Last season, Exeter City failed to claim victory in any of their competitive fixtures against Plymouth Argyle, Torquay United and Bristol Rovers.
Now, after claiming a festive 3-1 win over the Gulls, the Grecians have now recorded wins against all three of their main local rivals in the 2013-14 campaign.
It is often said that goals can change matches and if Karl Hawley had converted the early penalty for Torquay, which was awarded after Billy Bodin was felled by Liam Sercombe; who was making his 200th appearance for the Grecians, then it could have been a different story.
Despite Torquay's early pressure, the Grecians took the lead -against the run of play- on 38 minutes when Tom Nichols long-range effort beat Torquay custodian Michael Poke.
Exeter doubled their lead in the second half when David Wheeler capped off a superb solo run by slotting the ball comfortably past Poke on the hour mark.
The Gulls threatened a comeback when Hawley eventually found the back of the net when he turned home a cross from substitute Elliot Benyon, but it proved to be in vain as Alan Gow wrapped up all three points with a late finish with five minutes of normal time remaining.
As a consequence of the result, the Grecians move up to 11th in the table whilst Torquay drop back into the relegation zone.
