Seven goals, three points and a clean bill of health for Torquay United

The past fortnight has been up there with the more stressful and traumatic in recent history for Torquay United.

Prior to the weekend visit of Eastbourne Borough in the National League South, the club revealed that Callum Dolan and Matt Worthington had been sanctioned following an incident.

Their absence against Easbourne, alongside the likes of Cody Cooke, Ed Palmer and Nashe Sundire, left the Gulls with just five players on the bench, including teenager Aidan Edwards, reserve goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott and new loan signing Sonny Sharples-Ahmed.

In that context, manager Paul Wotton was almost as pleased to emerge from the game injury-free as he was with a thumping 7-0 victory, delivered by a Louis Dennis hat-trick and braces from Dylan Morgan and Jordan Young.

“It is three wins on the trot in the league and four good performances, although I know we lost the game against Hornchurch,” said Wotton. “We were outstanding against Farnborough and Maidenhead, and now Eastbourne as well.

“We’ve been guilty at times of not being ruthless enough, and even in the first half, we could have been 4-0 up a lot earlier. We’ve also come through injury-free, which is the big thing because we’re so depleted.

“When you win 7-0, nobody’s had a poor game. The energy levels were good after a very tough ten days, a lot of disruption, and the players needed that. Training has been flat for obvious reasons, so I’m very proud of them.

“We’ve got an excellent squad when everybody’s fit and we’re praying for no injuries. Jay Foulston went down twice and you’re praying he gets up, so the biggest positive for me is that no-one is injured.

“Since the day we got here, myself and Mikey [assistant manager Mike Edwards], we’ve worked tirelessly on our play, and you can see that. The boys have always had freedom to play; it’s about having the confidence to do that.

“The squad is evolving all the time and getting better. Recruitment is really difficult but we have signed some top players. It is now a time to be united and smile, it helps you through day if you smile.”

Goalscorers Dennis and Morgan echoed their manager’s satisfaction with a fine display ahead of the midweek visit from Worthing.

“It felt really good,” said Dennis. “It’s been a big week for us and we responded really well. We could have scored a lot more in the first half and it was nice we were all setting each other up, it was for the team and everyone got their rewards.”

Morgan added: “We’ve said a few times that we were due to do that to someone. There were some unbelievable performances and people took their chances. If you don’t put in the hard yards, make the runs off the ball, the opportunities don’t open up. Everyone did themselves credit, I’m buzzing for the lads and for the club as a whole after a tough week.”