Alan Knill's return to Plainmoor as the assistant manager of Northampton Town ultimately proved to be the sideshow that it deserved to be, but Chris Hargreaves' honeymoon period as Torquay United manager appears to be over.
A win for the Gulls on Tuesday, in what was Hargreaves's first home match since he replaced Knill, against the Cobblers would have lifted Torquay United out of the League Two relegation zone, but it was Chris Wilder's men who ran out as winners-largely thanks to two strikes from Emile Sinclair in the opening 16 minutes.
Krystian Pearce pulled one back for Torquay on the stroke of half-time, but, despite much huffing and puffing in the second half, the Gulls couldn't find a leveller; the pick of the efforts included a moment when substitutes Jordan Chapell and Karl Hawley combined to produce a headed effort from Hawley that narrowly missed the target.
Torquay still remain above Northampton in the league table, but greater importance is now placed on future home fixtures against fellow strugglers Accrington Stanley, Bury and Wycombe Wanderers, such is the necessity for Hargreaves' men to get points on the board.
The final of those three previous mentioned fixtures falls on the final day of the campaign, and the early signs are that it could join the long list of the Gulls' great escape acts.
