Torquay dug deep tonight to pull back Oxford from a three goal lead to claim a draw in a thrilling match at the Kassam Stadium.

A match that Torquay never deserved to lose was saved by a spirited second half performance which could easily have brought all three points. Nobody makes mistakes on purpose but they can be costly and United's first half showing was littered with errors, two of which brought a brace of goals for the home side as they raced into a lead that was harsh on United when you look at the chances created through Torquay's attacking play. Oxford have been struggling for goals this season but when Chris Hargreaves couldn't get himself in front of Hutchinson from a Jeannin free-kick the home team opened the scoring with a 5 yard header. Three minutes later and it was 2-0, a long punt forward from Turley was flicked on by Odubade and Chris Todd mis-kicked his attempted clearance, Odubade raced onto the loose ball and neatly finished past a stranded Rayner. The fustrating thing about all this was that Torquay could have been in front themselves early on when Chris Todd and Chris Zebroski both shot narrowly wide, Todd from the edge of the box and Zebroski from 25 yards on the angle.

Torquay were playing the better football and looking positive all the time, plenty of width but the crosses and knock downs weren't falling to a blue shirted player. Boss Paul Buckle clearly wasn't happy and made a tactical change after 38 minutes when he replaced Mark Ellis with Tony Bedeau, Steve Woods moved back to centre half and Tony went in at right back to push on down the channel against Jeannine. It would have been bad enough to go in at 2-0 down but Oxford weren't finished yet. A clearance downfield from a Torquay corner left Bedeau challenging with Odubade, whether it was a push or a shoulder barge it didn't really matter because the referee and assistant played on and so did the impressive Odubade who bore down on Rayner's goal and skillfully bent the ball into the top right hand corner.

If you had shown someone the first half on DVD and taken out the three goals they probably wouldn't have predicted the 3-0 scoreline to Oxford and to their credit Paul Buckle and his players were not going to let this game go without a fight and what a second half fight it proved to be.

The second period started much the same way as the first with Torquay attacking, the difference this time was that Oxford were starting to use the long ball more and were dropping deeper and deeper, almost subconciously, it seemed. Ishmael Welsh was introduced just before the hour mark, replacing Danny Stevens and what an inspired swap it proved to be. Almost with his first touch Welsh scored. The ball fell to Lee Phillips on the edge of the Oxford area and a back-heeled the ball toward the penalty spot, Chris Hargreaves had gambled on a forward run and bravely challenged Turley for the ball, the force of the collision pushed the ball into the path of Welsh who knocked the ball in. Half an hour to play and a glimmer of hope for the visiting supporters.

 Chris Zebroski had been the outstanding performer for the Gulls so far with his pace and strength causing the Oxford defence a host of problems and so it was fitting he should score the best goal of the night. Chris found himself out on the right where he collected the ball and made his run toward the Oxford box, he then proceeded to twist and turn a couple of home defenders inside out before flicking the ball over a rushing Turley, suddenly the match was there for the taking and Oxford looked to have blown themselves out. United's better football and superior fitness were forcing Oxford right onto the back foot and an equalising goal was surely only a matter of time, the only problem being that time was running out. An experienced Oxford defence were hanging on and it started to look like the Gulls were going to be denied but after soaking up some late pressure Torquay broke away to score a cracking goal and secure a point. The ball was cleared from an Oxford corner and fell to Zebroski, he looked up and released Ishmael Welsh down the right wing. Ishmael took on an ever retreating Oxford defender before breaking for the touchline, glancing up and putting an inch perfect cross onto the head of Tim Sills who did the rest.

Some supporters may well be worried by the first half scoreline but this is a Torquay side that will attack regardless of the situation, a couple of mistakes that won't happen every week don't turn a good team into a bad one. Paul Buckle should be applauded for his decisions on tactics and substitutions during the game and above all the players should take a massive amount of credit for sorting the match out, they got themselves into the first half mess but how many United sides of the past would have gone and got themselves out of a negative 3-0 scoreline? What a watching Stevenage scout would have made of tonight we will have to wait and see, let's hope he left at haf-time.....