A stirring second half display saw Fulham thrash Torquay United 4-0 at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
Goals from Lea Barkus, Micky Adams and an own goal by the unfortunate Lee Barrow gave the Cottagers’ a comfortable win, but after the final whistle, Ian Branfoot was honest enough to admit that his side hadn’t played particularly well. There were worrying signs in the early stages as Jamie Ndah’s movement unsettled Fulham’s centre backs.
The £20,000 signing from Horsham made several surging runs from the wing and should have opened the scoring when his rapid acceleration saw him surge clear of Mark Blake and through on goal. He ran through on Tony Lange’s goal, making the most of a speculative long ball from Tom Kelly, but shot wide of the far post.
Fulham struggled to put together the kind of attacking moves that had characterised their encouraging start to the new campaign with Gary Brazil sending one snapshot wide of goal and being denied by a timely intervention from Chris Curran. By contract, the Seagulls looked threatening when they came forward – with Mark Hall heading wide after a lovely move featuring Paul Buckle and Ndah.
The winger thought he’d finally opened the scoring in the final minute of the first half when he prodded a through ball from Mark Hawthorne over the onrushing Lange, only for Blake to hook the ball away from underneath his own crossbar. Torquay paid the penalty for not scoring when they were on top in the second minute of stoppage time when Barkus turned in a cross from Micky Adams at the far post.
Fulham survived a scare ten minutes after the interval when Angus made a desperate tackle to deny Richard Hancox after Simon Travis had opened up a horribly square home defence. The home side went straight up the other end and doubled their lead. Duncan Jupp played Nick Cusack into space on the right wing and his deep ball to the back post was expertly headed home by Adams.
Martin Thomas and Michael Mison went close to extending Fulham’s advantage, before the visitors were enraged that Ndah was not awarded a penalty after challenging Lange and Jupp to a bouncing ball from Hathaway. Alan Wiley awarded a corner – and when Ndah’s backheader set up Kelly for a shot that crashed against the underside of the crossbar and stayed out, Torquay must have known their luck was out.
It got worse in the closing stages. Barrow badly misjudged a header back to goalkeeper Ashley Bayes from a Fulham free-kick and substitute Rory Hammill crept in to volley in a third just twelve minutes after coming off the bench. Barrow then put Brazil’s cross past his own goalkeeper in the final minute as the defender came under pressure from Cusack at the back post.
FULHAM (4-4-2): Lange; Jupp, Herrera, Angus, Blake; Barkus (Hammill 65), Mison, Thomas, Adams; Conroy, Brazil. Subs (not used): Harrison, Moore.
BOOKED: Blake, Angus, Cusack.
GOALS: Barkus (45+2), Adams (56), Hammill (77), Barrow (o.g. 89).
TORQUAY UNITED (4-3-3): Bayes; Barrow, Curran, Gore, Travis; Buckle, Hawthorne (Hathaway 57), Kelly; Hall, Ndah (Byung 85), Hancox (O’Riordan 64).
BOOKED: Hall, Hancox.
REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).
ATTENDANCE: 4,764.
