‘WE MUST NOT LET THIS GAME SPOIL OUR SEASON – AND WE WON’T’
TORQUAY United manager Gary Johnson said his ‘flair players didn’t do enough and the defenders had to do too much’ when they lost 2-1 at Yeovil Town in the National League on Saturday.
Torquay were 1-0 ahead in a tough game at Huish Park until the 87th minute, from when the home side struck twice to claim their third win in four games.
Torquay’s goal came from Aaron Nemane, his third in three games, after a beautifully weighted through ball by Connor Lemonheigh-Evans just after half time – but, while there were more moments of quality from the Gulls, there were not enough, according to Johnson, and that is why the team lost their first game of 2021.
Johnson said: “Like everyone else, I am disappointed because at 1-0 we did have enough bite in the game – but I agree we didn’t have enough quality. The first half was both teams just fighting each other, really, and there were lots of fouls and a few yellow cards, and we knew it would happen like that.
“Obviously, they get the ball forward very quickly and try to get in behind it, and the two teams were pretty even because there wasn’t a load of quality. But, the second half, the first bit of quality we showed just after half-time was our goal – and then we couldn’t get the ball from our end into their final third with any sort of quality.
“I thought our flair players didn’t do enough and our defenders had to do too much – and then, for the last ten minutes, they showed more intent to score a goal and took their opportunities.”
After a fairly even but, as Johnson said, feisty first half, Nemane struck inside the first minute of the second with a well-taken goal.
Josh Umerah won the ball and a lovely pass into space by Lemonheigh-Evans set up the winger. Nemane was as cool as you like as he approached the oncoming goalkeeper, Adam Smith – calmly placing the ball past him.
There was not too much of a hint of what was to come in the second half, with neither side really looking that dangerous, but then came a lapse of concentration – with the excellent Josh Neufville scoring in a goalmouth scramble on 87 minutes, the Luton Town loanee turning well in the box to fire the ball past goalkeeper Lucas Covolan, who was picked ahead of Shaun MacDonald for the first time since an early November injury. Yeovil then won a corner as the game entered six minutes of time-added-on and defender Luke Wilkinson, who had hit the crossbar with a header in the first half, nodded the ball home.
Torquay, who have won a handful of games in the last minute this season, had been given a taste of their own medicine – but they are still 11 points clear of Hartlepool United, in second place.
“We’re disappointed but we’ve got a good number of points,” said Johnson. “We could have been a little bit further ahead and it is an opportunity missed for us by not winning the game – but we must not let this game spoil our season – and we won’t.
“The boys are disappointed, but we’ve got to move on and be ready for the next game. There are a lot of teams, including Yeovil, many points behind us.”