Second half blitz delights Torquay boss Johnson
TORQUAY United will go to National South side Southport in the last 16 of the FA Trophy after beating Boreham Wood 4-0 in their delayed fourth round tie on Tuesday night.
It was 0-0 at half time, but secondhalf goals from Asa Hall, Billy Waters, Adam Rendell and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans did the damage. The record books will show a trashing, but this was far from that - and goals two, three and four all came in the last 10 minutes with the home side finally beaten down.
Ahead of Torquay’s return to league action at Notts County on Saturday, the win will be a huge fillip for
Gary Johnson’s team, who - although still eight points clear at the top of the table - hadn’t played a competitive game since losing to Yeovil Town 2-1 on January 2.
The manager said: “It was a fantastic result against a strong Boreham Wood team. The first half was a bit of a battle without too many chances, but in the second half we came out and got our game going, and once we get our game going, it’s hard to stop us.
“I was really pleased with the whole squad, they all played their part, they all did their jobs, especially when the subs came on.
“We asked them to do certain things, and they did. It was a real squad performance today, which was great.” It was six minutes into the second half when Gulls captain Hall picked up the ball 10 yards from goal, turned well, and found the net with a fine leftfooted strike.
Kabongo Tshimanga should have scored on 67 minutes when he was one-on-one with
Shaun MacDonald, but the Torquay goalkeeper reduced the angle well and the Boreham Wood striker shot quite wide.
It was 2-0 in the 82nd minute when Waters hit the ball home from close range. The chance was set up by Ben Whitfield. A minute later, Randell made it 3-0 with a lovely curled right-footed strike from 16 yards that gave the diving Nathan Ashmore no chance.
Jake Andrews came on for Hall after the third goal but the scoring wasn’t done, with LemonheighEvans netting the fourth from close range after a good team move and a final pass from Waters.
The Gulls will play Southport on Saturday, February 6.