Exeter City vs Torquay – One for the memory bank?
Featured on The Exeter City Times Online Blog
It seems the public can’t get enough of their ‘moments’. In recent years we’ve witnessed the ‘100 greatest scary moments’, ‘100 greatest sexy moments’, ‘100 greatest tearjerkers’ and countless others spread over four or five hours on late night Channel 4.
A quick Google search unearths the must-have compilations of ‘100 Greatest Comic Relief Moments’, ‘The 100 Greatest TV Adverts’ and even the ‘100 greatest moments in food history’. There is a desire to see thousands of hours of events chopped up and diluted into a convenient countdown of ‘moments’.
Football writers and fans share this need to list, tally and pour over their favourite moments. You could purchase the ‘100 Greatest moments of the Kop, the surely agonizing viewing of ‘100 Greatest Bolton Wanderers Premiership Goals’ and of course ‘Gary Lineker’s Hot 100’ the VHS from 1996….
Football managers frequently cite defining moments that made their season or maybe began that spiral into mediocrity. In the same way many supporters could pinpoint the moment that they consider to be their greatest or could recall moments where they felt at their lowest ebb as a supporter.
Even on this Times Online some of the best writers in sport, including Brian Granville, have been cataloguing the ‘soul’ of Liverpool, Manchester United, Leeds and Arsenal in 50 moments. Moments that defined the respective clubs and shaped their history.
Putting my Exeter City hat on, there have been some key moments of our season, in fact City fans are currently discussing the biggest single moment of our 52 match season (in all competitions) on the message boards. Some may pluck for the 95th minute equaliser at the Kassam back in September or the 4-3 victory over Torquay on Boxing Day with ten men.
But if any supporter ever correlates their ‘50 Exeter City moments’ in years to come; moments that fans could say defined the club or shaped the future prospects the next week could feature heavily.
Because on Thursday and Monday we face a two-legged Play-Off with a trip to Wembley up for grabs. Two matches where a victory would move us a step closer to a return to league football after five years in the wilderness.
Now, Play Off Semi Finals are undoubtedly huge occasions, live on TV with 180 minutes that will make or break a season. But with the added element of the opposition being our local rivals Torquay and the game moves up another notch on the ‘top moments’ ladder! Local rivals that are a little too close to home.
For those without an encyclopaedic knowledge of Exeter City and Torquay squads, seven players likely to feature in the ties have played for both clubs. Exeter’s Andy Marriott, Richard Logan and Steve Tully have played for the Gulls in recent years whilst Torquay’s Mark Ellis was snapped up by Bolton from Exeter when playing the Under 18’s and has been loaned out.
The other three are a little more contentious. Rice, Todd and Philips all played for Exeter City in last season’s Play-Offs having spent a combined total of eleven years at St James Park. In June they joined then-Exeter assistant manager Paul Buckle, who had spent seven years at Exeter throughout his career. Buckle was unveiled as Torquay United boss and wasted no time in raiding his old club for some familiar faces.
He faced the challenge of rebuilding a Torquay squad that had been relegated from the Football League. After an emphatic start to the campaign, including a purple patch with 18 goals in 15 days in September, the Gulls eventually lost touch with Aldershot who were promoted as Champions. Buckle’s team are a huge danger from set pieces, like to get the ball up to their forwards rapidly and have a squad packed with strikers (six in all) hoping to get on the end of them and do some damage to Exeter’s promotion prospects.
The game will also be only the third meeting between the clubs since February 2003 when defeat at Plainmoor edged Exeter closer to their subsequent relegation. The Boxing Day encounter between the two sides proved to be a 4-3 thriller that swung in Exeter’s favour despite Danny Seaborne’s red card, whilst Torquay sneaked the return fixture 1-0.
Add all these elements into the mix and the recipe is there for two epic ties. I hope any neutrals reading this who fancy watching some rip-roaring, nerve-jangling, unbearable tense football between two even matched sides in front of packed crowds will tune into the Play Off’s on Thursday and Monday on Setanta.
I also hope Exeter City fans will have a bucket load of unforgettable memories to discuss on our way to Wembley!
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