Whilst Torquay United would have been disappointed to have lost to Bognor Regis in the Quarter Finals of the FA Trophy, their elimination could help aid their cause to stay in the Vanarama National.
The Gulls went down 1-0 to the Rocks and are now switching their attentions firmly towards Tuesday night when they face Macclesfield Town in a re-arranged league encounter.
It will be the fourth time that the two sides have faced each other this season, after already meeting twice in the FA Trophy and once in the league.
Tuesday night football is something that will become very familiar to United manager Kevin Nicholson and his side, as their clash with the Silkmen will be potentially the first of five Tuesday matches for the Gulls between now and the end of the season. They will also be looking forward to midweek meetings with Braintree Town, FC Halifax and Altrincham - as well as a home game with Chester FC that the re-arrangement of which is still pending.
This number would have increased had they managed to overcome Bognor, as their fixtures on March 12th and 19th - away to Aldershot and home to Southport - would have both needed to be re-arranged to incorporate their semi-final fixtures into their already hectic programme.
Perhaps, more importantly, those two games would have fallen either side of their much anticipated 'six-pointer' with FC Halifax on March 15th, which set to see Nicholson take on his former Forest Green Rovers manager Jim Harvey.
Following their Trophy elimination, the Gulls can now into that game without the distraction of the carrot of a trip to Wembley hanging over them.
However, the Shaymen aren't completely free of those distractions as they could still have an two legged FA Trophy semi-final ahead of them if they are able to overcome Gateshead in their replay on Tuesday.
Time will tell if Torquay's exit from the competition proves to be a blessing in disguise.
