Torquay United goalkeeper Shaun MacDonald celebrated his 100th appearance for the Gulls with a clean sheet, as United held Boreham Wood to a goalless draw.
It was a well deserved clean sheet for MacDonald, 25, who has established himself not only as United's number one goalkeeper but as one of the most popular members of Gary Johnson's current squad.
One of the United's first signings in the summer of 2018, as then manager Gary Owers looked to build a squad capable of winning promotion from National League South at the first attempt. Newcastle-born MacDonald, who had swapped his native North East for the South West, was one of a number of debutants who featured on the opening day of the 2018-19 season, which saw the Gulls draw 0-0 with Chelmsford City.
Nine games into his first campaign at Plainmoor, Owers, the manager who had brought MacDonald to Plainmoor, was sacked and within days Johnson was unveiled as his successor.
Initially, MacDonald had shared the goalkeeping duties with Alex Bass, who had joined the Gulls on loan from Portsmouth. However, an injury sustained in United's 2-2 draw with Woking - in what was Johnson's first home game in charge - meant that MacDonald became the Gulls' first choice keeper, as United rose from being 14th in National League South to becoming champions under Johnson.
He also won the National League South player of the month award for December 2018.
On United's return to the National League, he started the Gulls' opening game of the campaign - a 2-1 win over Boreham Wood - but then found himself sharing the goalkeeping duties with the Brazilian Lucas Covolan, who Johnson signed in the summer of 2019 from Worthing FC.
At the end of the 2020-21 season, which saw United miss out on a return to the Football League following their play-off final defeat to Hartlepool United, MacDonald left Plainmoor. He then had trials at a number of clubs, including Hartlepool and Dundee.
After a spell which saw the Gulls concede 16 times in six matches, Johnson needed to find a new goalkeeper as Mark Halstead sustained concussion and his only other contracted keeper Marcin Brozozowski had only made four senior appearances.
He quickly turned to MacDonald and he marked his return with a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Southend United on September 18, 2021 - which was secured with a late winner from Connor Lemonheigh-Evans - and his rest, as they say, is history.
MacDonald also joins a list of goalkeepers from the North East who have served the club well over the years. It's a list that includes John Turner, who can be currently be found behind the bar of the Gulls Nest on matchdays and Kenny Allen who had two spells at Plainmoor between 1983-1986 and 1987-88, and famously came out of retirement to play against Wolves and Bolton Wanderers in the Sherpa Van Trophy in the 1988-89 campaign.
Shaun MacDonald factfile:
Date of birth: 26/10/1996
Place of birth: Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Previous clubs: Gateshead, Blyth Spartans
Honours: National League South Player of the Month December 2018, National League South winner 2018-19
