AZEEZ BECOMES TORQUAY'S 1,000TH PLAYER

Ade Azeez's debut for Torquay United against Newport County proved to be a memorable one for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, the Charlton Athletic starlet marked his first appearance for the Gulls with a goal, which was also his first as a professional footballer.

Secondly, he became the 1,000th player to appear for Torquay since they first entered the Football League in 1927.

Former trainee Danny Sullivan became the 999th to appear for United when he was handed his professional debut by Alan Knill against Morecambe at the Globe Arena on August 10th, and there was some anticipation as to who the 1,000th player to appear for Torquay would be.

A list of other significant numbers and a few randoms:

 

100: Don Welsh

 

211: Sammy Collins

 

308: Robin Stubbs

 

538: Mark Loram

 

592: Lee Sharpe

 

601: Dean Edwards

 

705: Rodney Jack

 

899: Lee Mansell

 

925: Kevin Nicholson

 

GULLS ADD ADEEZ

Torquay United manager Alan Knill has moved to boost the attacking options available to him with the signing of young striker Ade Azeez on a one-month's youth loan from Charlton Athletic.

Azeez, 19, has made one appearance for the Addicks so far in his career, against Huddersfield Town on January 5th 2013, and has also had loan spells with Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient previously in his career.

In addition to this, Ade has represented England at Under-19 level and last season helped the Addicks' Under-21 squad win the Professional Development League.

GLOVERS DRAFT IN DUFFY

Following the re-opening of the loan transfer window for Football League clubs, Yeovil Town have swooped to bring in Irish defender Shane Duffy from Everton.

Duffy, 21, joins the Glovers for an initial one-month loan and provides manager Gary Johnson with cover for the injured Liam Fontaine and the suspended Byron Webster.

He has made five appearances for the Toffees thus far in his career, and will be looking to show Everton manager Roberto Martinez that he has the potential to challenge the likes of Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin for a place in the Toffees' first team on his return to Goodison Park.

As well as using the move to enhance his future club prospects, Shane will also be looking to use his time at Huish Park to improve his chances of winning his first full cap for the Republic of Ireland.

A few facts about Shane Duffy:

1) Shane first arrived at Everton in November 2008 when he joined the Toffees' Academy from Northern Irish side Foyle Harps.

2) After appearing for Northern Ireland from Under-16 to Under-21 level, Shane switched his allegiance to the Republic of Ireland in 2009, a move which has also been made by his Goodison team-mate Darren Gibson and former Torquay United midfielder Eunan O'Kane.

3) In May 2010, he suffered a freak injury after colliding with goalkeeper Adrian Walsh, during a match between a Republic of Ireland development squad and the Irish Amateur side, and had to have emergency life-saving surgery on his liver.

4) The Glovers are the third club that Shane has joined on loan, he has previously had loan spells with Burnley, for whom he made a solitary appearance, and Scunthorpe United where he played under Torquay manager Alan Knill.

5) He made his debut for Everton in the Europa League in the 2009-10 season against AEK Athens when he came on as a substitute for Sylvain Distin.  

BALL ON TARGET FOR THE GULLS

After waiting nine matches to open his account for Torquay United, Callum Ball bagged a brace as the Gulls secured their first home win of the campaign against Cheltenham Town.

The Derby County loanee, who had previously had efforts ruled out for offside against AFC Wimbledon and Oxford United, edged Torquay in front inside three minutes, and struck again before half-time after Byron Harrison had levelled for the Robins.

Ball's strike partner Karl Hawley added a third shortly after the break before Terry Gornell pulled one back for Cheltenham and Jordan Chappell scored the Gulls' fourth goal, and his fourth of the season, to round off an impressive display.

With Ball's youth loan with the Rams due to expire next month, it surely can't be long before Torquay manager Alan Knill meets with his Derby counterpart Nigel Clough to discuss extending Ball's stay at Plainmoor.

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESS

Just like Ancient Rome, a League Two promotion winning side isn't something that can be built in the space of a single day.

It's something that requires careful, sound judgment and- even in the current climate of managerial upheaval- a supportive board of directors.

This is a task that Alan Knill, John Sheridan and Paul Tisdale are all undertaking at the moment at Torquay United, Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City respectively.

All three men have previous experience of performing such a task, Knill with Bury in the 2010-11 season (before he handed the reigns to Ritchie Barker to take charge at Scunthorpe), Sheridan with Chesterfield during the same campaign and Tisdale with the Grecians in the 2008-09 season.

Now all three men are looking to repeat their previous feat in the South West.

Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Sheridan is currently looking to help the Pilgrims to live up to a word so often associated with the club- potential.

Since he replaced Carl Fletcher last January, Sheridan has successfully steered Argyle away from the foot of the League Two and dreaded drop into the Conference.

This season, for the first time in the space of five years, the 'Green Army' can now look towards the top half of the table and dream of top ten finish or even the possibility of a Play-Off spot after five consecutive relegation battles across three different leagues.

The Pilgrims currently lie in 12th place, following a 1-0 home victory over Bristol Rovers, and now have a settled squad, much of which has been put together by Sheridan himself.

At Plainmoor, Alan Knill became Torquay United on a permanent basis during the summer after the dismissal of Martin Ling.

Knill had taken charge on a interim basis in February, after Ling went on a leave of absence suffering from a stress-related illness, and, with the help of his assistant- ex-Gulls loanee- Chris Brass, guided Torquay away from the drop zone.

Given the level of investment in the club from the Consortium, which purchased the club from former Chairman Mike Bateson, relegation from the Football League last season would have had serious consequences for the club.

Following the end of the campaign, Knill released seven players and also saw Ryan Jarvis, Brian Saah and Rene Howe leave Plainmoor for pastures new.

However, Knill has spent the summer rebuilding the Gulls squad and with the addition of a number of new faces, including exciting wide men Jordan Chapell and Courtney Cameron, experienced striker Karl Hawley and promising defender Krystian Pearce, Torquay are now aiming to improve on last season's 19th place finish and eventually assemble a side that will challenge for promotion in the future.

Whilst Sheridan and Knill chose major surgery during the close season, Paul Tisdale opted for a nip-and-tuck job at St James Park.

Sam Parkin and Doug Bergvist, who was later loaned out to Welling United, were Tisdale's only summer captures, and they were later followed with the signing in August-after the season started- with the arrival of David Wheeler from Staines Town.

The Grecians have clearly benefited from this level of continuity as they currently lie in 5th place in League Two with an unbeaten home record, which so far reads as played three, won three.

Going into the current campaign, fans of Devon football will no doubt view the achievements last season of Yeovil Town, who reached the Championship for the first time in their history, and Bradford City, who became the first club from the Football League's bottom tier to reach the League Cup for over 50 years, as a cause for optimism for their own team's aspirations.

Between now and the end of May, we will find out whether those dreams will come true or not.

ARGYLE MAKE JOHNSTONE'S PAINT PROGRESS

Plymouth Argyle are now the South West's sole representative in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy after they overcame Cheltenham Town on penalties.

Rommy Boco, Lewis Alessandra and debutant Hamza Bencherif all found the target for the Pilgrims during 90 minutes against the Robins at the Abbey Business Stadium as the tie headed to a spot-kick decider.

Boco and Alessandra were on target again for Argyle with their opening two penalties before skipper Conor Hourihane and another debutant Jamie Reckord successfully converted their respective kicks before Marvin Morgan coolly slotted home the fifth and decisive penalty.

Torquay United didn't enjoy the same fortune as they were eliminated 5-3 on penalties by Portsmouth after drawing 0-0 after 90 minutes. Gulls' captain Lee Mansell missed Torquay's third penalty, after Karl Hawley and Callum Ball had scored the Gulls' first two spot-kicks, which ultimately proved to be costly.

However, Torquay do have a chance for revenge on October 26th when they host Pompey in their first league fixture between the two sides in over 30 years. 

Exeter City were also knocked out of the competition after they were beaten 2-0 by Wycombe Wanderers at St James' Park. with Matt McClure and Anthony Stewart scoring for the Chairboys.

Elsewhere in the competition, former Argyle loanee Joe Bryan scored the winner for Bristol City in their 2-1 win over City rivals Rovers at Ashton Gate, in the game that was marred by crowd trouble.

JUST FONTAINE FOR THE GLOVERS

Bristol City defender Liam Fontaine has linked up with Gary Johnson for a third time in his career after agreeing a loan move to Yeovil Town.

Fontaine, 27, first joined the Glovers in the 2004-05 season when Johnson brought him to Huish Park on loan from Fulham, where he made 15 appearances.

He later returned to South Somerset for a second loan spell during the following season, the 2005-06 campaign, and made a further 10 appearances for Yeovil.

After Johnson left Huish Park for Bristol City, he loaned Fontaine again from Craven Cottage later for the Robins before later making the move into a permanent one.

Whilst at Ashton Gate, Fontaine helped City win promotion to the Championship in the 2006-07 season and remained a regular for the Robins as they missed out on promotion to the Championship when they were beaten 1-0 by Hull City in the Championship Play-Off final in 2008.

His arrival now means that the Glovers currently have six loan players at the club with Wayne Hennessey, Alan Tate, Joe Ralls, Michael Ngoo and another Huish Park returnee Andy Williams all on their books, as well as Fontaine.

This now means Johnson faces the conundrum of leaving one of those six out of his squad of 18 on a match day, as Football League rules permit that only five loanees can be named in any one squad for any competitive fixture.

ARGYLE MAKE DOUBLE SWOOP

Whilst many clubs are busy concluding last minute deadline day deals, the only of the four South West professional clubs involved in signing any players, so far, has been Plymouth Argyle.

Pilgrims' boss John Sheridan has made two acquisitions in the form of Algerian midfielder Hamza Bencherif and the loan signing of left back Jamie Reckord from Wolves.

Bencherif, 25, has played in England since 2007 and put pen to paper on a short-term deal following a successful trial spell.

He has previously had stints with Nottingham Forest, Lincoln City, Macclesfield Town and Notts County.

Reckord, 21, has represented England at Under-16 and Under-17 levels and also had loan spells with Northampton Town, Scunthorpe United and Coventry City and will remain at Home Park until the beginning of January 2014.

Both players will be available for tomorrow night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy clash with Cheltenham Town.

JOHNSTONE'S PAINT TROPHY PREVIEW

All three of Devon's professional sides may have crashed out of the Capital One Cup at the first round, but they will have another chance-and arguably a more genuine one- of reaching Wembley in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

We will now take an individual look at the prospects of Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City and Torquay United.

CHELTENHAM TOWN VS PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

The Pilgrims travel to Whaddon Road in what will be manager John Sheridan's first match in the competition since he took charge at Home Park.

Sheridan has won the Trophy before, in 2012, whilst he was in charge of Chesterfield when the Spireites defeated Paolo Di Canio's Swindon Town 1-0 in the final at Wembley.

He stated after the draw was made that he would be taking the competition 'very seriously' as it was a tournament that the Pilgrims stood a realistic chance of winning.

It will also be the second time that Argyle have faced the Robins in the competition. Their first meeting came in the 2001-02 season, when Argyle lost 2-1 after taking the lead through David Friio.

The second came in the 2010-11 campaign, under Peter Reid, when the Pilgrims won 2-0 with Steven MacLean and Craig Noone finding the target.

EXETER CITY VS WYCOMBE WANDERERS

 



Exeter City's record in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy has seen them reach the Southern Area Final three times (1993, 2000 & 2011) but they have never reached the final.

Another similar run in the competition this year would come as a timely boost to the club's finances which would, along with the windfall they recently received from Scott Golbourne's transfer to Wolves, possibly give manager Paul Tisdale extra room for manoeuvre in terms of squad strengthening.

The prospect of the Grecians making initial progress in the competition this term look particularly good as they currently have a 100% home record from their three home games this season.

TORQUAY UNITED VS PORTSMOUTH

 



In 2008, Torquay United and Portsmouth both played at Wembley, the Gulls contested the FA Trophy final, which they lost to Ebbsfleet United, whilst Portsmouth won the FA Cup against Cardiff City.

However, five years on they play each other in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on equal terms as members of Skybet League Two.

The Gulls famously reached the final of the competition, under one of it's many previous guises as the Sherpa Van Trophy, in 1989 when they lost to Bolton Wanderers, after shocking Wolves in the Southern Area final second leg at Molineux, and would surely love to do so again.

It will also provide manager Alan Knill with a dress rehearsal for their league meeting at Plainmoor, which is due to take place at the end of October.

For Pompey a good run in the competition could help with their long term revival, as they aim to join the list of previous winners that includes Wolves, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic as well as their fierce local rivals Southampton.

Footnote: When Wolverhampton Wanderers enter the competition at the next stage, it will be the first time that they would have played in the competition since their Southern Area final defeat at the hands of the Gulls at Molineux in 1989.