1. Dan Hayfield's free-kick.
Last season against Truro City in the same stage of the competition, a
free-kick from Dan Hayfield from the edge of the penalty area proved to be the
difference for the Gulls at this stage of the competition.
In the eighth minute against Maidstone, United won a free-kick on the edge
of the area after Jordan Young had been fouled, which Hayfield stepped up to
take and, on this occasion, he agonisingly struck the post.
It's often said that goals change games and had Hayfield's effort found the
net could history have repeated itself and the Gulls have progressed in the FA
Trophy against a fellow National League South outfit – and one of their bogey
sides to boot?
Maybe, but we'll never know.
2. Jordan Young excelled again.
United winger Jordan Young was arguably the Gulls' brightest performer, and
was also voted as man of the match by the sponsors.
In the 13th minute, he cut in from the right and tested Maidstone keeper
Lenny Holden with a shot before Sonny Fish (more on him later) was denied from
the rebound.
Throughout the game, he remained the Gulls' greatest attacking threat and in
the second half, he picked out Jordan Dyer with a free-kick in the 73rd minute
which Dyer nodded towards goal - only to be denied by Holden in the
Maidstone goal.
Then in the 90th minute, his through ball found Matt Jay who drew another
save from Holden, as United huffed and puffed but couldn't find a way past the
Maidstone back line.
He also worked tirelessly throughout, and showed a willingness to track back
and make a number of tackles, in what was arguably one of his best games for
the club in terms of work rate alone.
3. Sonny Fish's first start.
After making a number of cameo appearances from the bench, Sonny Fish was
handed his first start by United manager Paul Wotton. The former Crawley Town
man started brightly and was unlucky not to score on 13 minutes when he latched
onto a rebound from Jordan Young's initial effort.
Fish continued to lead the line well, but still looked short for real match
sharpness. He later switched to the left-hand side of United's attack after Ed
Palmer replaced Dylan Morgan, who was deployed as a makeshift centre
forward.
He then exited the field of play on 64 minutes as Denzel Aykeampong entered
the fray in his place. However, Fish did show signs that he can offer a viable
alternative to Cody Cooke when fully up to speed.
4. United down to the bare bones.
Paul Wotton was only able to name four subs on Saturday against Maidstone,
which included rookie goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott and Aiden Edwards, the 17-year-old
son of assistant manager Mike Edwards.
As well as being without long term injury victims Cody Cooke and Monashe
Sundire, the Gulls were also without skipper Matt Worthington, Callum Dolan and
Louis Dennis, and their absence was keenly felt by United.
Wotton will be hoping that at least two, if not all three, of them will be
available when United host Eastbourne Borough in National League South next
Saturday.
5. Free to focus on the league.
Aside from their appearance in the final under Paul Buckle in 2007-08 and
reaching the semi-finals under Chris Hargreaves in 2014-15, Torquay United's
record in the FA Trophy is modest to say the least.
Whilst making it through a couple of rounds would have been welcome, not to
mention the prize money, further progress in the competition would also lead to
a number of their fixtures needing to be re-arranged.
Although any fixture congestion wouldn't be as bad as it was for Buckle's
side of 2007-08, who at one stage were playing
Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday between Saturday 12th April 2008 and
Saturday 19th April 2008, United would be potentially be facing a regular
Saturday-Tuesday routine.
