The Gulls have found themselves in a bit of a flap this season, sitting on 14 points and with only 4 points out of a possible 15 in the last 5. One of my funniest childhood holiday memories is when we were sitting on top of Michael's Mount and a seagull swooped down and stole a honey sandwich off my brother. He was not happy, we all found it hilarious! The Gulls will be hoping for a similar smash and grab effort this weekend as they look to steal honey from the bees.
With the Whitchurch Lane entrance now closed due to flooding the Hive is resembling less a football stadium and more a case for DIY SOS as we now cannot get in to the stadium, cars can't get out of the stadium, half the facilities are under resourced and we only have three stands. TK is bringing in a facility manager apparently but unless it is Noah I don't see what he is going to be able to do about the flooding issue. It all feels as ramshackle as Fawlty Towers the Torquay based hotel and the Legends stand will doubtless be sybilant with hisses of rage as we struggle to get a pint while the catering trucks rock up at the banqueting suite. While few can claim to know the manuel, it is in little doubt that our chairman is ultimately to blame for the shambolic state of our Temporary Stadium. There is also the fact the Scoreboard is broken. In the past you could easily say "Don't mention the Score" to those coming in late, now it is the only way they know what is going on.
To be fair to Kleanthous while the Hive may be a ramshackle embarassment at the moment he has at least worked out how to do segregation and keep away fans safe which is more than the Essex Boys managed on Monday.
Fortunately Dean Brennan IS getting things right on the pitch and our team with one striker has somehow managed to work their way up in to the playoffs despite Kabamba blowing out of his backside towards the end on Monday. There is still no sign of a second striker or any defensive reinforcements so I guess the Moose will remain our only defensive cover and Kian our only "Striker" on the bench. Torquay despite their struggles both on the pitch and off are still a dangerous team especially with a wily old fox like Gary Johnson and are not to be under-estimated. With Gorman's fitness being in question I think it would be sensible to be slightly conservative in our approach and I would advocate the following:-
-------------------------------------Walker------------------------------------
------Wynter--------------Collinge--------------Okimo-----------Beard----
------De-Havilland-------Armstrong-----------Smith---------Pritchard---
----------------------------Kanu----------Kabamba---------------------------
Subs: Azaze, Diarra, Hall, Shields, Flanagan
I am doing this one going to Morano's beforehand then circumnavigating the Hive to go in the Camrose Avenue entrance.
Fingers crossed we can overcome fatigue and not take the game for granted as we have in previous games.
COYBs
