Despite making a strong start to the season and spending the whole of August at the top of the table, Torquay's form was soon to dip to the extent that they were only to win another three League matches by the end of the year.

This was despite the sale of leading goalscorer Elliot Benyon to Swindon and the fact that the Gulls were docked one point by the Football League for fielding loan signing Jake Robinson while still ineligible to play.

[3] Another (more recent) fan favourite, Guy Branston also re-joined the Gulls, with the combative defender agreeing a permanent one-year deal having been on loan from Burton Albion for the latter half of the 2009–10 season.

The Torquay defence proved as resilient against the Championship side as it had been against every other team it had encountered since the beginning of April, and it was not until the very last minute of extra time that Royals striker Grzegorz Rasiak finally found a way past keeper Scott Bevan.

After turning down an offer from an unnamed League One side for defender Mark Ellis, manager Paul Buckle was relieved to reach the end of the summer transfer window without losing any of his squad.

With summer signings Billy Kee and Martin Gritton yet to register on the goalscorer charts, and Elliot Benyon out injured for the Accrington game and on the bench for most of the Stevenage match, the Gulls were starting to look a little light up front, despite the best efforts of the versatile Chris Zebroski who was being employed as both winger and striker.

After being informed by chairman Simon Baker that the club's playing budget had been cut,[15] Paul Buckle now found his options limited as he attempted to revive Torquay's flagging league campaign.

[16] It was also made known that the club would be open to offers for defender Kieran Charnock who had struggled to break up the central defensive partnership forged by Mark Ellis and Guy Branston.

Winger Romone Rose became the second loanee from Neil Warnock's QPR, signing a three-month deal, while the young Wolves striker Ashley Hemmings joined Torquay, like Oastler, on a one-month contract.

However, the performance of the month was probably the impressive 3–1 win over promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park, a result which saw Torquay move above the Chairboys into sixth place in the League Two table.

While possibly not the money-spinning draw that either team was hoping for, it was at least a game which, on recent form, gave the Gulls a very realistic chance of progressing to the FA Cup fourth round.

[21] With the loan window about to close, leading striker Elliot Benyon appeared to be on the verge of leaving Torquay, with Swindon, Dagenham & Redbridge and Southend among the clubs reported to have been interested in making a move for the young forward.

However, the December curse seemed to have been applied to the entire Football League, with a large number of matches being postponed due to the freezing weather conditions which hit the UK throughout most of the month.

With their unprecedented clean sheet record of earlier in the season a dim and distant memory, the Gulls were now too often succumbing to late goals with a total of seven points being dropped in the dying moments of the games against Oxford, Morecambe and Gillingham.

The most encouraging display of the month was reserved for the fewer than 2,000 spectators who turned out at Plainmoor for the 2–1 win over in-form Crewe Alexandra with Torquay claiming their first home victory in the league since October.

Unfortunately, despite being the first ball pulled out of the drum, the Gulls yet again missed out on the chance of meeting one of the so-called "big boys", instead having to entertain the winners of the yet to be played match between Crawley Town (the only non-league team left in the competition) and Derby County of the Championship.

When new loan signing Jake Robinson scored after ten minutes of his debut against Hereford on the first day of the month, Torquay United looked set to put the misery of their FA Cup exit behind them.

[38] With Torquay now having to wait for a decision on any punishment from the FA, the club had to make the most of a busy February schedule which included a further six League Two encounters following the disastrous Hereford game.

These matches saw Paul Buckle begin to experiment with his squad selection with second choice keeper Danny Potter being brought in to give Scott Bevan a well-deserved break and left back Lathaniel Rowe-Turner deputising for the ever-present Kevin Nicholson.

[43] With Buckle eventually negotiating for both forwards to remain with Torquay until the end of the season, the Gulls now had a variety of attacking options with the likes of Jake Robinson, Chris Zebroski, Eunan O’Kane and Billy Kee already causing problems to opposition defences.

In fact, Torquay seemed to be experiencing more problems against teams lower down in the division; the only defeat of the month came away to Aldershot and the Gulls only just managed to sneak a point with a 91st minute Guy Branston header to secure a 3–3 draw away at Macclesfield.

[44] That match against Cheltenham resulted in a relatively comfortable three points for Torquay and the Gulls went into their final fixture of the month, a Friday night trip to Northampton, full of confidence.

That match effectively ended Torquay's hopes of clinching an automatic promotion place and was also Ronan Murray's final game for the club as he was recalled by Ipswich a few days later.

However, not for the first time this season, Torquay managed to surrender a two-goal lead and had to rely on a stunning 78th-minute strike from Billy Kee to rescue a point in a thrilling 3–3 draw.

This meant all three teams would go into the final day of the season tied on 68 points with just two play-off spots remaining, although Torquay's superior goal difference left them in pole position.

As the last day of the regular season arrived, and with Torquay, Stevenage and Gillingham separated only by goal difference, it was vital for the Gulls to do everything they could in their match with Rotherham to ensure they secured one of the two remaining play-off berths.

Meanwhile, with goals going in at the Stevenage and Gillingham games, Torquay found themselves in 6th, 7th and 8th position at various times during the afternoon and, when Oliver Banks put Rotherham 3–1 ahead in the 80th minute, they were now relying on scores from elsewhere if they were to book a place in the play-offs.

While Stevenage secured their place with an enthralling 3–3 draw against Bury, the Gulls were ultimately indebted to Chesterfield who, by beating Gillingham 3–1, not only clinched the League Two title for themselves, but also made sure that Torquay would finish the season in the final play-off spot, ahead of the unfortunate Gills on goal difference alone.

The draw meant that Torquay United had done enough to ensure their place in the play-off final where the opponents would be their old Conference rivals Stevenage, who secured their own spot thanks to a 3–0 aggregate win over Accrington Stanley.

This was the same man who had overseen the disastrous FA Cup fourth-round match with Crawley Town, the team who, ironically, had prevented Torquay from making an earlier trip to Old Trafford.