Prediction League Game 6; Torquay (away)

Div3North · 05-09-2010, 21:50

Torquay United

V

AccringtonStanley

Prediction League – Game 6; v Torquay (away)

Early season pace-setters, to the surprise of some (but – given the finish they had to last season – not all); as with most League 2 sides, a very changed squad over the summer – nine players left and 6 joined, most notably (of course) Billy Kee from Leicester, who preferred them to us

, plus others including Guy Branston on a free from Burton (Torquay apparently being his 16th club, if you include loan periods), and Martin Gritton, back at the Gulls on loan from Chesterfield (he played for Torquay from 2002 to 2005) who’s played for 8 teams in 12 years (scoring 70 goals, which isn’t a fantastic return for a striker). Watch out for their number 6, one Kieran Charnock, who many of us would have signed two years ago if we could have …… Their other main danger man is unarguably Chris Zebroski, who played for them in 2007/8, scoring 19 times, before signing for Wycombe, where he stayed only a season and a half (but still stuck in the winner for the Chairboys at the Crown Ground) before he returned to Plainmoor for his second spell on loan, signing once again in the January transfer window.

We’ve a decent record against them; in our first season back we did the double – 2-0 away in Oct 06, with goals from Michael Welch and Gary Roberts, and 1-0 at home. At the end of that season they were relegated to the Conference, coming plum last with 35 points from 46 games, and a goal tally of 36 scored and 63 conceded. They bounced back two years later though, winning the 08/09 Playoff Final 2-0 against Cambridge Utd, and coming back up with Burton Albion, the Conference Champions. Last December we renewed rivalries against them, winning 4-2 at home (Edwards (pen), Proccie, Joyce and Grant getting the goals), before suffering our only defeat by them 2-1 at the end of February, Michael Symes equalising for us after they took the lead early in the second half, only for Darren Kempson to gift them the points with a 95th minute own goal. They ended the season 17th with 57 points, two places and four points below us (but for a very good end of season run they might well have been in a relegation dogfight). They scored 64 and conceded 55 (the only side in the bottom 11 to have a plus goals difference). You’ll all remember that we scored 62 but we conceded 74. Remember, too, the run they put together last season and at the beginning of this without conceding a goal in the league, which ran for many games

They opened their campaign in excellent style, winning their first four League games (Northampton 3-0, Lincoln (away) and Bradford both 2-0 and Port Vale (away) 2-1) before losing 2-1 at Southend last Saturday. They went out of the Carling Cup 1-0 at home to Reading after extra time, but won their JPT match at League 1 Bournemouth 3-0 on penalties after a scoreless 90 minutes. Their 10 League goals have been spread amongst 5 players, but it’s worth noting that Zebroski has 4 and Elliot Benyon has 3

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3pm on Saturday 11th September. Another nil-nil? I doubt it, given their scoring record so far, but you never know ……..

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!

Div3North · 05-09-2010, 21:52

In case players have missed the posts, we accepted two 'early' predictions from people who are away on holiday this week and wouldn't otherwise have been able to play;

LongLostSon has predicted Torquay 2 Stanley 1

ossykid has predicted Torquay 0 Stanley 2