A penalty by Tim Sills deep into second-half injury time went some way to banishing the early-season blues that have hung around Plainmoor. Torquay started the season as second favourites to lift the Blue Square Premier title, but they had picked up just five points from the opening seven fixtures, leaving them languishing in eighteenth place before yesterday’s visit of the league’s second-bottom club.

Paul Buckle, the manager, has lost two forwards, Lee Phillips, to Rushden & Diamonds, and Chris Zebroski, to Wycombe Wanderers, but otherwise this is largely the team that fell to Exeter City in last season’s play-offs semi-finals. So quite why they are so bereft of confidence and inspiration must be giving Buckle sleepless nights.

They made the perfect start yesterday when Wayne Carlisle, a summer signing from Exeter, fired them into a tenth-minute lead, but they failed to build on it. All too often they opted for aimless long balls, a tactic that played straight into the visiting team’s hands.

The mood was already turning sour by the time Lee Steele restored parity early in the second half, and Northwich Victoria were looking good value for a third draw of the season.

Torquay huffed and puffed and did create a chance apiece for Sills and Elliott Benyon, but neither was able to apply the right finish. Then, just as the boos were beginning to ring around the ground, Sills seized his opportunity for redemption with an unstoppable shot from the spot.

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