Torquay 0 Albion 0 ALBION picked up their first point for three games with a plucky performance.

It should, though, have been all three.

They had much the better of a scruffy match played in difficult conditions.

With better finishing and a bit more luck they would be celebrating the end of a 35-year run without a win at Plainmoor.

The good news is a clean sheet. The last time the Seagulls had managed that in the League was against Hartlepool at Withdean at the start of November.

The bad news is a goal drought which now stretches to six and a half hours.

The famine should have ended within four minutes, when Darren Freeman exchanged passes with Gary Hart and crossed invitingly to the far post.

Lorenzo Pinamonte did not have to check his stride but nodded narrowly wide from just inside the six-yard box.

Assistant Alan Cork, his tongue only slightly in cheek, said afterwards: "Lorenzo is buying all the boys a lager in the bar, because it was his fault we didn't score."

Loan

It was a pity for the big Italian, because he did well otherwise after having his loan spell from Bristol City extended.

He showed great tenacity to win possession near the halfway line on one occasion in the second half. It almost led to a goal, Wayne Thomas recovering to thwart Gary Hart from a probing pass by Paul Rogers.

Hart had a running battle with his marker throughout the match and was unlucky not to score. He beat Neville Southall to a ball helped onto him by substitute Rod Thomas with 20 minutes left, only to see his effort trickle agonisingly wide of the far post.

Hart also had strong claims for a penalty rejected late on when he was brought down inside the box.

Thomas, given a rare chance to impress after Freeman went off injured midway through the first half, did not disappoint. Albion were always a threat with their enterprising three-man attack.

The defence, boosted by the return of Danny Cullip and with Kerry Mayo preferred to Jamie Campbell on the left, gave little away.

Torquay only came close to breaking the deadlock twice. A speculative 30-yard shot by Chris Brandon soon after the break, assisted by the wind, clipped the crossbar with Mark Walton beaten.

Two minutes later a similar attempt from a similar distance by O'Neill Donaldson dipped just over the bar as Walton backpedalled.

The pitch was muddy and bumpy, the weather changeable and blustery, so it was never going to be a classic.

Referee Tony Bates and his assistants did not help. Between them they made some strange decisions.

Andy Crosby was booked after only nine minutes for what amounted to

nothing more than an untidy tangle with Donaldson.

It was especially annoying because his fifth yellow card of the seasonmeans an automatic one-match ban, ruling him out of the visit to Hull in 12 days time.

The same applied to Charlie Oatway. He was cautioned against his old club for a challenge on Mick O'Brien which lacked the malice of several others before and after.

The best example of this came 14 minutes fromn the end. Tony Bedeau, Torquay's top scorer, caught Paul Watson viciously late as he cleared up the line.

It happened right under ther nose of the linesman, but he and Bates at first did nothing.

Several Albion players protested furiously while Watson received treatment. Bates consulted his assistant, then almost booked the wrong player before finding Bedeau and cautioning him.

Cork said: "I thought the referee was very poor. Harty was brawled all day, we had a blatant penalty and when Paul Watson was tackled the referee wanted to play on. That was disgraceful.

"We were very lively from the word go. We spoke all week about starting the game brightly and we kept it going for 90 minutes."

Manager Micky Adams missed the match to be with his seriously ill father.

His intriguing decision to make the players travel on Saturday morning, instead of the normal overnight hotel stay, certainly did not seem to adversely affect the players.

It will be interesting to see whether it was just a one-off or if Adams continues the policy.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.