In the last throw of the dice in the transfer market- after the loan transfer window closed- Torquay United manager Chris Hargreaves has added Spurs youngster Shaquile Coulthirst in a loan deal which runs until the end of the season.
Coulthirst, 19, has already tasted league football this year in a brief loan spell with Leyton Orient- in which he made two appearances and found the back of the net in the O's 4-0 home win over Carlisle United on January 11th.
He also featured in Tottenham's recent Europa League campaign when he came on as a substitute for Roberto Soldado in their 4-1 win over Russian side Anzhi with 12 minutes to go.
A highly rated prospect, Coulthirst scored 19 goals in 29 games for Spurs' youth sides last season- including a hat-trick against Barcelona's young hopefuls in the Next Gen Series tournament, a competition that pits the youth sides from the top clubs across Europe against each other.
He has also been capped by England at youth level.
In recent seasons, Spurs have loaned a number of young prospects, including young full-back Adam Smith, now of Bournemouth, who impressed during a loan spell at Plainmoor during the 2009-10 season.
Smith later went on to appear for England's Under-21 side, whilst a couple other of his contemporaries who also benefited from similar loan spells- Steven Caulker and Andros Townsend- have go on to represent the England senior team.
If Coulthirst can score the vital goals that could keep the Gulls in the Football League, he goes straight into their squad to face Southend tomorrow as a direct replacement for the departing Enoch Showumni who has joined Plymouth Argyle, then there is an excellent chance that he could go on to follow their footsteps.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
GRECIANS COMPLETE DERBY DOUBLE OVER PILGRIMS
The Devon derby bragging rights firmly belong to Exeter City as they completed their first league double over local arch-rivals Plymouth Argyle for the first time in over 20 years.
Reuben Reid had given the Pilgrims the lead on the stroke of half-time- just as Jason Banton had done a year earlier- when he converted from the spot to score his 20th of the season, and became the first Argyle striker to score 20 goals in a season since Tommy Tynan in the process.
Despite this setback, the Grecians rallied and Liam Sercombe equalised with a deflected effort on 69 minutes before Elliot Richards scored the winner on 83 minutes with his third goal in two games- following good work from Tom Nichols- as City recorded their first league double over the Pilgrims since the 1992-93 season.
A year ago, Plymouth Argyle had boosted their survival hopes at the expense of Exeter City's Play-Off ambitions by completing a Devon derby win over the Pilgrims at Home Park.
However, 12 months later- the Grecians inflicted the opposite on the Pilgrims as they came from behind to beat Argyle to move seven points clear of the drop zone, whilst the Pilgrims remain three points off the Play-Off zone.
Reuben Reid had given the Pilgrims the lead on the stroke of half-time- just as Jason Banton had done a year earlier- when he converted from the spot to score his 20th of the season, and became the first Argyle striker to score 20 goals in a season since Tommy Tynan in the process.
Despite this setback, the Grecians rallied and Liam Sercombe equalised with a deflected effort on 69 minutes before Elliot Richards scored the winner on 83 minutes with his third goal in two games- following good work from Tom Nichols- as City recorded their first league double over the Pilgrims since the 1992-93 season.
A year ago, Plymouth Argyle had boosted their survival hopes at the expense of Exeter City's Play-Off ambitions by completing a Devon derby win over the Pilgrims at Home Park.
However, 12 months later- the Grecians inflicted the opposite on the Pilgrims as they came from behind to beat Argyle to move seven points clear of the drop zone, whilst the Pilgrims remain three points off the Play-Off zone.
Monday, 24 March 2014
ARGYLE VS CITY- A WESTCOUNTRY STORY
Almost a year has passed since Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City met in the 60th league meeting between the two sides in a game that promised to decide the outcome of the season for both teams.
A Jason Banton goal on the stroke of half-time proved to be the difference between the sides as Argyle, who were fighting relegation at the time, went on to win and boost their chances of staying in the league and dented the Grecians' Play-Off ambitions in the process.
However, fast forward nearly 12 months later and it is the Pilgrims- who have made considerable progress under the management of John Sheridan- who have ambitions of being involved in the Play-Offs, whilst City desperately need three points to retain their status as a League Two club.
In his post-match press conference after their 1-0 victory over the Grecians in March last year, Sheridan admitted that he was jealous of players and stated that he would have loved to been playing in the match himself.
When a manager shows that level of passion, it surely must rub off on his players.
Also for Sheridan, a place in the Play-Offs would give him a shot at winning a second promotion as a manager to go with the League Two title triumph he enjoyed with Chesterfield in the 2010-11 season.
Due of the number of managerial changes in the past year, Grecians boss Paul Tisdale is now the second longest serving manager of the 92 managers currently employed in the Premiership and the Football League behind Arsene Wenger.
Since taking charge of the Grecians, Tisdale has faced three Argyle managers (Peter Reid, Carl Fletcher and Sheridan) and will be facing his fourth Torquay United boss when Chris Hargreaves brings his Gulls side to Plainmoor on Easter Monday.
And the possibility of completing a league double over both of their Devon rivals is still a realistic prospect for the Grecians after having recorded wins over both the Pilgrims and the Gulls in their previous encounters this season.
A Jason Banton goal on the stroke of half-time proved to be the difference between the sides as Argyle, who were fighting relegation at the time, went on to win and boost their chances of staying in the league and dented the Grecians' Play-Off ambitions in the process.
However, fast forward nearly 12 months later and it is the Pilgrims- who have made considerable progress under the management of John Sheridan- who have ambitions of being involved in the Play-Offs, whilst City desperately need three points to retain their status as a League Two club.
In his post-match press conference after their 1-0 victory over the Grecians in March last year, Sheridan admitted that he was jealous of players and stated that he would have loved to been playing in the match himself.
When a manager shows that level of passion, it surely must rub off on his players.
Also for Sheridan, a place in the Play-Offs would give him a shot at winning a second promotion as a manager to go with the League Two title triumph he enjoyed with Chesterfield in the 2010-11 season.
Due of the number of managerial changes in the past year, Grecians boss Paul Tisdale is now the second longest serving manager of the 92 managers currently employed in the Premiership and the Football League behind Arsene Wenger.
Since taking charge of the Grecians, Tisdale has faced three Argyle managers (Peter Reid, Carl Fletcher and Sheridan) and will be facing his fourth Torquay United boss when Chris Hargreaves brings his Gulls side to Plainmoor on Easter Monday.
And the possibility of completing a league double over both of their Devon rivals is still a realistic prospect for the Grecians after having recorded wins over both the Pilgrims and the Gulls in their previous encounters this season.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
JASON AND A RECORD BREAKING RUN
Following Jason Roberts recent retirement from professional football, we will now take a look back at his loan spell early in his career at Torquay United where he received his first taste of league football.
With three uncles who had played professional football and another uncle who had been an Olympic sprinter, Jason Roberts had a lot to live up to when he arrived on loan at Torquay United in December 1997.
His uncles included the former West Bromwich Albion and England striker Cyrille Regis, ex Notts County striker Dave Regis and Otis Roberts, who briefly played for Crystal Palace, as well as former British 200 metres record holder John Regis.
So to say that sport was in his blood was something of an understatement.
A number of professional clubs showed an interest in him as a youngster in his native London, but it was with non-league side Hayes- the club which helped to launch the careers of his uncle Cyrille and Les Ferdinand- where Jason would make his name before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1997 for a fee of £250,000.
However, it was during a 14-match loan spell at Plainmoor where he would get his first taste of league football.
At the time of his arrival in south Devon, the Gulls- then under the management of Kevin Hodges- were in mid-table in the Third Division with a team assembled on a minimal budget.
Hodges had made some astute signings during the summer, but his side still lacked some extra firepower to push for a top seven finish.
After making his debut from the subs bench against Notts County on December 20th 1997, Jason marked his first start for Torquay with a goal in their 2-0 win over Swansea City on Boxing Day.
He also found the back of the net in the next home match- a 2-0 win over Macclesfield Town- but their next fixture at Plainmoor would prove to be the start of something.
The Gulls defeated Shrewsbury Town 3-0 with Jason adding a third in the second half after Andy Gurney and Jon Gittens had found the target in the first half.
This proved to be the start of a club record eight-match winning streak, which propelled Torquay up to second in the table and earned Hodges the Third Division manager of the month award for February 1998.
Jason' made a valuable contribution during this run, scoring a brace in their 4-1 victory against Brighton at Priestfield Stadium- on February 7th- Brighton were ground sharing with Gillingham at the time- and also scored in the Gulls' 3-1 win at Chester a fortnight later.
His partnership with the mercurial Rodney Jack proved to be one of the most feared in the divison.
His final match in a Torquay shirt came on March 5th- a 1-0 win over Cardiff City secured by a Kevin Hill effort on the stroke of half-time, which also proved to the eighth match of the sequence- as he returned to Wolves, only to be loaned out to Bristol City.
The Gulls went on reach the Play-Offs, after missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the campaign against Leyton Orient, where they beat Scarborough 7-2 over two legs in the semi-finals, with Jason an interested spectator, before losing 1-0 to Colchester United in the final at Wembley.
In the following summer, Jason joined Bristol Rovers for a fee of £250,000 before going to play for West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic- for whom he appeared in the 2006 Carling Cup final, Blackburn Rovers and Reading and also earned an MBE for his charity work away from the game.
In addition to this, he also won ten caps for Grenada, whom he qualified to play for through his father, and made several of those alongside one of his former teammates at Plainmoor, Tony Bedeau.
With three uncles who had played professional football and another uncle who had been an Olympic sprinter, Jason Roberts had a lot to live up to when he arrived on loan at Torquay United in December 1997.
His uncles included the former West Bromwich Albion and England striker Cyrille Regis, ex Notts County striker Dave Regis and Otis Roberts, who briefly played for Crystal Palace, as well as former British 200 metres record holder John Regis.
So to say that sport was in his blood was something of an understatement.
A number of professional clubs showed an interest in him as a youngster in his native London, but it was with non-league side Hayes- the club which helped to launch the careers of his uncle Cyrille and Les Ferdinand- where Jason would make his name before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1997 for a fee of £250,000.
However, it was during a 14-match loan spell at Plainmoor where he would get his first taste of league football.
At the time of his arrival in south Devon, the Gulls- then under the management of Kevin Hodges- were in mid-table in the Third Division with a team assembled on a minimal budget.
Hodges had made some astute signings during the summer, but his side still lacked some extra firepower to push for a top seven finish.
After making his debut from the subs bench against Notts County on December 20th 1997, Jason marked his first start for Torquay with a goal in their 2-0 win over Swansea City on Boxing Day.
He also found the back of the net in the next home match- a 2-0 win over Macclesfield Town- but their next fixture at Plainmoor would prove to be the start of something.
The Gulls defeated Shrewsbury Town 3-0 with Jason adding a third in the second half after Andy Gurney and Jon Gittens had found the target in the first half.
This proved to be the start of a club record eight-match winning streak, which propelled Torquay up to second in the table and earned Hodges the Third Division manager of the month award for February 1998.
Jason' made a valuable contribution during this run, scoring a brace in their 4-1 victory against Brighton at Priestfield Stadium- on February 7th- Brighton were ground sharing with Gillingham at the time- and also scored in the Gulls' 3-1 win at Chester a fortnight later.
His partnership with the mercurial Rodney Jack proved to be one of the most feared in the divison.
His final match in a Torquay shirt came on March 5th- a 1-0 win over Cardiff City secured by a Kevin Hill effort on the stroke of half-time, which also proved to the eighth match of the sequence- as he returned to Wolves, only to be loaned out to Bristol City.
The Gulls went on reach the Play-Offs, after missing out on automatic promotion on the final day of the campaign against Leyton Orient, where they beat Scarborough 7-2 over two legs in the semi-finals, with Jason an interested spectator, before losing 1-0 to Colchester United in the final at Wembley.
In the following summer, Jason joined Bristol Rovers for a fee of £250,000 before going to play for West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic- for whom he appeared in the 2006 Carling Cup final, Blackburn Rovers and Reading and also earned an MBE for his charity work away from the game.
In addition to this, he also won ten caps for Grenada, whom he qualified to play for through his father, and made several of those alongside one of his former teammates at Plainmoor, Tony Bedeau.
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
PILGRIMS PROGRESS INTO PLAY-OFFS
A brace from Reuben Reid against manager John Sheridan's former club Chesterfield lifted Plymouth Argyle into the Play-Off zone for the first time this season.
Reid- currently on loan at Home Park from Yeovil Town- struck with a goal in each half for the Pilgrims, whilst Ritchie Humphreys- the current PFA Chairman, who also made his league debut for Sheffield Wednesday alongside Argyle boss Sheridan- replied for the Spireites.
Should the Pilgrims make the top seven come the end of the season, it will be the first time that they have been involved in the Play-Offs since 1996 when they made an immediate return from Division Three under Neil Warnock after beating Darlington at Wembley.
Also Reid is now just two goals away from becoming the first Argyle striker to score 20 goals or more in a season since Tommy Tynan in the 1988-89 campaign.
Reid- currently on loan at Home Park from Yeovil Town- struck with a goal in each half for the Pilgrims, whilst Ritchie Humphreys- the current PFA Chairman, who also made his league debut for Sheffield Wednesday alongside Argyle boss Sheridan- replied for the Spireites.
Should the Pilgrims make the top seven come the end of the season, it will be the first time that they have been involved in the Play-Offs since 1996 when they made an immediate return from Division Three under Neil Warnock after beating Darlington at Wembley.
Also Reid is now just two goals away from becoming the first Argyle striker to score 20 goals or more in a season since Tommy Tynan in the 1988-89 campaign.
SUPER SUB YEOMAN NETS LATE GULLS WINNER
It was a case of cometh the hour, cometh the man for Torquay United as substitute Ashley Yeoman netted the winning goal in their relegation battle with Bury in injury time.
Captain Lee Mansell had given the Gulls the lead when he headed home a Dale Tonge cross on eight minutes, with his first goal since New Year's Day 2013, but Clive Platt levelled for the Shakers on 66 minutes.
Torquay almost regained the lead a minute later when Aussie defender Aaron Downes headed a Danny Stevens corner narrowly over.
However, inside the first minute of four extra added on minutes for injury time, Yeoman- who has spent most of the current campaign on loan at Bideford and Dorchester- pounced from eight yards to score the decisive goal that leaves the Gulls five points from safety.
It was Yeoman's first appearance since he returned from his most recent loan spell with Dorchester, and he picked the perfect opportunity to score what was his first goal for Torquay of the current campaign.
The win is a welcome boost for Chris Hargreaves' side- following the announcement that Joss Labadie won't be appealing against his ten-match ban for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks- and if they can secure another three points again Newport County on Saturday, then things will become very interesting at the bottom of the League Two table.
Captain Lee Mansell had given the Gulls the lead when he headed home a Dale Tonge cross on eight minutes, with his first goal since New Year's Day 2013, but Clive Platt levelled for the Shakers on 66 minutes.
Torquay almost regained the lead a minute later when Aussie defender Aaron Downes headed a Danny Stevens corner narrowly over.
However, inside the first minute of four extra added on minutes for injury time, Yeoman- who has spent most of the current campaign on loan at Bideford and Dorchester- pounced from eight yards to score the decisive goal that leaves the Gulls five points from safety.
It was Yeoman's first appearance since he returned from his most recent loan spell with Dorchester, and he picked the perfect opportunity to score what was his first goal for Torquay of the current campaign.
The win is a welcome boost for Chris Hargreaves' side- following the announcement that Joss Labadie won't be appealing against his ten-match ban for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks- and if they can secure another three points again Newport County on Saturday, then things will become very interesting at the bottom of the League Two table.
Sunday, 16 March 2014
A DEFINING WEEK
The outcome of this week's matches involving Torquay United and Exeter City could go a long way to deciding whether the number of football league teams in Devon drops from three to two, or potentially even one.
Chris Hargreaves' Torquay side host Bury on Tuesday night, a match which sees former Gulls' assistant manager Chris Brass return to Plainmoor, before facing Newport County at Plainmoor on Saturday.
A return of six points from these two homes fixtures would move the Gulls, who lost to Cheltenham on Saturday, up to 39 points, which would- depending on results elsewhere- place them within two or three points of the safety mark.
However, before any match action takes place Torquay have until midday on Monday whether to appeal against Joss Labadie's ten-match ban handed to him by the Football Association for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks during their League Two encounter with the Spireites.
Exeter City- fresh from securing a point in a 1-1 draw with Newport today- will host Fleetwood Town and are desperately in search of their first win at St James Park since October 5th when they beat arch rivals Plymouth Argyle 3-1.
A week before that result, the Grecians won 2-1 away at the Cod Army with emergency striker Scott Bennett netting both goals.
The Pilgrims could do both United and City a big favour if they were to defeat Accrington Stanley, who are one of three teams- including the Grecians, currently locked on 41 points near the foot of the table.
Chris Hargreaves' Torquay side host Bury on Tuesday night, a match which sees former Gulls' assistant manager Chris Brass return to Plainmoor, before facing Newport County at Plainmoor on Saturday.
A return of six points from these two homes fixtures would move the Gulls, who lost to Cheltenham on Saturday, up to 39 points, which would- depending on results elsewhere- place them within two or three points of the safety mark.
However, before any match action takes place Torquay have until midday on Monday whether to appeal against Joss Labadie's ten-match ban handed to him by the Football Association for biting Chesterfield's Ollie Banks during their League Two encounter with the Spireites.
Exeter City- fresh from securing a point in a 1-1 draw with Newport today- will host Fleetwood Town and are desperately in search of their first win at St James Park since October 5th when they beat arch rivals Plymouth Argyle 3-1.
A week before that result, the Grecians won 2-1 away at the Cod Army with emergency striker Scott Bennett netting both goals.
The Pilgrims could do both United and City a big favour if they were to defeat Accrington Stanley, who are one of three teams- including the Grecians, currently locked on 41 points near the foot of the table.
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