Torquay United Thrashes AFC Stoneham 6-1 in FA Cup
Torquay United swept into the next round of the FA Cup with a ruthless 6-1 dismantling of AFC Stoneham – and Jimmy Ball was every bit as pleased with the attitude as the scoreline.
Facing opponents from two divisions below them in the Isthmian League South Central, the Gulls never allowed the tie to breathe as a contest.
They were in front inside six minutes. Callum Morton struck early, settling any nerves and underlining the gulf in quality.
From there, Torquay dictated everything: tempo, territory, and tone.
The second goal came on 36 minutes, Beaumont-Clark stepping up from distance and thundering in a long-range effort that made the afternoon feel like it might turn into a procession.
Stoneham refused to fold straight away. Almost straight from the restart, Tom Annetts pounced to pull one back and inject a flicker of jeopardy into the tie.
That flicker vanished before half-time.
Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton took control of the narrative in the closing minutes of the first half. First, on 43 minutes, the midfielder found space on the edge of the box and drilled home Torquay’s third. Then, deep into stoppage time, he finished sharply from a corner to send Ball’s side into the break 4-1 up and cruising.
Torquay’s grip only tightened after the interval. Lo-Everton completed his hat-trick midway through the second half, capping a standout performance and stretching the lead to 5-1 as Stoneham tired and gaps began to appear everywhere.
There was still time for one more. In stoppage time at the end of the match, Cody Cooke added the sixth, rounding off a dominant attacking display and putting a heavy underline beneath Torquay’s superiority.
Ball, speaking to BBC Radio Devon, highlighted the mindset behind the demolition job.
"Our attitude was good, mentality was good throughout, that's all I wanted really," he said, stressing that professionalism and humility had been his main demands. He told his players their standards could not dip, "regardless of who we're playing, when we're playing, what competition we're playing in," insisting they had to leave the pitch "proud of our output and proud of our performance."
Attacking fluency has been a theme for Ball since the start of the season, and this was another example of his side finding answers against a packed defence.
"Attacking-wise we looked good," he said, noting how difficult it can be to break down a team that sits deep with bodies behind the ball. Torquay found a way, and did it emphatically.
On this evidence, they look in no mood to treat the FA Cup as a sideshow.
