Torquay United go second in table after last-minute win

Dean Moxey comes up with late, late goal

Torquay United soared to second place in National League South with a 3-2 win which saw them give Hemel Hempstead a taste of their own medicine.

The Tudors players had celebrated long and loud after coming from behind in the dying minutes to beat Torquay 3-2 in Hertfordshire in September.

This time it was United who fought back from two goals down to clinch all three points with a goal from veteran defender Dean Moxey in the last minute of normal time.

“People love dramatic games, especially when it goes in your favour in the last minute,” said Gulls boss Gary Johnson. “We had the disappointment when went to Hemel. They celebrated big and demoralised us for the trip home.

“This time we got the late one so we got our own back, and made them feel like we felt last time.

“Honours even.”

Torquay showed signs of their current injury crisis, with Brad Ash and Tom Lapslie still missing, and joining a long queue of players for the treatment table.

And when the home side went two goals behind in the first 12 minutes it looked like being a bleak midwinter afternoon. First Joe Iaciofano scored from the spot after Torquay keeper Mark Halstead was judged to have brought down Tyrese Briscoe, and then Kyla Ajayi got up to head home a corner from close range.

For a while there was tension on the terraces, but Torquay quickly steadied the ship. Midfielder Ryan Hanson claimed his first goal at Plainmoor with a low drive from the edge of the box, and then Ethon Archer grabbed his first Torquay goal when he stabbed home a loose ball.

Four goals in the first quarter of the game promised a glut, but the game was tighter from then on.

Halstead made two superb second half saves to keep the scores level, while at the other end Archer and Theo Williams worked hard up front for the Gulls with no reward.

The winning goal came in the 90th minute when Brett McGavin fired a textbook low cross into the box, the ball curling between the keeper and his defenders until it reached Moxey at the far post, where it was driven high into the net.

The only lasting disappointment of the afternoon for Torquay was a red card for McGavin in stoppage time for a second bookable offence. The playmaker and dead ball specialist will miss Tuesday night’s trip to Taunton as a result.