Stevenage started the game strongly and in the 41st minute took the lead when Darius Charles passed to John Mousinho whose strike from 20 yards (18 m) flew into the bottom corner of the Torquay United goal.

The home side doubled their advantage in first-half stoppage time after Eunan O'Kane's 20-yard (18 m) strike beat the Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Ben Smith.

Torquay United's goalkeeper Scott Bevan was forced to make a number of saves while his side also went close to scoring, but the deadlock failed to be broken.

Stacy Long opened the scoring for the home side with a 15-yard (14 m) strike which took a deflection off Sean Hessey before finding the Accrington Stanley net.

Darius Charles's 30 yards (27 m) volley then hit the Accrington Stanley goalpost and rebounded to Joel Byrom who scored just before half time.

The visiting side went closest to scoring in the second half when Jimmy Ryan struck the ball against his teammate Sean McConville when the Stevenage goal was undefended, and the match ended 2–0.

After a goalless first half, two Accrington Stanley players were sent off: Joe Jacobson was dismissed for a late tackle on Lawrie Wilson before Sean McConville was shown the red card for lashing out after the initial sending-off.

Manager Paul Buckle was appointed in June 2007;[23] his team lost the 2008 FA Trophy Final,[24] but returned to Wembley one year later for play-off success against Cambridge United.

[22] In the meetings between the sides during the regular season, the match at Broadhall Way in September 2010 ended in a goalless draw while the game at Plainmoor the following March saw a 2–0 victory for Torquay United.

Darius Charles passed the ball in-field to Craig Reid but his shot from 12 yards (11 m) was blocked by Torquay United's Guy Branston.

Charles' pass then found John Mousinho on the edge of the Torquay United penalty area but his low shot was held by Bevan.

On the half-hour mark, Lawrie Wilson made a break and after Bevan failed to clear his cross, Charles struck the ball over the Torquay United crossbar.

Tomlin was clear in the Stevenage box in the 37th minute but was tackled by Roberts, then Charles headed Long's cross into the ground and over the Torquay United bar.

Five minutes in, Kee was sent clear with a pass from Kevin Nicholson and went one-one-one with the Stevenage goalkeeper Chris Day but his weak shot was deflected round the goalpost.

With seven minutes of regular time remaining, Torquay United made a double-substitution, with Danny Stevens and Lathaniel Rowe-Turner coming on for Robinson and Nicholson.