Men
National League South Sat 12 August Plainmoor
Torquay Utd
0
Worthing
  • Aguiar (30')
  • Pearce (68')
  • Meekums (90')
3
0-3

Adam Hinshelwood made two changes to the side that defeated Tonbridge Angels on the opening day, with Odei Martin Sorondo earning his first start and Liam Vincent making an immediate return to the starting eleven at the start of his second loan to the club from Portsmouth.

The game began as a cagey affair with a string of contentious decisions, Torquay struggled to find their rhythm and Worthing took some time to find control of the ball.

But after 15 minutes the Reds had found their confidence, Ricky Aguiar’s audacious attempt that looped onto the crossbar was a sign of things to come. 

A string of half-chances followed, the pick of the bunch being a teasing pass from Joe Felix across the face of goal, Greg Luer was an inch away from putting the visitors in front.

Undeterred, the Rebels would keep hunting for their breakthrough and they soon found it on the half hour mark. Nicky Wheeler floated his cross into the centre of the box to find Ricky Aguiar who leapt above the on-looking defenders to nod the ball home.

Despite some late pressure from the hosts Worthing’s grip on the game would hold, and they went in at the break deservedly in front.

The beginning of the second half saw the game explode into an end-to-end counter-attacking masterclass, the heavy pressure Torquay piled onto the rebels defence opening the game up for both sides. 

Within a minute it had forced a rare error from Michael Klass that gifted possession in the box and left Roco Rees scrambling to deny Aaron Jarvis, Joe Rye’s crucial block preventing an equaliser. It would prove to be the biggest scare of the afternoon.

Within 5 minutes the Reds had adapted and never looked back, the lightning pace of Joe Felix and mazy ball control of Aguiar caused the Torquay defence all sorts of trouble, creating an onslaught of chances that didn’t let up until the air escaped the referees whistle.

Greg Luer was a handful and had his pick of the chances; his near post effort was his final contribution of the game before making way for Ollie Pearce on the 66th minute.

Typically, it was a mere 2 minutes before Pearce had doubled the advantage, an outstanding run from the halfway line culminated with him cutting in from the left-hand side of the box and curling his shot into the far corner.

By now Worthing were in complete control and still on the hunt for more goals, the press from Felix again paid off, leading to a three on one situation where substitute Juan Luque was denied a first league goal by an outstanding close range save by Torquay’s man of the match, Mark Halstead.

But the ‘keepers resolve was finally broken again on the 88th minute, Klass excellently dispossessed the ball and sent Reece Meekums through on goal to slide the ball under the goalkeeper.

It capped off an incredible Worthing display, a historic 3-0 win for the Rebels to send them to the top of the National League South table.