Despite the heroics of young keeper Martin Horsell, Torquay United were beaten 1-0 by Macclesfield Town at Plainmoor.
The former Bristol Rovers keeper marked his full first team debut with an assured performance and made a number of important saves during the match, which the Gulls lost in the dying minutes of the game when defender David Morley struck for the Silkmen.
Torquay started the game with a new formation as they switched from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2. Lee Andrews, Steve Woods and Stevland Angus played in a central defensive trio and Kyle Critchell and Kevin Hill were deployed as wing backs.
The Gulls made a bright start to the game despite the poor weather conditions which deteriorated further during the course of the match.
Macclesfield then started to create a few chances of their own and Horsell was called into action and he made a number of important saves to keep the Silkmen at bay. For a young goalkeeper, he was commanding his area very well.
Even though the weather conditions weren't improving, the Gulls still showed a lot of character in the face of adversity.
Jamie Ward went close for Torquay but his run towards goal was stopped by Macclesfield keeper Tommy Lee. Ward also had a long distance effort that was collected by Macclesfield keeper Lee.
Torquay made their first change of the match in the 39th minute when Jamie Ward was subsituted and was replaced by Chris McPhee.
The first half drew to a close with neither side able to make a breakthrough.
After the break, the Gulls continued their pursuit to find the back of the net and won a corner early in the second half. The corner was cleared to the edge of the penalty area and the ball fell to Lee Mansell who fired a long range effort at goal which was gathered by Macclesfield keeper Lee at the second attempt.
The playing surface had deteriorated further by this stage due to the weather and it was making it very difficult for both sides.
Mid way through the second half, Horsell made probably his best save of the match when he produced a reflex save to deny Silkmen striker Matthew Tipton.
Lubos Kubik made his second and final change of the match when Stephen Reed came on for Kyle Critchell in the 79th minute.
Torquay continued to press home for a winner and Lee Mansell fired a shot over the bar from close range.
Sadly, their efforts were undone in the 90th minute when David Morley headed home from close range to score the winner for Macclesfield.
The Gulls put pressure on the Macclesfield goal late in the game and forced two corners in injury time, but they were unable to find an equaliser.
Match Sponsors Gilstone Homes voted their Man of the Match as Martin Horsell.
