Match Reaction: ‘Write this off as a bad night’

Torquay United interim boss Aaron Downes accepted his side were well beaten on a gloomy Tuesday night at Plainmoor.

Once again, the Yellow Army turned out in force, despite the wind and rain, but their team failed to match the highs of Saturday’s win over Dartford, as relegation threatened Taunton Town romped to a deserved 3-0 victory.

A quickfire double from Nat Jarvis and Cameron Evans game Taunton control in the first half, and United had no answer in limp display. Substitute Ross Stearn then sealed the points with a stunning strike on the hour.

“We were beaten by the better team, they were superior to us and that’s a disappointment from our point of view,” said Downes. “We were nowhere near the levels we know we can be at and they executed their game-plan a lot better than we did.

“What I’ve got to make sure is that we address this but not let some of the good things we’ve done in the past couple of weeks go to waste, and I’ve reaffirmed that with the players.

“It was nowhere near the levels we expect as a football club and something needs to happen to turn that around for Saturday.

“There are a few areas we need to address because there looked to be more organisation with them than us. We were chasing the game at 2-0 down and then they score with one hell of a strike for the third goal.

“We take nothing away from Taunton because they fought, ran hard and made it difficult for us. We now need a reaction for the Tonbridge game. We need to be better in a few areas before the weekend and I know those boys can do it.

“I will make sure we stick together and hopefully write this off as a bad night because I believe there is more to come from us.”