Whisper it quietly, but Torquay United's start to the 2023-24 season is mirroring the one they made in their National League South title winning campaign of 2018-19.
The Gulls followed up their opening day draw with Dover Athletic and their 3-0 defeat in their opening home fixture with Worthing with back to back wins against Chippenham Town and St Albans City, which gives Gary Johnson's side seven points from their opening four National League South encounters.
An opener from Ross Marshall and a 'Gary time' winner from Aaron Jarvis helped to seal the win against Chippenham at Plainmoor, whilst a solitary headed effort from Ollie Tomlinson proved to be enough to clinch all three points against St Albans.
They now have the same number of points on the board that they had under Johnson's predecessor Gary Owers in 2018-19, which were secured with a draw away to Chelmsford City, home wins over Bath City and East Thurrock and an away defeat to Oxford City.
Of course in 2018-19 it is worth noting that the Gulls were yet to make the loan signings from Bristol City, which helped to transform them into title challengers. Jake Andrews and Opi Edwards arrived in early September and made their debuts in United's 2-0 win over Hemel Hempstead Town in Owers' penultimate game in charge before his dismissal in the wake of the Gulls' 1-0 home loss to Chippenham. Then, following Johnson's arrival, the duo were joined by Connor Lemonheigh-Evans, who returned to Plainmoor for a second loan spell, and Saikou Janneh. They both featured from the bench as United drew 2-2 with Woking in Johnson's first home game in charge.
The rest as they say is history, as United went on to win the National League South title in a campaign which proved to be 'a tale of two Garys'.
With Plymouth Argyle midfielder Will Jenkins-Davies the only loan player currently with the Gulls at the moment, there is room for Johnson to bring in another four loanees. The likelihood is that any new arrivals won't be appearing until the EFL transfer window has closed on August 31, but there is no denying that a couple more additions would give Johnson's squad a more complete look; they were down to the barebones against St Albans, with skipper Asa Hall, experienced duo Dean Moxey and last season's leading scorer Jarvis all absent.
In 2018-19, the Gulls went 16 games without defeat in National League South following Johnson's appointment, which included ten straight wins, before going down 3-2 away to Bath. By which time they were well and truly in the thick of the title race, and a similar run in 2022-23 would help put them further in the driving seat.
