This time United can make a Trophy run work in their favour

There are almost certainly some Torquay United supporters who may not check on the result of Saturday’s FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round tie at Basingstoke Town quite as avidly as they would if it was a league or FA Cup match.

They do still care and they certainly don’t want Gary Johnson’s entertaining and improving young side to lose at the Camrose Stadium, but – well, it is ‘only’ the Trophy, isn’t it?

Even financially, it is hardly life-changing. Contrast the £49,000 which Torquay earned from reaching the First Round of the Cup this year with the £5,000 at stake this weekend (that goes up by only £1,000 a round until the Quarter-Finals).

I dare say that Basingstoke will be delighted with any gate over 1,000, and the FA has even had to ‘double up’ the Trophy and Vase finals in recent years, in an attempt to bump up the Wembley attendance.

On the ‘home’ front your correspondent has always been in the camp which believes that United’s 3-0 defeat at Southport in the 1st Round of the Trophy in January 2009 may have been one of the most fortuitous results of that momentous season.

It’s all about the business of a club at this level simply having too much on its plate.

We will always hold that United in the previous season (2007-08) under Paul Buckle simply ran out of gas as they dragged themselves through a long and draining season on three fronts.

With runs in all three cup competitions and a season-long pursuit of Aldershot Town for the Conference title, Buckle’s side ended up playing 58 matches.

It was a marathon second only to the 63 league and cup games which the late Cyril Knowles’ even smaller squad managed in 1987-1988.

Thirty years ago Knowles’ brave men ended up losing out on promotion in the two-legged Fourth Division Play-Off Final to Swansea City (5-4 on aggregate) after reaching the Third Round of the Cup and the Quarter-Finals of the old Associate Members Cup – they went out to Wolves 1-0.

By the last kick of the 3-3 Play-Off second leg, in pouring rain and on a Plainmoor pitch which had more mud than grass on it, they were completely and utterly exhausted.

In 2008 Buckle’s men ended up in an FA Trophy run which saw them knock out Bashley, Newport County, AFC Wimbledon, Crawley Town and York City in a two-legged semi-final, at the same time as trying to chase the Shots and avoid the Play-Offs.

Eventually, the Play-Offs it was and, of course, they had to face Exeter City in what turned out to be a titanic contest.

It’s almost still too painful to recall that they squandered a 3-1 aggregate lead in the last 20 minutes at Plainmoor and lost 5-3.

Barely a week later they had to haul themselves up to Wembley for the Trophy final and, physically but also mentally drained, they lost 1-0 to an Ebbsfleet United team they would have beaten nine times out of ten in normal circumstances.

I remember talking to many Gulls fans at Wembley, trying to get themselves up for the final that day, and many of them were still in mourning for the Play-Off defeat.

But only a year later, despite a terrific run to the Fourth Round of the Cup (Chipstead, Evesham, Oxford United, Blackpool) before a touch-and-go 1-0 loss to Coventry City at Plainmoor, United were able to concentrate all their efforts on promotion.

They did beat Rushden & Diamonds (1-0) in the First Round of the Trophy, but then lost to Southport at Haig Avenue on January 31.

It was promotion-or-bust from then on and, as history

Ruairi Keating on the ball against Concord on Saturday happily recalls, United ended up in the Play-Offs again, but this time beat Histon in the Semis and, still looking fresh and focused, Cambridge United 2-0 at Wembley.

So is there an argument for thinking that, with promotion such a priority this season, it might not be a disaster if Johnson’s Gulls lose at Basingstoke? Well actually no, there isn’t.

For one thing, United are already out of the FA Cup, after that 1-0 loss to Woking eleven days ago.

Second, the regular National League South season is only 42 games long, four less than the divisions above.

Third, United as the only full-time squad in the division should be better equipped to handle the Play-Offs than anyone else if that’s where they end up. And fourth, but most im- portant right now, the Gulls are in form, scoring goals and with their confidence increasing with each win.

Apart from that Cup defeat, United have gone eight league games unbeaten since Johnson took over (W5 D3), scoring 23 goals in the process. And you can chuck in other cup victories over Lymington Town, Brightlingsea Regent and Winchester City (F14 A1) for good measure.

Saturday’s 4-1 win over Concord Rangers lifted them up to fourth place in the league, four points behind new leaders Woking.

With injured players returning or about to return to action, United also have the resources to sustain a Trophy run. And would a defeat this Saturday help or hinder their chances of winning forthcoming league games at Dulwich Hamlet and Dartford? Of course, it would help…

OLD TRICKS

You can’t be a successful manager for 30 years without building up a tidy repertoire of set-piece routines, but having them up your sleeve is one thing, believing that your players can carry them out is another.

So it was a measure of Gary Johnson’s growing confidence in his young Gulls side, most of them inherited from his predecessor Gary Owers, that he let them execute one of his favourites with the first free-kick after 70 seconds of the 4-1 win over Concord Rangers.

Everyone at Plainmoor, with the exception of Torquay’s players, must have expected Connor Lemonheigh-Evans either to have a shot from 25 yards or to aim the ball at one of big men in the goalmouth.

Instead, Jake Andrews peeled away from his marker, Lemonheigh-Evans found him with a simple, square pass, Andrews flicked the ball into the goalmouth and Saikou Janneh was there to score past a static and flummoxed Concord defence.

“I’ve used that one a few times over the years,” revealed Johnson afterwards. “Sometimes I bring it back, when everyone has forgotten about it. The only trouble is that they know about it again now, and everybody will be trying it.”

Rest assured, Johnson has a few more where that came from, and he’s looking forward to using some over the next few weeks and months.

With confident players eager to carry them out, it should make for interesting watching…

NO COIN LUCK FOR KYLE

Gulls stand-in captain Kyle Cameron lost the toss for the fourth successive home game against Concord Rangers on Saturday.

At least it was hardly his fault – the visiting skipper always gets to call.

STILL BEST DEFENCE

After 17 games United still have the best defensive record in the NL South – only 14 goals conceded.

Just four in the first nine games under Gary Owers did help, but then the Gulls weren't scoring quite as many then!

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

Eleven – the same number of visiting fans travelled down to support St Albans City and Concord Rangers in the last two games at Plainmoor.

NO REPLAY

Both clubs have agreed that Saturday's FA Trophy tie between Basingstoke Town and Torquay United will be decided on the day, by extra-time and/or penalties if necessary.

Sean Hernon/PPAUK