Torquay United 3 Weston-super-Mare 3 - Gulls let lead slip to draw

Torquay United were involved in a six-goal thriller against Weston-super-Mare at Plainmoor this afternoon - but after being 2-0 ahead in 15 minutes, there will be huge disappointment that the game ended 3-3 after the Gulls led twice but had to settle for a point.

Jack Stobbs and Arkell Jude-Boyd put them 2-0 ahead but Weston were level by the 51st minute; Jude-Boyd's second goal came with a bit of luck in the 83rd minute - but the joy was cut short when Reuben Reid struck just four minutes later.

Torquay need all the points they can get with just five games of the season to go now - and this one point does mean they are now five points clear of the relegation places. But three would have been so much better.

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There was only one change from the team that started the game against Yeovil Town on Good Friday, with Ross Marshall coming back into the defence and Austen Booth dropping to the bench. There was no sign of Aaron Jarvis, as expected, but Kevin Dawson was also missing from the 16.

A mix-up at the back by Weston gave Torquay a couple of early chances - but Max Harris in goal blocked a Will Jenkins Davies shot, before Ethon Archer hit the rebound wide. Torquay were energetic from the start, pressuring Weston into more than that early mistake. Weston looked jittery.

Weston put together some good football themselves after that and in the ninth minute Dean Moxey had to clear a shot by Bailey Kempster off the line. But it was 1-0 to Torquay in the 13th minute - with Jude-Boyd making a great forward run and finding Archer to his left. The midfielder danced past a player to find some space in the box and Stobbs hit his low cross home well.

In the 15th minute, Stobbs became the provider. Seeing Jude-Boyd on his own at the back post, the right winger aimed his cross well and Jude-Boyd smashed the ball home from eight yards. A panicky clearance by Harris in the 21st minute fell to Stobbs but he couldn't get his shot away quick enough, and the goalkeeper was back in place to stop the effort.

It was 2-1 in the 27th minute when Jordan Bastin played a one-two on the left hand side, broke into the Torquay box, and hit the ball past Mark Halstead and into the far corner. Moxey had to throw his body in the way of a shot in the box minutes later, when Weston were allowed to penetrate the defence far too easily. Halstead made a brilliant one-handed save from a Robbie Willmott shot, and then Moxey cleared another chance off the line.

Brad Ash tried to sneak a left-footed shot in the far corner in the 34th minute, but Harris wasn't fooled. Weston's James Dodd shot wide from 12 yards moments later. Then Dodds headed a cross from a free kick wide as the game went into one minute of overtime. The fact that it was still 2-1 at half time was remarkable.

A Lloyd Humphries shot from the edge of the area, which was well held by Halstead, was the first chance of the second half.
When Weston broke down the right in the 51st minute, both Jude-Boyd and Archer appeared to have been fouled - but Weston got the ball forward and Kempster got on the end of the cross to make it 2-2.

Lewis Collins came on for McGavin on the hour. A Jude-Boyd shot was blocked and his cross a couple of minutes later, after Torquay had played the ball around well, was too long. Halstead made a good one-handed save to deny Dayle Grubb in the 68th minute.

Ash hit the bar with a difficult chance from a corner after Marshall had a header pushed back out by the goalkeeper; Dobbs sent the ball over the bar from the edge of the area. In the 78th minute, Ash was replaced by Duane Ofori-Acheampong, and the striker almost got on the end of a long throw-in, before the ball popped out to Stobbs, who shot over. A Stobbs volley from the edge of the area in the 82 minute also went over.

A minute later, Jude-Boyd picked up the ball in his own half, took it past a series of players, before shooting from 22 yards. Harris got down to stop the ball - but let it roll through his legs. But in the 87th minute, Reuben Reid turned well on the edge of the Torquay box and aimed a lovely shot right into the far corner of Halstead's net.

Six minutes were added on: a Jude-Boyd shot was stopped by Harris, and Stobbs cut inside in the 95th minute and hit the crossbar with a left-footed strike. Torquay are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Welling United.

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