Every Wednesday in the Herald Express, our Torquay United correspondent Richard Hughes takes a sideways look at what's going on in the World of the Gulls - and this week, he looks and the growing injury crisis
A 93rd-minute equaliser by Eastbourne Borough spoiled Torquay United fans’ weekends. It certainly did mine. I thought we were going to win and we got close to my 3-1 score prediction from last week’s column.
Torquay were 2-1 ahead after a couple of great goals by Dillon De Silva and Will Jenkins Davies – following a first-half best forgotten when they had gone one-goal down. But any hopes of starting 2024 with a win after two successive defeats over Christmas were dashed when the visitors scored an offside goal at the death. How’s your luck?
With Torquay heading to Hereford for a fourth round FA Trophy tie this Saturday, the National League South season will have to be put to one side. But with an extraordinarily busy February coming up, Gary Johnson will be hoping that some of his injured players return to bolster the squad, ahead of Torquay’s next National South game, which is at home to Dover Athletic on Saturday, January 20.
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Out on Saturday were six players: Aaron Jarvis, Brad Ash, Jack Stobbs, Jack Stobbs, Finlay Craske and Kevin Dawson. Asa Hall had also been out but was back on the bench. On loan forward Theo Williams hurt a hamstring on Boxing Day and was returned to his parent club Fleetwood Town. So when Ryan Hanson and Dylan Crowe were also missing – Johnson’s injury list had risen to eight players.
It will be interesting to see who is back for Hereford. One player not in contention is Jarvis, the much-missed striker who smashed his knee into a hoarding at Weston-super-Mare in October. After that, Johnson said he would be back by Christmas, but now it’s new year, and after a scan last week, it is more likely he will have to wait until February – hopefully in time for the start of Torquay’s most hectic month of the season.
I am not blaming the Gaffer or the club. Injuries are fluid things and setting timescales is an imperfect science. You cannot predict with any real accuracy when players with injuries will be back. And while Johnson has tried to be honest – because us fans are so desperate for information – perhaps it would be better for Gary to say ‘I don’t know’ every time we badger him with the same question about who is where on their individual journeys.
But Johnson did go through the list last Thursday, saying Jarvis was due to have a new scan and that would be analysed by the specialists. Johnson said about other players: “Tom Lapslie is not a million miles away, we are hoping Tom will be back, earliest the Hereford game – if not he will be back for the Dover game. And I think that will be the same as Asa, and probably the same for Brad Ash.”
Considering Hall came back early then against Eastbourne, having Lapslie back and Ash over his foot injury by Dover would be marvellous. Without Jarvis, Ash or Williams, the manager played a front three of Osman Foyo, Dillon De Silva and Lewis Collins on Saturday. At times it worked, in the second half – especially when De Silva scored a great solo goal and set-up Will Jenkins Davies for his – but in the first it was lacking.
It is tough having your best players out but Gary has always said the players he has at the club are all at Plainmoor because they are good enough to play their part. And many of these players were instrumental in putting together that pre-Christmas run that took the Gulls back up to second.
However, to get up to second again – Yeovil do look like they are pulling away in first now – it is going to take a monumental effort, especially as once January is over, Torquay have eight games in the shortest month of the year. It’s a good job 2024 is a leap year so this February is 29 days instead of 28. At least that gives the players one more day of rest. They are going to need it.
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Torquay United injury list keeps growing amid hectic schedule
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10.01.2024
Every Wednesday in the Herald Express, our Torquay United correspondent Richard Hughes takes a sideways look at what's going on in the World of the Gulls - and this week, he looks and the growing injury crisis
A 93rd-minute equaliser by Eastbourne Borough spoiled Torquay United fans’ weekends. It certainly did mine. I thought we were going to win and we got close to my 3-1 score prediction from last week’s column.
Torquay were 2-1 ahead after a couple of great goals by Dillon De Silva and Will Jenkins Davies – following a first-half best forgotten when they had gone one-goal down. But any hopes of starting 2024 with a win after two successive defeats over Christmas were dashed when the visitors scored an offside goal at the death. How’s your luck?
With Torquay heading to Hereford for a fourth round FA Trophy tie this Saturday, the National League South season will have to be put to one side. But with an extraordinarily busy February coming up, Gary Johnson will be hoping that some of his injured players return to bolster the squad, ahead of Torquay’s........
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