Harrogate Town created club history when they reached the second round of the F A Cup for the first time by defeating League Two Torquay United.
Town created an early chance when Danny Forrest broke through to shoot at Michael Poke. Craig McGillivray was called into early action to save from Nathan Craig, after he had been played in by Billy Bodin.
The decisive moment came in the twentieth minute. Kevin Nicholson slipped on the edge of the area and lost possession to Dwayne Samuels,
he found Tom Platt whose pass was turned in by Chib Chilaka via the inside of the far post.
This stung Torquay into action and McGillivray had to turn a Lee Mansell header round the post,before Aaron Downes and Bodin both squandered chances to level the scores.
Not that Town were overawed,and in a good counter attack,once again Platt and Forrest combined well to create an opening for Luke Dean,who forced Poke into a diving save.
The Town defence, who had been troubled by some dangerous through balls in the first half,had a superb second period.
Rightly praised by Simon Weaver after the match,they shackled the experienced home forwards.
The home fans were brought to their feet after 57 minutes when Rene Howe raced through to convert Bodin’s through ball,only to be silenced by linesman Mark Derrien’s correctly raised offside flag.
Forrest and Paul Beesley, who had run their hearts out for the cause, were replaced by Jonny Allan and Dan Clayton to give Town fresh life.
Adam Bolder and Allan made an opening for Chib Chilaka to make it two but his drive was inches high.
Torquay sub Niall Thompson made an immediate impact when he appeared, firstly scooping a Howe pass over from close range and then foring a brilliant defensive header from Shane Killock.
Torquay huffed and puffed,with skipper Mansell heading over and Downes and Brian Saah both missing a Nathan Craig corner late on.
However,it was Town who walked off the field as the winners,to the delight of the travelling fans,and the sporting applause of the home supporters.
Simon Weaver praised his sides never say die spirit and said that there had only ever been a positive attitude before the match.
Town 1 McGillivray 2 Samuels, 3 Merris, 4 Bolder 5 White (c), 6 Killock, 7 Dean, 8 Platt, 9 Chilaka 10 Beesley(Allan 72) 11 Forrest (Clayton 57)
Unused subs 14 Nowakowski, 15 Bloomer, 16 Hardy 18 Da Veiga 19 Bolland
Scorer Chilaka 20 Bookings nil
Torquay United 0 Harrogate Town 1 Att.1817 (43 away)
