Torquay United need a win in relegation six-pointer at Taunton Town

Torquay United need to win three points from Taunton Town tonight to avoid being involved in a final-day relegation scrap played out in different postcodes.

After the Gulls were beaten 1-0 by Bath City on Saturday, the threat of relegation from the National League South to the Southern League became very real with two games to go. Having had 11 points taken off them by the league, Torquay are now one place above the relegation zone, with 47 points, a place and two points above Taunton, who occupy the final relegation place, with the bottom three - Dartford, Havant & Waterlooville and Dover Athletic already gone.

Win at Taunton and Torquay will be safe on account of the fact that one of Taunton or Hemel Hempstead Town, who only have one game left, would finish on less points than Torquay, whatever the Gulls do on the last day against Havant & Waterlooville, because they play each other on the last day. But if tonight's game goes the wrong way, Torquay would start Saturday's final game against Havant & Waterlooville inside the relegation zone.

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But with Eastbourne Borough also still in danger, Torquay need to concentrate on their own games - and getting six points tonight, and on Saturday. To think that it is just under three years ago that the Gulls were in a penalty shoot out to go back into the Football League.

Interim manager Aaron Downes said about the Taunton game, after the defeat at play-off chasing Bath: “It’s a big game, of course it is. We go into the game, we win the game, and we are virtually safe. So we know that there is a reward at the end of it. The motivation and the energy is in that.

“I have got to make sure that the players are in the right place, the right frame of mind, and they can go there and do their jobs better than what we have done today.”

It was a lack of decent chances that left Torquay goalless at Bath. They weren’t all bad but with both Aaron Jarvis and Duane Ofori-Acheampong missing, Brad Ash was being asked to play the striker’s role alone - with perhaps a bit of help from midfielder Ethon Archer. And when Downes threw caution to the wind late on, he sent centre back Asa Hall up front, with 17-year-old striker Jacob Wellington remaining on the bench.

First and foremost at Taunton, Torquay need to create chances. Secondly, they need to take some of them. Ofori-Acheampong is a possible returnee but don’t hold your breath about Jarvis, whose knee injury doesn't seem to be going away. Kevin Dawson is also an injury doubt, as is Dan Martin.

So once again the squad will be severely tested, which is why three points at Taunton is an absolute must. The squad is at breaking point as it is, and with a transfer embargo, Downes cannot bring anyone else in, even if he could afford to.

When Matt Buse's penalty was touched over the bar on that day at Ashton Gate, who would have thought that it would come to this - Torquay needing to win at Taunton, and get a favour from Weston-super-Mare, to avoid going into the final day of the 2023-24 season in danger of dropping into the Southern League.

The important games are - Tuesday: Taunton Town v Torquay United, Weston-super-Mare v Eastbourne Borough, Truro City v Dover Athletic.
Thursday: Taunton Town v Weston-super-Mare, Truro City v Weymouth.
Saturday: Braintree Town v Eastbourne Borough, Dartford v Truro City, Taunton Town v Hemel Hempstead Town, Torquay United v Havant & Waterlooville.

Note: This article was updated to address some muddled maths.

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