March 20th, 1990 Torquay United 3 Cambridge United 0 - Division Four
The first offering of this article looks at a time when Johnson came to Plainmoor as assistant manager to John Beck with Cambridge United in the 1989-90 season. At this time the Gulls were undergoing a resurgence under Dave Smith, who had revived United's fortunes after replacing Cyril Knowles earlier in the season, and it continued against the U's as the Gulls came out as 3-0 winners.
Phil Lloyd, Dean Edwards and Dave Caldwell were on the scoresheet for United against a Cambridge side who would eventually win promotion through the play-offs - the first of two that they would win under Beck - and they also reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup.
April 3rd, 2004 Torquay United 2 Yeovil Town 2 - Division Three
After guiding Yeovil Town into the Football League in 2003, Johnson brought the Glovers to Plainmoor to face the Gulls in front of a sell-out Westcountry Derby.
Whilst Yeovil were chasing a play-off spot, United were in contention for automatic promotion under Leroy Rosenior which served to add further spice to the occasion.
United started brightly as Martin Gritton twice went close in the opening minutes, but it was the Glovers who took the lead on 17 minutes after Abdel El Kholti hit the post and Darren Way volleyed home the rebound. The visitors then doubled their advantage on 27 minutes through Jake Edwards, who turned home a cross from Gavin Williams, which prompted a response from Rosenior as he made an early double substitution - sending Liam Rosenior and Jo Kuffour on for Tony Bedeau and Kevin Hill.
On 44 minutes the Gulls were awarded a free-kick after Gritton was fouled by Colin Pluck on the edge of the box, Alex Russell then rolled the ball to United skipper Craig Taylor who bamboozled both the Glovers' wall and keeper Steve Collis to find the back of the net with a low strike.
In the 59th minute, the Gulls were awarded a penalty for a foul by El Kholti on David Graham, which Steve Woods stepped up to take. His initial effort was saved by Collis, but Woods made no mistake to fire home the rebound. The Glovers were later reduced to ten men after Williams received a second yellow card.
United would go on to clinch their first automatic promotion in 38 years with a 2-1 win over Southend United at Roots Hall on the final of the campaign, whilst the Glovers missed out on the play-offs on goal difference.
September 28th, 2004 Torquay United 4 Yeovil Town 3 - LDV Vans Trophy first round
Early in the following season, the two sides met again in the first round of the LDV Vans Trophy for a contest that also proved to be a cracker.
Jo Kuffour gave the Gulls the lead in the 17th minute, but the Glovers struck back through Latvian international Andreijs Stolcers who volleyed home three minutes before half-time.
In the second half, skipper Craig Taylor headed home on 53 minutes with an effort which bounced over the line after hitting the underside of the bar. Six minutes later Adebayo Akinfenwa cut through the Glovers' defence before beating Yeovil keeper Steve Collis to give United a two-goal cushion.
Adrian Caceres then reduced the Glovers' to a single goal in the 67th minute as he cut in from the left and unleashed an unstoppable strike past United's substitute keeper Kevin Dearden.
With six minutes to go, Yeovil's Polish striker Bartosz Tarachulski headed home to force the game into extra time. The game was eventually decided in the 116th minute when Akinfenwa slotted home, and then received a second yellow card by celebrating by sitting down in a sparsely populated Family Stand.
The Gulls bowed out of the competition in the next round to Northampton Town, and the two sides would swap divisions at the end of the season as United were relegated from League One and Yeovil lifted the League Two title.
August 29th, 2015 Torquay United 0 Cheltenham Town 3 - National League
Aaron Downes returned to haunt United as he helped to
inspire Cheltenham Town to victory over the Gulls.
Aussie Downes, who is currently working at
Plainmoor as assistant manager to Gary Johnson, was amongst several players
released by the Gulls in the summer of 2015 in what was a period of great
change for United. The close season also saw a takeover by a new board of
directors, headed by chairman Dave Phillips, the appointment of Dean Edwards as
director of football and Paul Cox replaced Chris Hargreaves as manager.
On his arrival at Whaddon Road, Downes was also
part of a new beginning for the Robins, as he was named as captain of a squad
that Johnson had virtually built from scratch. Current United skipper Asa Hall
was the only survivor from the Cheltenham who were relegated from the Football
League in the 2014-15 campaign.
The Robins found themselves a man down after
George McLennan saw red after eight minutes for foul on United’s on loan AFC
Bournemouth before Downes opening the scoring on 28 minutes when he headed home
a free-kick from Jack Munns. A second half brace from Danny Wright, which
included a penalty for his second, completed the scoring.
Cheltenham later went on to win the National
League title at the first attempt, whilst the Gulls avoided relegation to
National League South in their first ‘great escape’ under Kevin Nicholson.
