Report courtesy of the Herald Express

Torquay coach Drew Powell was disappointed that his side didn't win by more, which is possibly a little harsh on the players who plugged away in glue-pot conditions.

Hornets, four off the bottom of the table and struggling to stave off relegation, had little to offer going forward and only once got close to the Tics' try line all afternoon.Torquay had a stack of chances to add to the two tries they did score, but couldn't put them away.

A sympathetic watcher would have made allowance for the finger-numbing conditions, which Powell did. But such was Torquay's dominance they ought to have done a bit more than they did.

"All of us - players and coaches - were disappointed it wasn't 15 or 20 points more as that would have been a more accurate reflection of the game," said Powell.

"We got into all the right positions, which I should be pleased about, but too many of our last passes went to ground.

"If it wasn't the pass going do ground it was making the wrong decision where to send the last pass."

Hornets led for less than a minute early in the first half when stand-off James Buddle kicked them there after Torquay went offside near their own 22.

Matt Jackson equalised almost immediately, then both kickers missed shots at goal in a stalemate first half.

Just before the interval Torquay nosed ahead when skipper Ben Passenger punted for the corner and speedy wingman Matt Allanson chased up to claim the try.

Torquay controlled the ball for long periods in the second half, but extra points proved elusive.

Allanson appeared to have bagged a second try on 54 minutes when he crossed on the left, but referee Darren Becconsall from Cornwall called play back to give Torquay a penalty under the posts for offside!

As Mr Becconsall had been playing penalty advantage when Allanson crossed, the assumption was there had been a forward pass in the build up to the try that never was, but no explanation was forthcoming.

Jackson took the three points on offer and Torquay were 11-3 up.

Three minutes into stoppage time Torquay finally got their running act together when the impressive Matt Williams ran the ball out from full-back, Allanson came round from his wing to the right to offer support and an instant overlap was created for Ollie Pitts to fly over by the flag.