Dorking (2) 3 Torquay (1) 2

2,801 (745 from Devon)

The game at their place was very tight. They scored a good goal from long range and Baz missed a header from short range in the last seconds.  Our turn to nick it I think, 1-0 with a late winner. 

Have had a read of their two forums and they are very pessimistic and expect us to win.

I take that as a positive and say 2-0 to the Wanderers.

No idea about how tickets are selling but people are very positive so I will say 2,222!

2-1 Dorking (Rutherford and Prior).  2,508 (723 Torquay).  First league game will have seen for a while, so hope team are up to the challenge.

https://x.com/DorkingWDRS/status/1900834526320095336

Club have changed their mind again, and you can pay on the gate today. Club have done this for a couple of matches. Is this a way of ensuring more pre-sales, by making match seem more popular than it is, or just not sold as many tickets as thought? Either way makes sense as you don't want to discourage people coming today if they fancy it last minute.

Getting the vast majority to pre-buy means speedier turnstiles

Also gives the club a heads up as to likely numbers attending, so they can plan staffing, number of volunteers, catering volumes etc

With a capacity over 4k if there is still some capacity then makes sense to allow pay on the day, but that will be a late decision

Thought we paid the price today, for not taking advantage of our dominance in the first half. Torquay defended very well all match and snatched a win. Did not deserve a win, but thought that a draw would have been a fair result. Thought that Norville-Williams had a good game.

Disappointed that they had 4 beers on tap behind Bank,two of each lager, and nothing else.Don't they know people drink other types of beer? Had bottles of cider and Guinness, but no bitter/IPA as far as I could see, and none cold. I therefore went to the Lounge both times I wanted a drink,as at least there they served IPA and cold beer in the fridge.

After today's results, I think the title is beyond us and Worthing are strong favourites. However, second is very much up for grabs. The danger is Weston Super Mare are only 6 points behind. We need to start winning again soon, or could slip out of the playoffs altogether 

@crawleysth The queue was ridiculous pre match and half time too on the Bank Bar, then the card machine went down 😂. One of those days. 
There was a rumour going around that Marc and Brooking had fallen out and he’d been sent on loan somewhere. Not sure how true. 

As for the match, obviously very poor but didn’t deserve to lose. Taylor was very good I thought 

Brooking hasn't gone on loan but also heard the strong rumour that Marc has given him the 'Joe Cook' treatment

Also a bit wierd that Brennan Camp was given the job of looking after the mascots pre-match!!

Usual home performance, totally underwhelming, I don't think we even had a shot. So lets do the usual game management and take Alfie off lol.

Then in the post match interview Marc admits how shit the game was (spot on) but an hour later issues a tweet rallying the support. 

Never a dull moment following this club is there. Haven't got a clue where the team will finish, and I don't think anyone else has either.

Bit off topic (but this is the 'current' thread, but I think Ebbsfleet could be relegated by teatime Saturday

The four teams above them play Tuesday and then Saturday could seal their fate

Heard the rumour about Brooking too. It would be poor man management to let the best player at the club go after one costly mistake. 

I thought we played well for 25 minutes and then the passing wasn’t up to scratch and the long balls created nothing. Didn’t help the attack with Dan G at RB and without Milsom.  Torquay probably had the best of what few chances there were, but 0-0 would have been a fair reflection of a poor game. 

@dorking-eagle They’ve had an awful season haven’t they, so far adrift. Although they did win yesterday.

Hopefully we won’t be playing them next season 

This was the problem with the run-in that we have. I don't think Torquay and Maidstone were particularly great sides by any means but these matches against rivals are always cagey and can go either way which is why I just saw us dropping too many points to pose any real threat to Worthing. 

Other than Worthing, results elsewhere weren't too bad for a change and definitely keeps us in the hunt for top 3. I still do think 7 wins would probably win us the title but I don't see that happening. At least we are back on grass this weekend away at Boreham Wood and we also seem to perform much better in front of smaller crowds so that might help as well.

I do think it is absolutely insane that we can go in to a match with Niall McManus as our starting left winger. He's had an ok few games out there but he doesn't have the ability to cause better teams consistent problems and it really cost us on Saturday. We should have replaced Bowerman months ago but instead we got rid of more wingers by sending Bobby-Joe out on loan (who scored a great goal for Walton & Hersham on Sat...).

Some stats from the game:

Possession: Dorking 56% - 44% Torquay

Shots (On Target): Dorking 8(1) - 13(2) - Our joint lowest shots on target this season

xG: Dorking 0.36 - 0.81 Torquay - Our 2nd lowest xG value this season

Top Performer (Dorking): Tony Craig / Morgan Williams [7.5]