Gulls earn impressive draw with Argyle

Over 3,500 fans enjoyed Torquay United battling toe-to-toe with an impressive Plymouth Argyle side at Plainmoor.

The Pilgrims are looking forward to life in the Championship next season, following their promotion under the stewardship of Steven Schumacher, and they showed flashes of real quality, particularly a superb volley goal from record signing Morgan Whittaker on the half-hour.

To their immense credit, United stayed with their opponents and got the reward of a 1-1 draw when Brad Ash headed in a terrific goal after the break.

“To a man, they gave us everything, and that’s what we’ve got to do every week,” said United manager Gary Johnson. “We showed fantastic athleticism to stay with a Championship team.

“We stayed in the game, we had our chances and our crowd enjoyed the game. You love watching football when your team puts in that amount of energy and ability. We haven’t won any points but we can have belief that our group is fit.

“Once again, the manager of a Championship side was nice enough to say we looked a good team and we were a tough test for them. You need to create a reputation and to keep that.

“They scored a fine volley and our goal was super as well. Everybody worked their socks off and they can be proud of themselves for that performance. We haven’t done anything yet [in the League] but we showed what we can do, and I’m pleased our fans got to see that.

“The back three were up against very lively players, who stayed forward, and our lads worked so hard to stop them getting as many chances as they would like.”

United: 1. Mark Halstead (22. Rhys Lovett, HT), 4. Tom Lapslie (7. Jack Kennell, 90+1), 8. Asa Hall (2. Dylan Crowe, 69′), 9. Aaron Jarvis, 10. Lewis Collins (24. Calum Thomas, 75′), 11. Brad Ash (3. Dan Martin, 52′), 14. Brett McGavin, 15. Trialist A, 16. Shaun Donnellan, 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs. Subs Used: 6. Liam Poole, 18. Mason Elliott, 21. Taylor McNally, 28. Jacob Wellington.

Attendance: 3,585 (1,424 away)