It may not have the prestige of the FA Cup, but the FA Trophy could yet turn out to be an important competition for Torquay United as they produced a five-star display to defeat Bishops Stortford.
A first half brace from Ryan Bowman set the Gulls on their way before Luke Young, Duane Ofori Acheampong and substitute Jordan Chapell - with his first goal for the Gulls since he scored the fastest goal in the club's history last October against Portsmouth - completed the scoring.
For their exploits, United have boosted their coffers to the tune of £5,000 and they are now four games away from the final at Wembley - barring the requirement of any replays.
Winning the competition in the past has proved to be a springboard to further success for many clubs, including Wycombe Wanderers, Macclesfield Town, Cheltenham Town, Yeovil Town and Stevenage who all won the Trophy before subsequently winning promotion into the Football League.
In the case of Yeovil, it was the first trophy that they won under the guidance of Gary Johnson back in 2002.
This, in turn, provided a foundation for further success which included eventually winning promotion to the Championship.
A good run in the competition for Chris Hargreaves's Gulls in 2014-15 would send out a message that they mean business regarding the matter of eventually winning promotion back to the Football League.
