Player ratings.

[optipez]

Haven't contributed to one of these for ages so here goes.

Slocombe 6. Quiet day but handling was pretty good and was calm with a tight defence in front of him.

Brindley 7. Very strong performance , challenged for everything, used the ball pretty well and got forwards.

DKE 6.5 . Competed very well as always , tireless, does really well on his wrong side.

Rawlinson 7. Rock solid, back to his best.

Lacey 7.5. Best game of the season, quietly snuffed everything out without ever looking flustered.

Doyle 6.5 . Played well, got further forwards wasted very few passes.

Reeves 6.5. Got lucky with a sloppy pass early second half but always available for the ball and does cover a lot of ground.

Enzio 5.5. Thought he had a relatively poor game today. On his heels rather than his toes, didn't create much for the strikers and can't help feel there's something cautious and timid in his play when he should be more positive. He has more to give but too often can't seem to deliver it.

Rodriguess 7.5. Much better in the middle just behind the striker. Our most creative player, made a few passes in the first half that Charlie Slater said were wayward but I thought his team mates were slow to anticipate at times.

Effiong 6.5. Strong player and should get better. Could be a great partner for Wootton or Knowles. Held the ball up, has pace and power and offers us something we've lacked.

Wootton 7. Got through tons of work and if we feed him he will score.

Subs

Sam 6. Did ok
JOB. 6. Not on long but did ok.

Enjoyed the game, thought a draw was fair. Defence looks back to its best and the midfield looked more positive than of late, more forward momentum, less side to side.
Hopefully we'll get some momentum going with a run of games and start to score some goals. Thought we looked a better team today than we have for most of the season against strong opposition.

[magpie_mania]

Haven't contributed to one of these for ages so here goes.

Slocombe 6. Quiet day but handling was pretty good and was calm with a tight defence in front of him.

Brindley 7. Very strong performance , challenged for everything, used the ball pretty well and got forwards.

DKE 6.5 . Competed very well as always , tireless, does really well on his wrong side.

Rawlinson 7. Rock solid, back to his best.

Lacey 7.5. Best game of the season, quietly snuffed everything out without ever looking flustered.

Doyle 6.5 . Played well, got further forwards wasted very few passes.

Reeves 6.5. Got lucky with a sloppy pass early second half but always available for the ball and does cover a lot of ground.

Enzio 5.5. Thought he had a relatively poor game today. On his heels rather than his toes, didn't create much for the strikers and can't help feel there's something cautious and timid in his play when he should be more positive. He has more to give but too often can't seem to deliver it.

Rodriguess 7.5. Much better in the middle just behind the striker. Our most creative player, made a few passes in the first half that Charlie Slater said were wayward but I thought his team mates were slow to anticipate at times.

Effiong 6.5. Strong player and should get better. Could be a great partner for Wootton or Knowles. Held the ball up, has pace and power and offers us something we've lacked.

Wootton 7. Got through tons of work and if we feed him he will score.

Subs

Sam 6. Did ok
JOB. 6. Not on long but did ok.

Enjoyed the game, thought a draw was fair. Defence looks back to its best and the midfield looked more positive than of late, more forward momentum, less side to side.
Hopefully we'll get some momentum going with a run of games and start to score some goals. Thought we looked a better team today than we have for most of the season against strong opposition.

Mostly agree.

I would up DKE and Doyle to 7.

Wootton - had a great chance though

[Elite_Pie]

Can't be arsed with individual ratings, but once again we had too many average performances, nobody was especially poor or good. I would probably give Rodriguez MOM, because most of our creative moments involved him. Enzio and Wootton disappointed, both are capable of better. On the face of it a draw against the top of the league isn't a bad result, but it's not what we needed. Torquay will definitely be the happier of the two teams, and the playoffs are now our only realistic ambition.

[Ayeayeskipper]

Haven't contributed to one of these for ages so here goes.

Slocombe 6. Quiet day but handling was pretty good and was calm with a tight defence in front of him.

Brindley 7. Very strong performance , challenged for everything, used the ball pretty well and got forwards.

DKE 6.5 . Competed very well as always , tireless, does really well on his wrong side.

Rawlinson 7. Rock solid, back to his best.

Lacey 7.5. Best game of the season, quietly snuffed everything out without ever looking flustered.

Doyle 6.5 . Played well, got further forwards wasted very few passes.

Reeves 6.5. Got lucky with a sloppy pass early second half but always available for the ball and does cover a lot of ground.

Enzio 5.5. Thought he had a relatively poor game today. On his heels rather than his toes, didn't create much for the strikers and can't help feel there's something cautious and timid in his play when he should be more positive. He has more to give but too often can't seem to deliver it.

Rodriguess 7.5. Much better in the middle just behind the striker. Our most creative player, made a few passes in the first half that Charlie Slater said were wayward but I thought his team mates were slow to anticipate at times.

Effiong 6.5. Strong player and should get better. Could be a great partner for Wootton or Knowles. Held the ball up, has pace and power and offers us something we've lacked.

Wootton 7. Got through tons of work and if we feed him he will score.

Subs

Sam 6. Did ok
JOB. 6. Not on long but did ok.

Enjoyed the game, thought a draw was fair. Defence looks back to its best and the midfield looked more positive than of late, more forward momentum, less side to side.
Hopefully we'll get some momentum going with a run of games and start to score some goals. Thought we looked a better team today than we have for most of the season against strong opposition.

Slocombe, did everything I'd expect a keeper to do. Brindley and DKE were my joint MOTM's. Rawlo was ordinary, Lacey better. Doyle and Jake were crap, Rodders, flattered to deceive. Enzio.....moving on. Effiong, showed promise. Big Bert disappointed. Lucky to get a draw.....just my thoughts.

[ThaiPie]

Slocombe 7 Nothing to do but did the nothing well.

Brindley 7. Got stuck in and got booted in the nose for his troubles.

DKE 7 . Needed his high energy against Torquay

Rawlinson 8. Organised

Lacey 8. No ring rust, shined

Doyle 7 . Good performance.

Reeves 7. Underrated by some, good all around performance.

Enzio 6. It wasn't happening for him today but he played his part in weathering the Torquay gale.

Rodriguess 8. Always looked the likely source of a goal scoring assist..

Effiong 6 Looked a handful but didn't make it count. With some match sharpness lookout!

Wootton 6. Had the chance of another match winner, couldn't quite manage it this time.

Subs

Sam 6.
JOB. 6.

Neil Ardley - 8 Seemed to have done his homework and the clean sheet against free scoring league leaders some reward.

Torquay - I thought they wouldnt be able to maintain that level of pressing for long but they seemed very fit.

[nw6pie]

Was it just me that thought Slocombe got away with some dodgy positioning yesterday? He was caught in no-man’s-land a few times coming off his line for crosses he had no hope of getting. Mind you, it was over three weeks since his last game, so some rustiness was to be expected.

Good to see Alex Lacey back playing at the same level as last season, he’s been missed. We’re going to need him (and another centre half) to get through this glut of games coming up.

As for the midfield, I remember two excellent bits of play by Doyle (dangerous cross; great cross-field ball to Ruben), but only a horrible pass by Reeves that could have led to a Torquay goal. Interesting to me that NA persists with two small guys in the centre of the park - just like him in his playing career. Maybe we need a Vinnie Jones-type to make us less nice to play against?

[the_anticlough]

Was it just me that thought Slocombe got away with some dodgy positioning yesterday? He was caught in no-man’s-land a few times coming off his line for crosses he had no hope of getting. Mind you, it was over three weeks since his last game, so some rustiness was to be expected.
?

I thought the commentators were wrong about the time he came for a ball in the second half. If you follow the flight of the ball, it would've fallen right to their player for an easy chance, if Slocombe hadn't come. His suspect judgement saved us there!

Overall, he was well worth a 7. He might have released the ball quicker, but the outfield players had shown how casually they could lose the ball in their own half, so I don't blame him for holding onto it a bit longer in this game.