Gary Johnson 'disappointed' with another poor result on the road

Manager Gary Johnson was hard-pressed to find any plusses after his Torquay United side had gone down to another tame away defeat, 3-0 at Dartford.

On a day when the National League South leaders Yeovil Town also suffered a surprise setback at nearby Welling United, losing 4-1, the Gulls slid down to 12th place.

They were comprehensively beaten at Princes Park and were lucky not to concede more than three goals in the space of 14 minutes just before half-time.

“I was disappointed like everyone else with the result,” said Johnson.

“We didn’t play well in the first half. They started the game better, and we didn’t really create enough opportunities.

“We rallied the troops a bit, after they had scored three good goals.

“All in all, it’s difficult to say too much about it.

“Some of the lads need to get their best game back.

“We didn’t do enough, and it’s even more important to go to Eastbourne (on Tuesday) and get a result.”

United had to make a late change when goalkeeper Mark Halstead, who was poised to resume after an absence because of concussion, felt unwell during the warm-up and had to be replaced by Rhys Lovett.

During the second half and at the end of the match, travelling Gulls fans left Johnson and club officials in no doubt about how they felt about the performance and the team’s current position.

United have lost five of their last six away games, conceding 14 goals in the process.