Torquay kept the pressure on Burton Albion at the top of the Blue Square Premier with a 1-0 victory over Roy McFarland’s men.
Third-placed Torquay were being tipped in some quarters to mount a challenge on leaders Burton ahead of the game but, with an 11-point gap to make up and only one game in hand, a victory at the Pirelli Stadium was an absolute must.
Burton had been wobbling after three straight defeats in March and, while they then won three on the trot, Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at Crawley was a major dent to their confidence. Torquay boss Paul Buckle, on the other hand, had told Setanta that he was relishing the game.
“We’re unbeaten in ten, it’s a massive game for both teams and I’m confident that we can get something tonight,” he said.
He could hardly have wished for a better start. Ten minutes in, former Tottenham trainee Danny Stevens picked the ball up out wide on the left and darted in towards goal, leaving a string of defenders helpless before he found the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Burton failed to provide a response and, in the 18th minute, Andy Corbett had to clear Tim Sills’ header off the line to prevent the visitors going two up.
Burton boss Roy McFarland told Setanta he was less than impressed with his players’ efforts in the first half hour.
“I think we’re second to the ball,” he said. “We’re on the back foot and, at home, we need to be on the front foot.
“We’re disappointed with the goal as well – we’ve let him come in from halfway into our half. We should have done a lot better than that really.”
Not long after, things got worse for Burton: Greg Pearson was shown a straight red for a full-blooded challenge on Sills.
In the second half, Burton managed to rally and finally upped the tempo early on, and on-loan Nottingham Forest midfielder Mark Byrne came close on two occasions.
However, Torquay then reasserted their dominance and twice the home side had to scramble the ball away from the line to keep the score at 1-0.
Burton were never able to produce anything more than half-chances in the closing stages and Torquay were able to claim a valuable victory that would see them move within five points of Burton with four games to play if they win their game in hand.
After the game, Buckle told Setanta: “We know we slipped up earlier in the season, but we’re certainly on a good run now.
“If we can win the last five games, who knows?
“The fans believe and we believe, but it’s in Burton’s hands still.”
McFarland, meanwhile, felt his players had let themselves down.
“I think we let them win,” he said.
“When you’re down to ten men, it makes it very hard. It was a definite sending off and you can’t do that – we can’t afford those situations, especially against a team that’s in form.”