When Torquay drew 1-1 with Hull City at Plainmoor in October 2003, Tigers boss Peter Taylor admitted that his side had ‘got away with murder’ in a match that saw the Gulls play Hull off the park.
In their return fixture at the KC Stadium 20 years ago today, there was no such luck for Taylor’s men as United came away from Humberside with all three points – courtesy of a 45th minute strike from Martin Gritton - to boost their promotion hopes and provided a serious dent to Hull’s title ambitions in the process.
United had been beaten a single goal against fellow Play-off chasers Huddersfield Town at Plainmoor in their previous fixture and headed to Humberside badly in need of a positive result to stay in the promotion hunt.
Hull – in direct contrast - had won seven out of their last eight matches and were top of the league. They were also at the beginning of a rise through the divisions that would take them as far as the Premiership and an FA Cup appearance.
Nevertheless, it was the Gulls who enjoyed the better of the opening period, as David Graham and Jo Kuffour stretched the Tigers defence to such an extent that Hull keeper Boaz Myhill was called upon to make four outstanding saves in the first 25 minutes.
Such was the Gulls dominance, it wasn’t until the 34th minute that the Tigers were able to get their first effort on target through Jonathan Walters when he forced a save from Gulls keeper Kevin Dearden with a near-post header.
Nevertheless, Torquay made their dominance count when they took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Graham flicked on a forward ball from Alex Russell and substitute Martin Gritton – who replaced Kuffour on 33 minutes - quickly latched onto it and slotted from six-yards.
After showing their attacking prowess in the opening 45 minutes, the Gulls were forced to display their defensive resilience as their centre back pairing of Steve Woods and Craig Taylor were forced to repel efforts from all angles.
Nevertheless, Torquay still showed enough quality to hit the Tigers on the break as Taylor had a header cleared off the line and Graham hooked an overhead volley wide.
Arguably Hull’s best chance fell to the Northern Irish winger Stuart Elliott who headed a Ryan France cross wide, as United’s defence refused to give an inch.
In the dying minutes of the game, Gritton nearly grabbed a brace – which would have eased Torquay’s nerves – but missed the target.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter as United held on during four minutes of stoppage time to beat the league leaders, and a team with a budget that was far superior to theirs, in their own backyard.
After scoring 16 times in his first season with the Gulls, Gritton missed a lot of games due to injury during the 2003-04 campaign, but the goal he scored against the Tigers proved to be one of his most crucial in a Torquay shirt.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent in 2015, he said: “I didn’t play as much as I wanted to that season as I had a bad injury, but scoring away at Hull and winning 1-0 was a good day.”
After the match, Rosenior couldn’t hide his delight at the way in which side had tackled their big city opponents.
He said: “Our first half performance won us the match. I am delighted by the way we played and it’s great to come here and win.”
Torquay (4-4-2): Kevin Dearden; Lee Canoville, Steve Woods, Craig Taylor, Brian McGlinchey; Jason Fowler (Tony Bedeau 62), Matt Hockley, Alex Russell, Kevin Hill; David Graham (Reuben Hazell 90), Jo Kuffour (Martin Gritton 33)
