Torquay United suffer another bruising day in defeat at Ebbsfleet

Low on numbers, low on confidence and low on points, Torquay United’s season has entered a precarious position after a painful 3-0 defeat at Ebbsfleet United.

The Gulls are just about clinging on to a play-off place but there was a blatant lack of belief once United fell behind in the first half, and the day got steadily worse, as Ebbsfleet banged in two more goals and Matt Worthington was shown a straight red card.

United’s interim boss Neil Warnock was only able to name four substitutes on the bench with Callum Dolan, Jordan Dyer, Jordan Thomas, Cody Cooke and Sam Dreyer among those unavailable due to injury.

In that context, Warnock opted for a change in formation and United were solid in the early exchanges, without posing much of a threat as an attacking force. Matt Jay did have a pop from distance that flew wide, but it was slim pickings.

Ebbsfleet raised the temperature when Dominic Samuel claims for a penalty were waved away but the home side were soon in front, Samuel taking out his frustration with an angled finish beyond James Hamon.

Samuel almost grabbed a second before the interval, firing the rebound wide from a Hamon save. The second period failed to bring a change in pattern for the Gulls, Hamon tipping over a long-ranger on 55 minutes.

It was, sadly, a brief stay of execution, as the vastly experienced Kwesi Appiah reacted first to a bobbling ball in the penalty area and lashed past Hamon.

Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, arguably United’s best player since the turn of the year, attempted to galvanise his comrades with a determined run and shot from 20 yards that was only narrowly off target.

Unfortunately, a robust challenge from Worthington led to his dismissal and United’s race was run. Ebbslfeet poured further salt into a gaping wound with a third ten minutes from time, Marcus Wyllie gobbling up the rebound after an Appiah header had been blocked.

There is no masking the fact United are on a horrible run and things need to improve quickly!