Lemonheigh-Evans hat-trick fires five star Gulls to vital win
TORQUAY United manager Gary Johnson said ‘the boys were spot on’ in Saturday’s 5-1 win against Notts County at a rocking Plainmoor that featured a fine Connor LemonheighEvans hat-trick.
Johnson was smiling from ear-toear when he did his usual celebratory air punch in front of the Popside – just minutes after Armani Little had capped a great day with the fifth goal and his second of the game in the sixth minute of injury-time.
It was proof positive that Torquay are more than capable of finishing in a National League play-off place this season – and the result will have certainly put the teams above them in the race for seventh on high alert.
Because of scheduled opponents’ Stockport County’s FA Trophy semifinal against Wrexham, Torquay were without a game the previous weekend, meaning Johnson had plenty of time to prepare his team for this one. Johnson said: “We have got some good athletes and players and we had a couple of weeks to work on things – so that was nice. You don’t always get that, you are often Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday and every team you come up against has got a different way of playing.
“We played to the plan and we shocked them I think in the first half an hour. The boys were spot on with what we asked them to do, we got a couple of goals up, and it is very difficult to keep that energy right throughout 90 minutes, because we showed unbelievable energy in that first half hour.”
Little opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a cracking right-footed strike, the ball flying into the far top corner of the net with goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros trailing in its wake.
The second goal came on 14 minutes when Danny Wright got a low cross in from the left after a good run and Lemonheigh-Evans got a foot to the ball first to prod it home from a yard.
County had chances in the remainder of the first half but couldn’t convert them, with Torquay’s defence doing well to fend off a series of County attacks.
As the game heated up, the yellow cards started coming out with James Durkin actually showing seven in the end, five to Torquay players. County made two changes for the second half with the two substitutes almost making an instant impact – but Elisha Sam made a mess of his strike in front of an open goal from former Torquay winger Aaron Nemane’s perfect cross on 50 minutes. Kyle Wootton made it 2-1 in the 73rd minute, beating Shaun MacDonald with a great turn and strike from just inside the box.
There were some nerves on the pitch and in the stands after that – but Torquay worked hard to shake them off and Lemonheigh-Evans scored two fine goals to make it 4-1, before Little added the fifth goal in injury time.
Johnson said: “I really enjoyed it and I felt very proud of people on and off the pitch. I appreciate their support today. Credit to everybody and we keep going, we always believe, and that’s what the boys are doing and that’s what I’m doing.”
Without Dan Holman and Klaidi Lolos on the bench, Torquay started the game with only one recognised striker – 37-year-old Danny Wright – in the squad of 16.
But it may now be time to recognise Lemonheigh-Evans as a striker with the hat-trick hero making the transition from attacking midfielder to lethal forward feeling more or less complete. Lemonheigh-Evans has now scored 11 goals this season, and only Little, on 13, is ahead of him in the scoring chart.
Johnson said: “When you have got the strikers that we have got, and the running power and the cleverness, it is a joy to watch.”
Torquay do not have the luxury of two weeks off now. They are back in action at Woking on Good Friday and welcome Eastleigh to Plainmoor on Easter Monday.
With eight games to go they are 10th in the National League table, seven points off seventh, the last play-off place, with a game in hand on most of the teams above them, but with a poorer goal difference.