TORQUAY UTD 0 BARNET 0
Makeshift Gulls grind out draw

Torquay United followed up their first away win of the season with another clean-sheet against Barnet at Plainmoor last night.

But a point from the poorest home game of the season so far gave a near-3,000 Friday night crowd little to cheer about.
The match was riddled with fouls, offsides and mistakes, with United clearly missing the strength of injured loan signing John McAliskey in attack and the suspended Darren Garner in midfield.
Both teams had to make changes, United in the build-up and Barnet during the kick-in!
Leroy Rosenior sprung a surprise by recalling Tony Bedeau at right-back, six weeks after he was injured, shifting Matt Hockley into midfield for Garner.
And Leon Constantine was back up front for McAliskey.

Barnet's leading scorer Guiliano Grazioli was hurt in the warm-up, forcing manager Paul Fairclough to call Ben Strevens off the subs' bench.
Sadly, none of United's changes enabled them to maintain the standard of last week's win at Cheltenham, let alone improve on it.
It took both sides nearly half-an-hour to muster an attempt at goal, on or off target.
And that was a speculative 50-yard effort by Barnet defender Ian Hendon, which United 'keeper Andy Marriott got back to tip over his bar.
Matt Hewlett started well, with one rattling tackle, but a booking in the 25th minute appeared to subdue him.
And the Gulls, without Garner, had little or no creativity in midfield.
United's only decent break of the first half saw Jo Kuffour and Alan Connell put Constantine away on a counter attack in the 32nd minute, Ross Flitney diving to tip Constantine's shot round his post.
In a match of very poor quality, neither team deserved much credit.
Only Connell in attack and Marriott, James Sharp and Craig Taylor in defence distinguished themselves.
The way United gave the ball away was unforgivable.
And their lack of communication was summed up just after half-time when Bedeau took a long free-kick before Taylor had a chance to get into Barnet's penalty area.
It was no surprise when Rosenior made more changes early in the second half - Liam Coleman for Hockley and then Morike Sako for Mamadou Sow.
Sako went to a new position, right-back, with Bedeau moving to right wing.
Bedeau played Constantine in for a shot which Flitney did well to parry in the 65th minute.
But seven minutes later Strevens missed the best chance, firing over on a weak defensive header by Sako.
Barnet were as bad as United, and it was hard to believe that they had beaten Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle in the Carling Cup.
But the longer it went on the more Barnet fancied their chances of a win, forcing seven second-half corners without reply.
It got the point where a healthy Friday night crowd were cheering attacking throws.
For the last quarter of an hour, United changed again, throwing Sako up front, Bedeau reverting to right-back with Constantine on the wing.
It was pretty confusing for spectators, and it could hardly have been crystal clear on the pitch.
Some of United's play was depressingly bad, and they did not deserve the support they received on the night.
A minute from time Connell had a chance to win it, clear 12 yards out, but he volleyed into the arms of Flitney

ROSENIOR GLAD TO EARN POINT - Match Quotes


11:00 - 08 October 2005

 

"IT was a horrible game from start to finish" was Torquay United boss Leroy Rosenior's no-nonsense verdict on last night's 0-0 bore draw with Barnet.

But the Gulls' head coach too some comfort from a second successive clean-sheet and another point in the fight to pull away from the League Two relegation zone.

"In terms of entertainment, it was very poor," admitted Rosenior.

"But on nights like that, you have to make sure you don't lose.

"Barnet stopped us playing, and we weren't clever enough to get out of it.

"The referee was very poor too, and all in all it made for a terrible spectacle.

"We just seemed dozy in the first half. We couldn't link our passing and, when we did, we gave it away.

"We missed Darren Garner in midfield, where Matt Hewlett and Matt Hockley are very alike.

"But we were down to the bare bones tonight, and we had to ask a couple of players to go out and do jobs when they weren't fully fit.

"At the end, we had a chance with Alan Connell, and he hit it at the 'keeper, and that summed up the night.

"We never got any steam up."

But Barnet manager Paul Fairclough was upbeat.

"The game almost went exactly to plan," he said.

"We had a plan, and we've stuck to it.

"We battled them out and took them on in the last 20 minutes.

"If the game had gone on for another five minutes, there was only going to be one winner.

"We've done a job, a really good job and I'm so proud of my players.

"Torquay are on an upward surge, but we've got stronger as the game went on."
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