Gulls Take Flight

Keating's Late Winner Sinks Southport in Tense Basement Battle
 

- Alan Jones

THEY say good things come to those who wait, and after a wretched start to the calendar year, Torquay United left it late to secure a win when they needed it most.

A return of only six points from ten matches in 2017 had taken Kevin Nicholson’s team into the relegation zone, but just when things were starting to look bleak, they hauled themselves back above the safety line thanks to Ruairi Keating’s stoppage time winner.

Having travelled separately from his team-mates after a sickness bug this week, Keating came off the bench to secure victory in a crucial game at Southport, the National League’s bottom club.

With the home team pressing for a winner of their own, Torquay plundered the points with a clinical counter-attack, Dan Sparkes breaking forward before releasing Keating, the 21-year-old Irishman, to score his first goal in English football.