1. If VAR was used in the FA Cup first round - would Torquay have earned a replay?
VAR (Video assistant Referee) is being used in selected games in the third round of the FA Cup onwards this season, but if the luxury was available in the first round could Jean Yves Koue Niate's challenge on Jamar Loza have been referred to VAR and would a different outcome have resulted?
Referee Declan Bourne pointed to the spot following Niate's challenge, but the television replay has since shown that Niate appeared to win the ball, with the ball moving away in a different direction once he has made his challenge. Law 12 of the FIFA rules which govern the game state that: 'Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball.
This is the regulation that referee Bourne was following when interpreting Niate's challenge - but could the assistance of video technology delivered a different outcome?
And then later in the game, United substitute Saikou Janneh was felled in the penalty area but Bourne blew up for a foul on Connor Lemonheigh-Evans earlier in the move.
In the end, Max Kretzschamar stepped up to convert the spot kick and the rest turned out to be history.
2. Was Opi Edwards a big miss for the Gulls?
Saturday's FA Cup tie with Woking saw Gary Johnson opt for a 4-5-1 formation which saw Bristol City play on the right hand side of a five-man midfield, with Jamie Reid deployed as a lone striker.
However, had Janneh's fellow Bristol City loanee Opi Edwards - who is currently absent through injury - been available for the Gulls - could Edwards have taken Janneh's place in the starting line-up and Janneh then given Johnson an extra option to bring off the bench. In the Gulls' 2-2 draw with Woking earlier in the season, in what was Johnson's first home match in charge, Janneh proved particularly effect at stretching the Woking back line and could he have performed a similar role if Edwards had been fit to start on the right wing?
3. When Asa Hall returns - Gary Johnson could have a big decision to make on the make up of the Gulls' midfield.
Ryan Dickson continued his return from injury with another commanding performance as a holding midfield, which saw him produce an important tackle to deny Woking's Nottingham Forest loanee Toby Edser early in the first half. However, when Asa Hall, who has taken on the mantle of captaining the side under Johnson, returns from injury the former Yeovil and Bristol City manager will have a potentially difficult decision to make. Johnson will need to devise a way of incorporating both Dickson and Hall into a midfield with Bristol City loan trio Jake Andrews, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and Opi Edwards.
4. Olaf's cameo.
When he came on to replace Kalvin Kalala in the 87th minute, Olaf Koszela became the fifth 16-year old in the history of Torquay United to appear for the club - a list that also include a certain Lee Sharpe. Koszela, who has progressed through the club's youth set-up - which is run in partnership Torquay Academy, has already signed a pre-contract agreement with the club, which will be upgraded to a full professional contract once he turns 17, and has been a prolific scorer for the Gulls in the FA Youth Cup this season. He was also joined on the subs' bench by fellow Torquay Academy product Josh Baxter.
5. Did the 'manager of the month award curse' strike Gary Johnson?
In winning the Vanarama National League South Manager of the Month award for October 2018, Gary Johnson became the first Torquay United boss claim a monthly managerial award since Martin Ling in March 2018. On that occasion, Ling successfully banished the curse with a 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley on Good Friday of that year, just as he had done when he won the award in January 2018 with a 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town. Other managers to have seen off the curse include the late Cyril Knowles and Dave Smith.
However, if the Gulls can obtain the maximum points from their next two league games against St Albans City and Concord Rangers, which are both at home, then any talk of any curse, along with the memory of the cup defeat by Woking, will be consigned to history.
