Nathan Jones is a reluctant midfielder.He would rather be a left-sided defender, but he will have a long wait to regain his favourite position if he keeps performing like this.

Two goals on only his second full appearance capped an impressive all-round display as the Seagulls put their miserable start behind them with an extraordinary victory.

Sponsors the Argus had to nominate their man of the match before Bobby Zamora completed his hat-trick with five minutes left. Jones would still have deserved the bottle of bubbly had they been able to delay the decision. Just for good measure he was the supplier for Zamora's third goal.

The summer signing from Southend has endured a frustrating beginning to his Albion career. He was suspended for the first two matches and had to wait until last Monday's debacle against Kidderminster for his first start.

Jones played at leftback then in an orthodox back four, but he clearly likes to get forward. Southend employed him as left wingback in a five-man defence and on Saturday Micky Adams pushed him into midfield, in front of the recalled Kerry Mayo.

It worked a treat. Mayo provided three of the goals as well as producing a goal-line clearance to foil Eifion Williams in the first half, which would have brought Torquay back from 3-0 down to 3-3 in the space of seven madcap minutes. Adams described that as the "turning point."

Rightback Paul Watson also played a major part in two of the goals. All six originated from the flanks, the first three from dead ball situations. It was hardly surprising then that Adams thought "the wide men were the key" and that "set pieces were vital".

Torquay's problems piled up before a ball had been kicked. Already ravaged by injuries, they lost assistant manager and defensive lynchpin Alex Watson in the warm-up to a tooth absess.

Their makeshift rearguard were still getting to know each other when Zamora headed Albion into a tenth minute lead from Watson's inviting cross.

Ten minutes later it was two. The visitors made a mess of clearing Mayo's long throw to the near post and Gary Hart stabbed in his first goal of the season from close range.

That should do Hart a power of good. The draining effect of becoming a father for the first time has left him a little short of his customary zip.

Within half-an-hour Albion were three up. Mayo's quick throw released Jones to lash an angled left-foot shot across his namesake Stuart in the Torquay goal and into the far corner.

The Seagulls seemed to be completely in charge until the defensive frailties which have dogged them so far returned all too rapidly. Kevin Parker was given space inside the box to score in a fashion similar to Jones, offering Torquay a glimmer of hope.

Matthew Wicks, signed on Friday to replace the suspended Andy Crosby, was in the dressing room receiving treatment for a head wound sustained in an aerial duel with substitute Jules Mendy when Torquay clawed another goal back.

Ironically Mendy was the scorer, taking advantage of a fortunate break off Danny Cullip to slot past Mark Cartwright.

Albion were suddenly in disarray. Mayo, temporarily switched to the middle to cover for Wicks, raced back to prevent Williams from rolling the visitors level.

Had that gone in the Seagulls' fragile confidence would surely have been shot to pieces. Instead Jones provided a perfect boost to morale on the stroke of half time with a thumping header into the roof of the net from another right-wing cross by Watson.

An element of planning added to the satisfaction. "It's nice when something you practise on the training ground pays off," Jones explained. "We worked on Bobby (Zamora) peeling out and me coming into the gap.

"It was a great ball in from Paul Watson and I don't think I could have connected with it any better."

The second half couldn't possibly be so eventful, although two more goals, a red card and the ongoing injury saga for Wicks maintained the interest.

The new signing from Peterborough, by now bandaged Steve Foster fashion, finally conceded defeat to a persistent flow of blood from a cut just above the hairline.

By the time Wicks departed Zamora had put the result beyond doubt with an unchallenged header at the far post from Mayo's centre.

It was all too much for Jimmy Aggrey, Torquay's big stopper. He saw red for a clash off the ball with Hart with 15 minutes remaining.

Adams saw exactly what happened. "Jimmy put his hands on him and as we have seen with Andy Crosby you can't do that. That's not like Jimmy. I had him at Fulham and he is a nice lad. I don't know why all of a sudden he thinks he's a hard man."

Hart, previously cautioned in another incident with Aggrey, was sensibly substituted by Adams before Zamora rounded things off nicely for himself and his colleagues with a low, left-foot shot from Jones' cross.

The jeers of five days earlier turned to cheers, but Adams kept his team' achievement in perspective. "I didn't think we played any better or worse than in our first four games, but we scored six goals," he said. "We should have done that at Lincoln.

"The fans were correct against Kidderminster and we got what we deserved. We have done a lot of talking and soul-searching since then.

"I asked the players to stand up and be counted. We have to show the fans we care and are passionate about the club. The only way we can do that is out on the pitch. Words in the dressing room mean nothing."

Albion's rediscovered resolve now faces a severe test against relegated Cardiff and Blackpool, early leaders Cheltenham and, more immediately, at Millwall tomorrow night in the Worthington Cup.