In the next part of this series, we look at more dramatic highs and lows for the Gull from the play-offs.
1997-98
United’s next foray into the Play-offs came in the 1997-98
season when Kevin Hodges successfully made a silk purse out of a sow’s ear –
just under two years after the Gulls had retained their league status by virtue
of Stevenage’s Broadhall Way home not meeting league standards.
A club record winning run of eight matches from January to
March 1998 had lifted Torquay towards automatic promotion. Unfortunately, a
stuttering run of results which followed left United needing a point from their
final day trip to Leyton Orient. Sadly, the Gulls fell to a 2-1 defeat – which
also saw goalkeeper Kenny Veysey sent off.
This set up a two-legged Play-off semi-final with
Scarborough, and a 3-1 win in the first leg at the Seadogs’ McCain Stadium home
put United firmly in control of the tie. What followed in the return meeting
proved to be one of the most memorable matches ever witnessed at Plainmoor.
Two virtuoso goals from Rodney Jack in the opening ten
minutes saw United race into a two-goal lead. Jason Rockett then replied for
Scarborough before player-coach Steve McCall to display the kind of ability
that saw him win the UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town in 1981. McCall scored United’s
third with a stunning left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area to
restore United’s two-goal cushion on the night. Paul Gibbs later added a fourth
in the second half – which proved to be the final nail in Scarborough’s coffin
as United headed to Wembley to face Colchester United.
However, a controversial penalty awarded for a ‘handball’
against Jon Gittens condemned the Gulls to a narrow defeat, which proved to be
Hodges’ final game in charge before his departure to Plymouth Argyle.
2007-08
Ten years later, a new look Torquay United under Paul Buckle
who were looking to bounce back to the Football League at the first attempt
headed into the Conference play-offs, where local rivals Exeter City lay in
wait.
After a 2-1 win in the first leg at St James Park, with Tim
Sills and Chris Zebroski finding the target, the footballing gods appeared to
be smiling on the Gulls in the return clash at Plainmoor.
Long-serving United midfielder Kevin Hill was recalled to
the Torquay side for a match that would see him equal Dennis Lewis’
long-standing club appearance record of 473. When Hill struck from the edge of
the penalty area in the 58th minute to put the Gulls 3-1 ahead on aggregate –
the stage seemed set for a perfect ending.
However, the Grecians clearly didn’t read the script as they
hit back through Ryan Harley, Ben Watson, a penalty from Richard Logan and an
injury time effort from Wayne Carlisle, who would join the Gulls in the summer,
saw them overturn their two-goal deficit to win 4-1 on the day and 5-3 on
aggregate.
2008-09
Nevertheless, United would have a chance to go one better a
year later as they reached the Play-offs again – this time Histon were their
opponents. A 2-0 win in the first leg with goals from Tim Sills and Nicky Wroe
was followed by a 1-0 defeat at Histon’s Glassworld Stadium home and set a
final clash with Cambridge United.
United headed into the final with a goalkeeper with a broken
jaw in Michael Poke, a centre back in Chris Todd who was still in remission
following a diagnosis from Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia earlier in the season and
a centre forward in Tim Sills who was nursing a fractured cheekbone, which saw
him take to the field in a ‘Zorro’ mask.
On 35 minutes, the Gulls were in front when skipper Chris
Hargreaves lashed home a shot from the edge of the penalty area after being
teed up by Elliot Benyon. In the second half, Cambridge were reduced to ten men
when Phil Bolland was dismissed for a second yellow card in the 70th minute.
Then, four minutes later, came the pivotal moment in the
match. Following some good build-up play between Nicky Wroe and Benyon, Wayne
Carlisle raced down the right hand side and picked out Sills, who headed home
United’s second and decisive goal which will be forever immortalised by the
commentary of Setanta Sport’s Steve Bower: ‘Carlisle, he checks instead, he’s
looking for Benyon…Sills!’
2010-11
The Gulls’ return to the Football League was complete and
two years later, they would be involved in the League Two Play-offs, following
a seventh place finish during the 2010-11 league campaign.
In the semi-finals, United faced a Shrewsbury Town side who
they had beaten 5-0 at Plainmoor a couple of months earlier in which Jake
Robinson had netted a brace for the Gulls while on loan from the Shrews.
Robinson lined up for United again in the first leg at home, but he wasn’t on
target on this occasion as efforts from Chris Zebroski and Eunan O’Kane secured
a 2-0 win for United. A goalless draw in the return fixture at the Greenhous
Meadow set up a meeting with Stevenage at Old Trafford.
Due to Wembley hosting the 2011 UEFA Champions League
between Manchester United and Barcelona, both the League Two final between the
Gulls and Stevenage and the League One final between Peterborough United and
Huddersfield Town were switched to Old Trafford. 20 years beforehand,
Manchester United had beaten Barcelona in the 1991 European Cup Winner’s Cup
final and Torquay had beaten Blackpool in the Fourth Division Play-off final –
the question was could lightning strike twice?
Sadly, both the United’s of Torquay and Manchester lost
their respective finals 1-0 and 3-1 – and the Gulls’ defeat proved to be Paul
Buckle’s final game as manager as he departed Plainmoor for Bristol Rovers.
2011-12
Despite Buckle’s move to the Memorial Stadium, the Gulls
regrouped and rebuilt under his successor Martin Ling as they reached the
Play-offs again in the 2011-12 season, after missing out on automatic promotion
on the final day of the campaign. However, United fell short in the semi-final
with Cheltenham Town as they lost 2-0 at Whaddon Road in the first leg before
slipping to a 2-1 defeat in the second leg at Plainmoor, with Taiwo Atieno
netting what proved to be a mere consolation goal.
2020-21
After missing out on the National League title at the
expense of Sutton United, a new play-off format awaited the Gulls in the
Covid-19 impacted 2020-21 campaign.
A one-off home tie with Notts County awaited United after
the Magpies won their 5th versus 6th play-off eliminator
with Chesterfield.
Returning
striker Danny Wright gave Torquay a dream start with just 30 seconds on the
clock as Dean Moxey throw to Joe Lewis, and his curling cross found Wright
eight yards out. The header was helped in by a deflection off County's Adam
Chicksen, but it sent a sun-soaked Plainmoor crowd into raptures.
Wright's return was a closely-guarded secret in the run-up to
the game, and he couldn't have hoped for a greater impact.
Torquay continued on the front foot and pushed forward at every
opportunity and visiting keeper Sam Slocombe needed to be quick off his line to
deny the impressive Lemonheigh-Evans as Torquay pushed on in search of a second
goal.
However, County levelled matters before the break when Ruben
Rodrigues headed home at the near post.
Wright restored the Gulls’ lead in the opening minutes of the
second half, sweeping in a Randell cross, but Adam Chicksen quickly levelled
the scores again.
With no further score in the 90 minutes, the game went into
extra time.
United skipper Asa Hall gave the home side the lead for the
third time with a stooping header in the 100th minute, and in stoppage time at
the end of the first period Dean Moxey scored United's fourth from the penalty
spot to seal the Gulls’ passage to the final at Ashton Gate against Hartlepool
United.
Torquay were livid when they
controversially had a seventh-minute goal ruled out for a push after Cameron
had got his head on the end of Adam Randell's floated free-kick, with replays
not immediately picking up the infringement that referee Simon Mather spotted.
That seemed to galvanise Pools as
Armstrong had two chances to put his side ahead soon after, first seeing his
close-range effort deflected over by Joe Lewis before he had a header pushed
wide by a diving Covolan.
It was Armstrong - who was a thorn
in Torquay's side for much of the first half - who provided the breakthrough as
the forward excellently controlled Rhys Oates' shot on the edge of the six-yard
box and had the strength to turn Sam Sherring and blast in off the underside of
the crossbar.
The Gulls were lucky not to be two
goals down in the final seconds of the half as Oates found himself unmarked
from a corner and saw a powerful header parried over the bar by Covolan.
Cameron had another goal chalked
off after an hour, this time being adjudged to have fouled goalkeeper James as
he went for the ball, and it seemed as though it would not be Torquay's day as
Hartlepool almost scored a second in the final five minutes as Mark Shelton and
Gavan Holohan had shots blocked.
Torquay threw everything at their
opponents in the final minutes and Billy Waters missed a close-range effort in
the 89th minute before Covolan came up in the fifth minute of stoppage time for
Torquay's final corner.
Although it was initially cleared,
Covolan stayed up field and when the ball was played back in, he rose highest
to head past James and send the game into an extra 30 minutes.
Waters had a couple of efforts
blocked in the first period of extra time as his Torquay team-mate Jake Andrews
was stretchered off with a serious-looking leg injury, but with both sides
tiring chances were few and far between before Danny Elliott had a shot blocked
for Pools in the final minute as the game went to penalties.
Johnson’s men were hoping to emulate the Class of 1990-91 who won
promotion to Division Three at Wembley on penalties. Sadly, this time though,
the shoot-out went against them.
Neither side started the penalty kick contest well.
Nicky Featherstone saw his saved by Covolan, before Waters slipped and
saw his effort go wide.
Armstrong, a scorer in normal time, also saw his effort palmed away by
Covolan, before Wright struck the upright.
Mark Shelton was the first to succeed, and Hall followed suit. Jamie
Sterry scored, then Lewis matched him.
Luke Molyneux put his away, as did Little, so we moved to sudden death. Danny
Elliot sent Covolan the wrong way, and Lemonheigh-Evans coolly slotted his in
to draw level again.
Hartlepool had the advantage of going first, and when Ryan Donaldson
scored, the pressure on Matt Buse was immense. Sadly he missed, hitting the
bar, leaving Hartlepool to celebrate.
