Benyon double puts Oxford to the sword

Oxford’s defenders must be sick of the sight of Elliot Benyon. The Torquay striker bagged two goals as the U’s were dumped out of the FA Cup earlier in the season. On Saturday he was at it again - his brace handing Paul Buckle’s side a win that puts them firmly back in the play-off picture.

Often described as the ‘best natural finisher at Torquay’, Benyon has found opportunities hard to come by at Plainmoor this season. But when Iyseden Christie pulled up with an injury deep into the first half, Benyon had his chance. And how he took it, with two opportunist goals that left Gulls manager Paul Buckle delighted.

“Elliot is a good player, and one thing he can do is put the ball in the net.
No one likes being left out, but Elliot was brilliant in training in the next session, as he always has been.

I told him before the game that I believed he would get his chance and his rewards.”

And so it proved. Both goals were typical poachers efforts; the first a close range header after Tim Sills’ original effort had cannoned off the crossbar on 65 minutes, the second coming five minutes later, with the 21 year old finishing coolly after Billy Turley’s goalkick was mishit into his path. Indeed, a case of right place, right time.

Not that Benyon would be complaining. With eleven goals in eleven starts for
United, he could well be key to Torquay’s playoff challenge as we reach the
business end of the season.

In a game filled with controversy, it was Oxford who started the match as
favourites. Buoyed by the impact of Chris Wilder as manager, the U’s had gone into the match on a run of eight wins and a draw from their last nine Blue Square Premier games, and the Kassam Stadium’s biggest gate of the season had turned up to see win number nine.

But Paul Buckle’s side had other ideas. And when Oxford’s Craig Nelthorpe was shown the red card for a wild lunge on Gulls winger Mustafa Carayol after 33 minutes, it seemed the momentum was with the Gulls, as they looked to take the game to ten man Oxford.

Things were soon evened up however. Just minutes after entering the fray, substitute Roscoe Dsane allowed referee Simon Beck the chance to make it 10 vs 10 with a reckless challenge on Damian Batt deep into the Oxford half on 59 minutes. Mr Beck duly obliged, and Dsane was sent off against Oxford for the second time this season.

However, just when it seemed the tide was turning, Benyon struck with a quick fire double, scoring in the 65th and 70th minutes. Oxford had no answer, and the Gulls defence stood firm for a deserved three points that could prove to be crucial come May, something Buckle was quick to stress.

"We needed to win, and we came here to win. We were bold, and we have deserved a lot more than we've got of late.”

For the sake of Torquay’s promotion hopes, many Gulls supporters will be hoping a certain striker gets the chance he sorely deserves for the remainder of this season.