Herald Express (Torbay, Brixham & South Hams Edition)
Cup games for South Devon teams Safety first – now the silence as Gulls bidders talk business
the previous owner that fostered a divide between fans and boardroom – and now a new period of radio CONSORTIUM of ambitious silence is feeding a hungry rumour South West business people mill that has already linked owners are believed to be talking to of craft ale giant Brewdog and Torquay United’s administrators nationwide retailer The Range to about taking the club back to the bids for the club.
Football League within a couple of But with the more likely scenario years – after the team secured its being a group of South West business National League South safety last people, coupled with current week. and former directors, fans may have
The ‘preferred bidders’ are currently to wait until the middle of next going through a phase of due month to hear promises of a return diligence and the final sale of the to the EFL that might balance out club might not happen until midMay any continuity from the Osborne – but the secretive consortium era. is understood to want a return to the Interim manager Aaron Downes National League in year one, and the has asked for patience, while not EFL in year two. even knowing if he will be offered a
That is exactly the kind of message job. So, in the meantime, Downes fans would want to hear from any and the squad – only one player is new owners, despite the possible believed to still be under contract for continued involvement of chief next season – would be foolish not executive officer George Edwards, consider offers from elsewhere if and current director Mel Hayman, they come. who many supporters feel are an Talking to the Herald Express on unwanted link to the former owner Monday, Downes said: “It is definitely Clarke Osborne. unique for me at the moment
It was a lack of information under *because usually you know one way
Aor another if you have been retained or released. “But these are the circumstances that we are in. We understand and I have said all along we have to have patience and respect for the process. “We have just got to honour that and be patient and the most important thing is the club is put first.
“Whatever happens, we have played our part in keeping the club in the division and now we have just got to have a bit of patience with the powers that be that they make the right decisions. And then once everything has been sorted out we can hopefully move forward.”
The players finished the season in style after winning 2-1 at Taunton in midweek when they beat alreadyrelegated Havant & Waterlooville 5-0 in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 at Plainmoor.
Downes said he thought fans “got their money’s worth” when goals from Brad Ash, Austen Booth, Will Jenkins Davies (two) and Arkell Jude-Boyd added up for the win, with Torquay 4-0 up by half time.
Downes said: “We wanted to give people something to go home happy about and to end the season on a high.
“The season has not been how we would like, but the boys have put in a great performance today.
“We could have had 12 comfortably, we could have had a lot more goals. It was a superb performance and hopefully it sends everybody home happy.
“It has put a little bit of a gloss on the end of the season and we can hopefully start moving forward and we can start to look up and look forward now to the future with a bit of positivity.”
Downes added: “Everyone’s situation is very similar, we are in an uncertain environment right at this current stage. We spoke to the players and I have just asked for honesty and respect from them, and I’ll do the same to them. As soon as I know anything I’ll be speaking to them and vice-versa.
“The players have been so focused on the club situation and now they can shift their focus to themselves. So, fair play, they deserve that because they have put a lot of dedication and self-sacrifice to the cause. But now they need to focus on themselves a little bit.
“I’ll hopefully be a sounding board and a guide for them. A little bit of patience and we will soon see where we are at.
“I know the club is doing everything it can to get things sorted as quickly as possible.”
Richard Hughes on the future of the club – Page 47.
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»»TORQUAY Athletic will be gunning for a trophy double on Sunday when they square-up to Exeter Saracens on the Recreation Ground in the final of the Devon Junior Shield.
The Tics returned triumphant from Newton Abbot RFC on Sunday with the Devon Colts Shield in the bag after defeating South Molton 27-20 in the final.
Matt Butler, Will Kenefick and Ollie Waring were the try scorers with Kieron Wells converting all three and two penalties.
Adding the Junior Shield to this season’s haul would be some compensation for missing out on promotion from Devon Division One for the second season in a row.
Torquay go into the final rested by a couple of weeks off following the end of the league season, in which they finished second behind champions Barnstaple Athletic.
And the Tics have been given a psychological boost ahead of the game, which kicks-off at 3pm, by being named as Devon RFU’s team of the month for March.
Torquay’s record was played four and won the lot! Swept aside along the way were: over Exmouth (59-7), Withycombe (61-8), North Tawton (14-33) and Devonport Services (10-11). Paul Harris, the Devon RFU president, met-up with the Torquay squad last Thursday during training and handed over a crate of beer to toast their success.
Dartmouth are just two wins away from a trip to Twickenham in the Papa Johns’ Championship after they dispatched Fareham Heathens 41-7 at Norton.
It was Dartmouth’s 29th win in a row over the last two seasons during a run that included beating Chess Valley this time last year in the final of the Papa Johns’ Shield.
The last team to ‘beat’ Dartmouth were the Heathens, who defeated them 20-14 in the Shield last season. That result was wiped as the Hampshire side were pulled up for breaching competition registration rules.
Teignmouth went through to the last four of the Papa Johns’sponsored Regional Shield without putting their boots on.
The Teigns were due to entertain Wimborne in the second round, but walked through when the Dorset side pulled out of a trip to Lower Bitton due to team-raising problems.
“Apparently, they had a number of players on a stag weekend,” said a Teignmouth official.
Teignmouth will be at home to Newbury this Saturday.
Paignton’s interest in the Papa John’s South Shield ended in a 47-16 second round defeat away to Frome.
Martin Worthington, the Paignton coach, said: “It was a hard day out, but great to see all the young lads who played.”