Torquay United Dominates AFC Stoneham 6-1 in FA Cup

Torquay United brushed aside AFC Stoneham 6-1 in the FA Cup second qualifying round, and Jimmy Ball liked what he saw just as much as the scoreline.

The gap between the sides showed early. Playing against opponents two divisions below them, Torquay settled instantly and killed any hint of an upset within minutes.

Callum Morton set the tone in the sixth minute, putting the Gulls in front and easing any nerves. From there, Torquay dictated everything: tempo, territory, and attitude.

The pressure built and, on 36 minutes, Beaumont-Clark stepped in with a long-range strike to make it 2-0, a goal that underlined the gulf in quality.

Stoneham’s response was immediate, Tom Annetts pulling one back seconds later to give the home side a flicker of hope. It didn’t last long.

That concession merely sharpened Torquay’s edge. Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton took control of the contest before the break, scoring twice late in the half. First, he drove in from the edge of the box on 43 minutes. Then, deep into stoppage time, he finished smartly from a corner to send Torquay in 4-1 up at half-time and firmly out of sight.

The second half became about professionalism and standards rather than jeopardy. Lo-Everton completed his hat-trick midway through the half, capping a ruthless individual display, before Cody Cooke added a stoppage-time sixth to round off a dominant afternoon.

Ball’s satisfaction lay less in the margin, more in the manner.

“Our attitude was good, mentality was good throughout, that's all I wanted really,” he told BBC Radio Devon.

He stressed that if his players approached the tie “properly” and “in a professional, humble manner”, the result would follow.

The message in the dressing room had been clear: performance levels do not drop just because the opposition play lower down the pyramid.

“We just made the players aware of our standards, regardless of who we're playing, when we're playing, what competition we're playing in,” Ball said. “We need to come off the pitch proud of ourselves and proud of our output and proud of our performance.”

Torquay’s attacking play backed up that demand. They picked their way through a deep, crowded defence that set out to frustrate, exactly the sort of FA Cup scenario that can turn awkward if a higher-ranked side drifts off script.

“Attacking-wise we looked good,” Ball said, reflecting on the way his side handled a packed penalty area. At the start of the season he had warned how hard it can be to break down a team that “sits in there very deep and has lots of bodies in there that you've got to navigate,” but this time his players found the answers – and found them emphatically.