Match report written by Rob Hammett, photography by Mark Stainer.

Weston’s long unbeaten run in Vanarama National League South came to an end after their 4-2 defeat at Torquay United at a soaking wet Plainmoor. 

The Seagulls travelled down to Devon and made one change to the starting eleven following Saturday’s dramatic 4-3 victory over Farnborough, as captain Emlyn Lewis replaced Jason Pope.

Weston started the strongest of the two sides, with Jacob Jagger Cane and Lewis forcing The Gulls’ backline into some urgent defending, before Lewis and Billy Kirkman made some terrific last-ditch tackles to deny the Devon outfit at the other end.

Torquay were now on top as Max Harris did well to get down and push Omar Mussa’s shot around the post. 

That proved to be a pivotal save as Weston took the lead in their next attack. A ball forward was collected by Sam Pearson, who took a lovely touch before releasing Luke Coulson in space. He ran in behind the Torquay defence and remained calm and composed before sending the ball past James Hamon for his thirteenth goal of the season.

The Seagulls threatened to make it two shortly after as Reid’s superb pass in behind was steered just wide by Pearson. 

It was proving to be an end-to-end encounter, as expected, and Torquay equalised when Lirak Hasani’s shot from the edge of the area found the bottom corner.

And not long after, The Gulls took the lead when Will Jenkins-Davies picked up a loose ball, before driving forward and seeing his shot across goal agonisingly creep into the corner of the net.

Incredibly, the scoring for the first-half didn’t end there. Coulson now provided yet another assist as his corner flashed across the six-yard box, and Sam Avery tucked home to equalise.

The breathtaking action continued as  the hosts were awarded a penalty in first-half injury-time. 

Up stepped Cody Cooke, who struck it fiercely but Harris dived full-length to his right to make an absolutely outstanding save.

HALF-TIME: Torquay United 2-2 Weston-super-Mare AFC

The first-half had been extremely dramatic, and the second period looked like it was going to follow suit when there was another major incident.

Former Torquay man Reid managed to free himself from some Gulls’ defenders until he was challenged vigorously from behind by Hasani, who was given a straight red card by the referee, much to the disgust of the partisan home crowd.

With the one-man advantage, Weston were able to get back on top. Pearson had another opportunity that went just wide after a great pass from Chamberlain, before Keiran Thomas had plenty of space around the edge of the area, but his shot narrowly missed the target as well.

Coulson drove stylishly forward with the ball and set up the influential Reid, but Hamon turned his venomous effort around the post. The experienced striker also went close again after a good pass from Avery had set him up.

Eventually, Torquay were able to assert themselves as the conditions deteriorated, and they got themselves back in front when Cooke made amends for his penalty miss by putting The Gulls ahead once more.

As Weston searched for another equaliser, they were unfortunately caught out as Dan Hayfield broke down the right, before squaring the ball to Cooke, who completed his brace and inflicted The Seagulls’ first defeat in sixteen league games.

It proved to be a tough night on a boggy, saturated pitch at Plainmoor, but The Seagulls go again this weekend when they visit Worthing in their final Vanarama National League South of a hectic November. 

FULL-TIME: Torquay United 4-2 Weston-super-Mare AFC (Hasani, 29′, Jenkins-Davies 34′, Cooke 69′, 79′; Coulson 16′, Avery 41′).

Weston: Harris; Thomas, Kirkman (Bastin 84′), Lewis, Avery; Jagger Cane, Dodd, Chamberlain (McCootie 62′); Coulson, Pearson, Reid.

Subs not used: Absalom, Kadji, Bak. 

Attendance: 2,987 (96 Weston fans).

Man of the Match: Jacob Jagger Cane. Yet another hard-working performance in the midfield engine room from the number 7.