Loan star Janneh flying as Gulls sweep aside Concord

SAIKOU Janneh is a young man of few words off the pitch, but his actions on it are helping to turn Torquay United into a potent attacking force and his first senior hat-trick helped to take Concord Rangers apart in a blistering first-half display.

It was one thing for Gary Johnson’s young Gulls to have destroyed free-scoring St Albans City’s fragile defence with a 4-1 victory at Plainmoor last midweek, it was another to rout a much more experienced Concord side by the same score.

Bristol City loanee Janneh, 19, has developed an increasingly strong partnership with leading scorer Jamie Reid over the past few weeks, and the pair of them reduced Play-Off rivals Concord to a sorry state before half-time.

Of course, they had help – Jake Andrews oiled the wheels of United’s attack with Connor Lemonheigh-Evans not far behind in midfield and Kalvin Kalala had his best game yet on the left wing – but both Janneh and Reid deserved more than the goals they did score.

Rangers, who started the day behind United only on goal-difference, can count themselves lucky that they weren’t beaten by five or six in the end.

For even when they reorganised and summoned up some damage-limitation in the second half, the visitors had to rely on goalkeeper Sam Beasant to stop United running away with it.

Gambian-born Janneh scored all three of his goals from less than ten yards out. Reid, who usually loves that territory, clouted the Gulls’ fourth goal from 35 yards.

Saikou Janneh with the match ball after his hat-trick

Johnson stuck to the same starting XI which beat St Albans, even though he had even more pace available in fit-again right winger Opi Edwards. Riches, indeed.

It had taken United six minutes to break through in midweek. It took them all of them 70 seconds to do it this time.

After Lemonheigh-Evans had been tripped outside the area, one of Johnson’s tried-and-trusted free-kick routines worked a peach – Concord were expecting a shot or a floater into the goalmouth, but Lemonheigh-Evans played it short to Andrews, Janneh ac- tually miscontrolled his pass, but Beasant could only parry the ball back into his path and it was 1-0.

Veteran Rangers striker Jack Midson missed one good heading chance, when United failed to deal with a diagonal cross in the 22nd minute, but Ruairi Keating, Andrews and Kalala had all gone close at the other end and the one-way traffic forced a second goal two minutes later.

Another classy Andrews pass was coolly finished by Janneh this time, with a touch on his thigh and a six-yard volley…2-0.

Referee David Spain, offici- ating by the book as so many seem to do at this level, cautioned Keating for a ‘dive’ and Andrews for a foul, when both decisions looked harsh to say the least.

It meant that Andrews had to play the rest of the match without making a proper tackle, which made his performance all the more praiseworthy.

Liam Davis and Andrews both went close before, with his first cross blocked, right-back Ben Wynter got through with a second in the 34th minute and Janneh was there again from close-range…3-0.

That doubled Janneh’s tally to six goals in ten starts.

But the real roof-raiser came two minutes before the interval when Reid took a pass from Lemonheigh-Evans, made some ground and hit a long-range right-foot ‘special’ which beat Beasant all ends up as it flew in off the underside of the bar…4-0.

It was Reid’s 13th goal of the season.

Concord manager Sammy Moore had the most experienced back-three in the division on the pitch – Connor Essam, Lee Minshull and Tyrone Sterling – and they had been blown away.

Moore made two changes at half-time and then sent on another veteran, Sean Clohessy, in the 65th minute in an effort to mount some resistance, and it worked to an extent.

United did not score more in the second half, but it was not for the want of trying, and from a series of pacy counter-attacks Kalala, Lemonheigh-Evans and Janneh all could have hit the net, mainly thanks to Beasant.

Johnson was able to send on Edwards, Jamie Sendles-White and Samir Nabi in the closing stages, getting some valuable minutes into them.

There were only two real frustrations.

One, that United could not seem to find Edwards enough, when Rangers must have been dreading him running at their tired defenders.

Two, that seven minutes from time a long Beasant free-kick was only half-cleared and sub Ahmed Abdullah was able to drill the ball home from the edge of the area and deny United what would have been a deserved clean-sheet…4-1.

It was Concord’s only shot on target in the entire match. Enough said.

Torquay United (4-4-2): MacDonald; Wynter (Sendles-White 83), Koue Niate, Cameron, Davis; Keating, Lemonheigh-Evans, Andrews (Nabi 83), Kalala (Edwards 74); Reid, Janneh; Subs not used: Williams, Burton (gk).

Booked: Keating 14, Andrews 21.

Concord Rangers (3-5-2): Beasant; Essam. Minshull, Sterling; Popo (Clohessy 65), Green (Abdullah 46), Kyei, Blackman, Shaw; Nash Wall 46), Midson; Subs not used: Pollock, Glover; Booked: Blackman 52, Essam 56, Shaw 90; Referee: David Spain (Sussex); Attendance: 1,937 (11 away fans).

Statistics: Fouls – United 14, Concord 16; Offsides – United 2, Concord 4; Corners – United 8, Concord 3; Shots/Headers On Target – United 15, Concord 1; Off Target – United 6, Concord 4; Hit Woodwork – None.