Match Report: Torquay United 0 Maidstone 1

Torquay United paid dearly for a mistake-ridden first-half performance when they suffered their second home defeat of the season and slipped further away from the top of the National League South in front of nearly 2,500 sun-drenched fans at Plainmoor (writes Dave Thomas).

Gary Johnson’s Gulls, down to ten men after defender Ross Marshall’s 29th minute red card, had only themselves to blame as in-form Maidstone United eventually made their extra man count with Sam Bone’s 69th minute winner.

United goalkeeper Mark Halstead pulled off a brilliant penalty save from Maidstone’s 6ft 6in tall leading scorer Levi Amantchi.

But Torquay needed more than that to save them from a second successive league defeat, and they now have to pick themselves up to meet Maidstone again in the FA Cup next Saturday.

United were unchanged from the starting XI which had beaten Hungerford 5-0 in the Cup last week.

Club captain Asa Hall made a long-awaited return after injury, but the Gulls had lost loanees Will Jenkins Davies and Luke Pearce during the week and both Dan Martin and Dillon De Silva were ruled out by injury.

It meant that Johnson had few attacking options from the bench.

But in his worst dreams Johnson could hardly have imagined a worse first half – apart from the fact that United did not concede a goal.

Halstead, Dean Moxey, Ollie Tomlinson and Marshall all had to produce last-ditch defending to keep out a Maidstone side that had no thoughts of playing for a point.

How the visitors failed to finish off at least one of a host of chances is a mystery.

It was a moot point which interval team talk was the angrier – Johnson’s for obvious reasons and George Elokobi’s for his forwards’ failures.

The Gulls were outnumbered in midfield, despite the ceaseless running of Tom Lapslie, who seemed to be further forward than anyone else one moment and further back than anyone the next.

Few players made good decisions, and that muddled thinking was summed up in the 29th minute.

Shaun Donnellan put Marshall in trouble with a too-casual throw, Sol Wanjau-Smith was onto it, went down under a clip from Marshall and referee Jack Bloxham pointed to the spot. Lapslie was booked for his protests, moments before Gulls fans roared for Halstead.

Amantchi drilled the penalty low to Halstead’s right, but United’s goalie dived the right way and tipped the ball round the post.

Johnson moved Donnellan from right-back to centre-back in a new 3-1-4-1 formation with Jarvis a very lone figure up front.

Moxey came up with a goal-saving block from the 6ft 5in Amantchi, before Wanjau-Smith missed a wonderful chance from Amantchi’s run and cross from the right.

As frustrations grew, off the pitch and on it, even Elokobi was booked.

When Covolan dived to save from Jarvis, from a right-wing move between Lapslie and Stobbs in the 45th minute, it was the first stop that the former Gulls keeper had had to make.

Even though they were a man down, Torquay coped pretty well at the start of the second half. More than that, Jarvis missed a big chance seconds after the restart when he rose above his marker to meet a Brett McGavin cross.

Then Stobbs crossed in the 67th minute and Lapslie, who had started the move, headed unmarked over the angle of post and bar with Covolan to beat.

Two minutes later the visitors, after making very heavy weather of it, finally broke through.

Referee Bloxham gave a harsh free-kick against Jarvis, and also booked him, United only half-cleared the high free-kick and Bone, who’d tried his luck from long-range twice before, hit a left-foot shot from 20 yards that may have taken a touch as it bounced past Halstead’s left hand... 0-1.

The odds were even more heavily stacked against Torquay now, but they kept at it as both managers made a series of changes.

They say you always get one more chance, and it fell for Ash in the 84th minute.

Covolan hesitated on a through-ball into his box, Ash was in, but he volleyed over from six yards.

Chance missed, game over.

Torquay United (4-1-3-2): Halstead; Donnellan, Marshall, Tomlinson (Hanson 88), Moxey (Craske 77); McGavin (Hall 77); Stobbs, Lapslie, Collins; Jarvis, Ash; subs not used – Lovett, Thomas.

Sent Off: Marshall 29.

Booked: McGavin 21, Lapslie 30, Jarvis 69.

Maidstone United (3-5-2): Covolan; Brown (Hoyte 83), Fowler, Greenidge; Kyprianou, Corne, Petrasso (De-Graft 72), Bone, Aransibia; Wanjau-Smith (Gbode 62), Amantchi; subs not used – Earley, Sole.

Booked: Petrasso 28, Elokobi (manager) 40.

Referee: Jack Bloxham (Herts).

Attendance: 2,436 (110 Stones fans).