Thursday, 7 February 2019

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE

When first placed Torquay United face Chelmsford City, who currently lie in third place, in the Vanarama National League South something will have to give.

The Gulls head into the game having won 11 of their last 12 league encounters, whilst the Clarets have tasted victory in eight of their previous nine league fixtures, which provides firm evidence that the two sides are the most in-form teams in the division.

Following Woking's defeat against Dartford, a result which aids United's promotion cause, a win for the Gulls will surely provide the Gulls with a tremendous boost. However, a win for the visitors would blow the title race wide open.

All the signs suggest that it will be a higher scoring contest than their opening day contest which ended goalless. One of the reasons for this is the fact as well as seeing two of the strongest teams going head-to-head with each other, the Plainmoor faithful will also be catching a glimpse of the league's two top scorers in United's Jamie Reid and Chelmsford's Rhys Murphy.

The pair were teammates last season, as the Gulls mounted what was ultimately an unsuccessful battle against relegation from the National League under previous manager Gary Owers, when Murphy joined United on loan from Forest Green Rovers. They were also both on the score sheet when United beat Maidenhead United 4-0 in October 2017, along with Josh McQuoid and Luke Young.

Both strikers have found the back of the net 18 times each in the league, however Reid has the edge over Murphy as he has scored three times in cup competitions (two in the FA Cup and one in the FA Trophy) - taking his tally so far for the season to 21.

What perhaps makes Reid's haul more remarkable is that he had only scored once prior to Gary Johnson's arrival as manager last September.