Perfect Start For Hargreaves

New manager Chris Hargreaves got exactly what he wanted from the team in his first match in charge against Wimbledon last weekend.

Travelling away for the game Torquay had a very good and spirited first half and took a deserved two goal lead thanks to goals from Krystian Pearce and Jayden Stockley, and then in the second half when Wimbledon did all they could to get back into the game, we managed to keep a clean sheet that we could celebrate along with all three points.

Speaking to the Official Site following the game, Hargreaves was extremely cautious in warning that there was still far more needed – not least results – but he was delighted to see the players give him the commitment and desire he had asked for ahead of the game.

‘All the players were magnificent and I thank them for making it such a good day. Those that didn’t play were unbelievable as well, giving great support to those out on the field before the match and in the dressing room. I asked the team to go out and make a statement of intent, and they did that, we had a plan and the players carried it out.’

The gaffer goes on to say that he had to credit both scorers because Pearce did so well at both ends of the pitch in the game, and the build up for Stockley’s goal he really enjoyed.

Pleasingly for the gaffer as well, not only did he get to see what we could do going forward, but he saw what we could do in defence because we were under pressure, but nobody panicked, they kept their shape and covered each other so he clearly knows what he has to work with over the second half of the season but he’s not daft enough to think this is the corner turned and that we won’t have dark moments in the coming months either.

We are now unbeaten in two though and the three points put us well within the pack for coming out of the bottom reaches of the table if we can build on this and push on now. Winning six and losing twelve isn’t a fantastic record from our opening 26 matches, but the league is so tight and had we picked up another ten points over the course of the first half of the season we would actually be in 10th place, so the fat lady certainly isn’t singing yet and there are plenty of games left.

What Hargreaves will be looking for now is for us to maintain the standards we set, and try and improve further from that, because then more results should go for us.