1. Gulls exorcise 'Eastleigh curse'.
After beating Hartlepool United away for the first time since the 1988-89 season and Wrexham away for the only occasion since the 1987-88 campaign, Torquay United exorcised another 'hoo-doo' under Gary Johnson as they recorded their first victory over Eastleigh in ten attempts.
The Gulls hadn't beaten the Spitfires since February 14, 2015 when they came away from the Silverlake Stadium with a 2-1 win courtesy of goals from Ryan Bowman and Ollivier Guegnen. The United side that day, who were managed by Chris Hargreaves at the time, featured current Gulls assistant manager Aaron Downes who no doubt would have been pleased with the display of United's class of 2021.
2. No goals in 'Gary-time' on this occasion.
After finding the back of the net in the 98th and 97th minutes respectively against Notts County and Aldershot Town in their previous two fixtures, all of United's goals came much earlier against the Spitfires. Billy Waters, Asa Hall and Jake Andrews found the target on 6 minutes, 48 minutes and 75 minutes respectively - and coincidentently they all served under Gary Johnson at Cheltenham Town at different times.
3. The 'Waters-Boden' partnership is serving United well.
For the second successive game for United, either Scott Boden or Billy Waters have found the back of the net for United while playing as a strike partnership. Boden scored the late winner for the Gulls against Aldershot on Tuesday and he provided the assist for Waters to score his seventh goal of the campaign in all competitions against Eastleigh. Waters also has plenty of pedigree in the Football League from his previous spells with Cheltenham Town and Northampton Town, and he's a player Johnson may well be looking to keep at Plainmoor for next season.
4. 13 not such an unlucky number for Asa Hall.
When Asa Hall headed home Jake Andrews' 48th minute corner to double United's lead he scored his 13th goal of the season in the process. In his previous two seasons at Plainmoor it could be argued that Hall has been unlucky to be in the same team as Jamie Reid and Ben Whitfield when he comes to the club's player of the year award, but he will certainly be amongst the front runners in the current campaign. The 2020-21 season is the first time that Hall's goal return has reached two-digit figures since the 2008-09 campaign, when he found the back of the net 11 times in 51 appearances in all competitions for Luton Town.
5. The brothers Wynter.
Joe Partington's early injury enforced exit for the Spitfires saw Alex Wynter enter the fray and also saw him line-up against his brother Ben, who was, of course, playing right-back for the Gulls. However, it would be Ben who would leave the field on the winning side as United ran out as 3-1 winners.
6. Rivals keep on winning.
While United's win keeps them top of the league, Sutton United, Hartlepool United and Stockport County remain hot on their heels after all three sides recorded wins at the weekend. Sutton won 3-1 against Aldershot, Hartlepool beat Chesterfield 3-1 and Stockport came away from FC Halifax with a 1-0 victory, so it's as you were at the top of the National League.
