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Bloods with reasons for optimism?

Gary Owen
3/10/2007

THE Bloods will consider themselves unlucky not to have come away from Plainmoor with any points after a bold 3-4-3 formation saw them make a mockery of the respective league positions of these two sides.

The Gulls looked anything like league leaders while Droylsden had enough chances to have won the game comfortably.

Sure enough, Torquay enjoyed long spells of possession but Phil Senior was hardly called into action as the 10 players in front of him restricted the hosts to half-chances, particularly in the first half.

Lee Mansell and Tim Sills were both off target for Torquay while at the other end, Steve Daly’s header had Simon Rayner at full stretch.

Droylsden then found themselves in dreamland moments before the break when Jamie Tandy beat Paul Hinshelwood before firing a dangerous low cross into the penalty area where Mark Ellis inadvertantly turned the ball past his own keeper.

Gulls’ boss Paul Buckle must have given his team an ear-bashing at half-time, sending them back out onto the pitch early for the second half.

However, it was Droylsden who could have added to their lead, firstly through Denham who volleyed over from 20 yards before Tandy forced Rayner to turn his low shot around the post.

Daly was also a yard off target with a speculative effort before Buckle began to ring the changes.

Having exchanged full back Hinshelwood for winger Danny Stevens at half-time, he then withdrew the unfortunate Ellis for Welsh to match the Bloods’ 3-4-3 formation.

Both Sills and Kevin Nicholson saw efforts easily saved by Senior, but Droylsden continued to threaten a second goal as Denham forced another save from Rayner.

Torquay began to press their visitors as Danny Stevens shot over but as the corner count began to rack up, Tim Sills rose highest on 79 minutes to head home from close range.

A point would have been a satisfactory return from a visit to the league leaders, but in the first minute of added time, a long punt forward by Nicholson found Lee Phillips who looped a header over Senior to snatch all three points.

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