Saturday, 22 November 2025

TALKING POINTS FROM TORQUAY UNITED VERSUS EASTBOURNE BOROUGH

 1. The Gulls' biggest win in over seven years. 

At the end of a difficult week for Torquay United, which saw skipper Matt Worthington and Callum Dolan both suspended following an off-field incident, the Gulls responded by beating Eastbourne Borough 7-0. 

It was United's biggest win since they beat Lymington Town FC in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup in September 2018, in one of their early games under the reign of Gary Johnson. 

In addition to this, it was also the Gulls' biggest league victory since the 1956-57 season when they beat Swindon Town 7-0 at Plainmoor, in which the club's all-time leading scorer Sammy Collins netted a hat-trick. 

2. Louis Dennis' hat-trick. 

Louis Dennis added his name to the list of players to have netted hat-tricks for Torquay United, and became the first player to hit a treble for the Gulls since Cody Cooke on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign against Hemel Hempstead Town. 

It was perhaps quite fitting that on a day that United scored seven that Dennis opened the scoring in the seventh minute. He then completed his brace on the half hour mark with a solo effort. His hat-trick came in the 57th minute, which made it 5-0 to the Gulls after Jordan Young and Dylan Morgan had found the target. 

3. Jordan Young takes his tally for the season to ten. 

By netting a brace against Eastbourne, United's leading scorer Jordan Young took his tally for the season to ten goals. He netted his first in the 39th minute following good work on the right hand side from Matt Jay and Louis Dennis, to make it 3-0, and then completed his brace on 63 minutes when he latched onto a long ball from keeper James Hamon and lobbed Eastbourne keeper Ryan Sandford to make it seven. 

Not only is Young one goal away from equalling his tally for the 2024-25 season of 11, he has now also hit double figures in National League South in three successive seasons. 14 for Yeovil Town in 2023-24, 11 for the Gulls last season and now ten and counting in the current campaign. 

4. Dylan Morgan starting to shine. 

After missing much of the second half of the 2024-25 campaign through injury, Dylan Morgan was a stand out player for the Gulls in their pre-season fixtures. However, just as he was starting to replicate his pre-season form in the regular, he went off injured in United's 3-1 win over AFC Totton in August 2025, just after he scored United's opening goal. 

In the first minute of first half injury time, Morgan slotted home a low drive after being teed up by Jordan Young and then added United's fourth in the 58th minute. 

5. The crowd. 

The one, and possibly only, disappointment about the Gulls' result against Eastbourne was that the crowd dipped below the 3,000 mark. The total attendance was 2,952, which included 45 away fans. With two home games in the space of a week, some fans may have chosen between watching United face Eastbourne and Worthing on Tuesday night. 

To those who were absent, you missed a treat. 

6. Eastbourne to reimburse their fans. 

After the match, it was announced that the Eastbourne players will be reimbursing the cost of the match tickets for all visiting fans.