wasn’t the ref today, it was us. We weren’t showing enough ability.”
There was no change to the lineup that started the 5-0 win against Wealdstone, and only one change to the bench, Gabby Rogers dropping out and Chiori Johnson coming in.
Dan Martin was only just off target with an early drive as Torquay started well, but there were a few moments of worry at the other end.
Armani Little drove a ball into the box on 13 minutes and Martin was just beaten to the ball. Gus Mafuta missed a good chance in the 19th minute and Scott Boden smashed the ball over in the 27th minute.
The further the first half progressed, the more Torquay got frustrated, and let the home side have some say. Moxey sent a wild shot wide in the 37th minute, when a cross seemed the better option. Then Martin shot through a crowd, but Nathan Ashmore saved it easily.
Kane Smith put Boreham Wood 1-0 ahead in the 41st minute, finishing off an excellent team move from the edge of the box which Torquay really should have cut out before it resulted in the goal.
The second half started with Joe Lewis pulling back Tyrone Marsh in the box inside 15 seconds - and Boden didn’t miss from the spot to make it 2-0.
Boden scuffed a shot on the counter attack, while Johnson made some changes, Chiori Johnson coming on for Keelan O’Connell and Kla idi Lolos for Martin.
A Lolos back heel went wide from a Moxey cross as Torquay showed some improvement - but not enough.
Smith blasted another Boreham Wood chance over the bar on the counter attack and Tom Lapslie was close to getting on the end of a cross following a good move in the 73rd minute.
Lolos set up Lap sie, but the midfieler’s shot just crept wide and with 10 minutes to go, Ali Omar came on for Hall with Lewis moving into midfield.
At the end, Ashmore made a fantastic double save - feet and then hands - from Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Moxey, and then an even better one from Lapslie, who shot from the edge of the area.
Five minutes were added to the end of the 90, but there was to be no ‘Gary Time’ antics this time - and Torquay will now have to focus on another away game at Bromley on Saturday afternoon.