Matthew Wicks was drafted in for his debut today as Albion looked for their first clean sheet of the season.

Manager Micky Adams signed the 21-year-old centre half on loan from Peterborough for a month yesterday to help stiffen the Seagulls' leaky defence.

Wicks was one of three changes to the team beaten by Kidderminster at Withdean on Monday.

He replaced Andy Crosby, who started a three match ban today for his red card against Rochdale.

Richard Carpenter, ruled out of the previous two matches by an ankle injury, returned to the centre of midfield at the expense of captain Paul Rogers, so Charlie Oatway took over again as skipper against his old club.

Darren Freeman faces double hernia surgery on Tuesday, so Kerry Mayo was recalled at leftback, with Nathan Jones pushed into the left side of midfield and Paul Brooker switched to the right.

Lee Steele made his comeback in the Reserves on Wednesday, but he is still feeling the ankle injury which has sidelined him since the opening day of the season.

Torquay manager Wes Saunders surprisingly made wholesale changes to the team which beat Blackpool 3-2 on Monday, their first victory.

Two were forced on him. His assistant, Alex Watson, was originally named on the team sheet but dropped out late to be replaced by Steve Tully.

A hamstring injury kept out French striker Habib Sissoko, which meant a starting place for the fit-again Eifion Williams.

The Welshman's last gasp double snatched the spoils against Blackpool and he also scored the only goal at Withdean last season.

Saunders also brought back first choice goalkeeper Stuart Jones in place of rookie Ryan Northmore, big central defender Jimmy Aggrey and midfielder Mick O'Brien.

Youngsters Jules Mendy and Ryan Ashington were both relegated to the bench.

There was a worrying moment for Wicks in the opening seconds when he was unable to clear, but O'Brien's shot from a central position 20 yards out flew straight to Cartwright.

The return of Mayo gave Albion his long throw as a useful attacking weapon.

This was seen to good effect in the early exchanges when keeper Jones could only gather Mayo's throw deep into the area at the second attempt under pressure from Hart.

Play was delayed for sometime while O'Brien had his head bandaged.

A misplaced header by Wicks enabled Williams to escape down the left, but the covering Watson blocked at the expense of a corner.

Watson's late withdrawal from the visitors' line-up forced them to reshuffle at the back, with Holmes switching from the right side of a 5-man defence to the middle.

There was a notable lack of marking when Zamora nodded the Seagulls into a 10th minute lead.

The young striker met Paul Watson's cross from the right with a glancing header. It was his third goal of the season following his £100,000 move from Bristol Rovers and ninth in 12 games in total for the club.

More importantly it put Albion ahead in a match for the first time in the campaign.

Teenager Douglin was cautioned for Torquay on 13 minutes for kicking the ball away after he had been penalised.

Things got even better for Albion as Hart doubled their lead in the 20th minute with his first goal of the season.

It was a bit of a gift from Torquay's makeshift defence. They failed to clear Mayo's long throw to the near post and Hart stabbed in from close range.

Torquay, now in danger of being overrun, introduced Mendy for yellow card victim Douglin on 25 minutes.

Nathan Jones put a rampant Albion three up in 30 minutes. The summer signing from Southend latched on to Mayo's quick throw to score with a left foot shot across his namesake Stuart into the far corner.

Parker gave Torquay some hope by reducing the arrears three minutes later with an angled left foot shot from inside the area which beat Cartwright into the far corner.

Wicks was having an eventful time on his first appearance for the Seagulls.

A clash of heads with substitute Mendy in the centre circle forced him off to the dressing rooms for treatment.

With Albion reduced to ten men, Jones moved to leftback and Mayo to Wicks' place in the middle.

Torquay made the numerical advantage count by pulling another goal back on 38 minutes. Substitute Mendy took advantage of a rebound off Cullip to slide the ball past Cartwright.

Incredibly, Torquay were nearly level two minutes later.

The Seagulls were still in disarray as Williams beat Cartwright to the ball. His effort was rolling towards the vacant net when Mayo raced back to clear it off the line.

Wicks finally returned to the fray on 43 minutes, allowing Albion to return to their original formation.

This did not prevent Torquay almost equalising again moments later , Cartwright blocking Parker's shot from Ford's pass.

The mood around Withdean had been transformed from one of jubilation to apprehension by Torquay's stunning recovery. Suddenly the outcome was very much in the balance.

Jones decided to do something about that with a thumping header from Watson's right wing cross in first half stoppage time to put Albion 4-2 up.

The early stages of the second half were incident-free. A stark contrast to an extraordinary opening 45 minutes.

Wicks required further treatment on the head wound which had earlier forced him off.

Both teams were probably grateful for a period of calm. It had so far been the kind of contest which crowds love and managers hate.

Cartwright had to race outside his area to clear from the pursuing Parker as Torquay once again looked for a way back into the match.

Torquay made another substitution on 59 minutes, Benefield coming on for Hill.

Wicks was ordered to the dugout by referee Walton a minute later for more treatment to his head wound from physio Malcolm Stuart.

Albion made a change of their own on 62 minutes, Thomas coming on for Brooker.

Zamora put Albion 5-2 up with his second goal of the game on 64 minutes, an unchallenged header at the far post from a Mayo cross.

Tully was booked a minute later for a foul on two-goal Jones who was then denied his hat-trick by the legs of keeper Stuart Jones.

Wicks was finally forced off on 68 minutes and replaced by Rogers.

Torquay were reduced to ten men on 75 minutes, Aggrey receiving a red card for an off-the-ball incident involving Hart.

Five minutes from time ZAMORA completed his hat-trick with a left foot shot from a cross by Jones.