Sloppy 20-minute spell costs Torquay United in the FA Trophy

Torquay United exited the FA Trophy after failing to capitalise on a strong start against Maidstone and then two bad goals conceded at the end of the first half.

The Gulls were stretched to the limit in terms of personnel, with just four substitutes named, including goalkeeper Matt Wonnacott and youngster Aidan Edwards, but the starting 11 showed their prowess in the early stages.

Dan Hayfield and Sonny Fish both came close to scoring, but when the Gulls were struck on the counter, Maidstone quickly doubled their lead and there was no way back after the break.

“In the first 25 minutes, we were fantastic, and then we lost the game in the last 20 minutes of the first half,” said United manager Paul Wotton. “We took a backward step and Maidstone pressed us, and we played into their hands.

“We struck the post with a really good strike from Dan [Hayfield] and their ‘keeper makes a great save against Sonny [Fish]. We were in the ascendancy and playing very well, but their first goal was against the run of play and gave them a massive lift.

“The two goals we conceded were really poor. We had a go at it in the second half but we lacked quality. We huffed and puffed but didn’t force their ‘keeper into making any real saves.

“The first goal is important in any game of football and we went very flat after conceding. I didn’t like us at all in that 20-minute spell. We had to make changes in the second half and we do need some bodies back because it’s very noticeable when you take real quality out of the squad.

“We had to put a centre-back up front, which is far from ideal, but weirdly we had a few chances after doing that. We are low on numbers and something we have to work on.

“The starting line-up was strong and you can see that in the way we started the game but, repeating myself here, the first goal was important and we didn’t react well to that.”