Reid leads way as Gulls battle back
MANAGER Gary Johnson had asked Jamie Reid to throw in some ‘tap-in’ goals to go with a series of top-quality finishes, and Torquay United’s leading scorer duly obliged in Saturday’s 4-2 National League win over Harrogate Town at Plainmoor – but not in the way that Johnson had imagined.
The injury-hit Gulls were at 2-2 against ten-man Harrogate when Reid stepped up to take a penalty, after Jake Andrews had been fouled in the 72nd minute.
James Belshaw saved his spot-kick, but Reid followed up to net the rebound, prompting Johnson to quip: “We’ve been asking him: ‘Could you please get the odd tapin?’ I didn’t want him to hit the goalkeeper with a penalty, but he got the tap-in that I asked for – but not in that way.”
Reid went on to score his sixth goal in the first ten games of the season as United, who trailed twice, took advantage of two-goal Harrogate striker Jon Stead’s 63rd-minute dismissal to move up to eighth place.
The man who really inspired the comeback was substitute Kalvin Kalala, who hit a show-stopping second equaliser and whose pace and dribbling skills were too much for the visitors in the second half.
“We really want Kalvin to be an impact player from the start and, when he does that, the world is his oyster. I would love to pick him every week,” Johnson added.
“Leaving him out may have upset him a bit. He’s a confidence player, we’re trying to give it to him and then we take it away by dropping him, slaughtering him a bit and then cajoling him.
“He came on in the second and was just unbelievable. He was magnificent. It was a great strike by Kalvin, and then it was a matter of whether we had the quality to break them down, which we did.”
Johnson added: “After ten games I am not totally happy, but in most of the games where we’ve lost, we
should have picked up more points, maybe four or five more for our play, so I think we’ve been a bit better than average so far.”
When United fans saw Asa Hall, Armani Little, Opi Edwards, JeanYves Koue Niate and Ruairi Keating in full tracksuits during the warmup, they may have feared the worst, especially as Connor LemonheighEvans was also an absentee.
New signings Robbie Cundy and Ben Whitfield both started, Cundy in the back four with Swansea City loan signing Joe Lewis pushed forward into midfield.
Cundy’s 21st-minute header against the post from Andrews’ corner confirmed the Gulls’ early superiority, until Harrogate took the lead in the 33rd minute.
Ex-Premier League centre-forward Stead, 36, got goal-side of Cundy in the area, ‘drew’ a challenge and then picked himself up to dispatch the penalty as Lucas Covolan guessed the wrong way.
Kalala replaced Manny Duku at the interval and within six minutes of the restart Kalala and right-back Ben Wynter combined for Andrews to equalise from eight yards.
Seven minutes later, United’s defence failed not only to cut out George Smith’s long diagonal cross from left-back but also to mark Stead closely enough at the far post.
Harrogate’s two-goal marksman was then sent off. Referee Aaron Jackson spotted Stead, who had been booked for a first-half foul, throw out an arm at a bouncing ball. There were plenty of protests, but it was a second yellow and off.
With United’s belief restored, Kalala swept on to Dickson’s pass and unleashed a 25-yard right-foot shot after 69 minutes for the home side’s second equaliser.
It was all Torquay from then on. Reid’s rebound conversion in the 72nd minute was followed the Gulls’ final goal ten minutes from full-time.
Kalala’s pass that set up Reid for a touch, turn and left-foot shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards.