Torquay United Dominates AFC Stoneham 6-1 in FA Cup Qualifiers

Torquay United swept into the FA Cup third qualifying round with a ruthless 6-1 dismantling of AFC Stoneham – and Jimmy Ball liked what he saw just as much as the scoreline suggested.

The gap between the sides showed early. Torquay, two divisions above their hosts, settled instantly and were in front inside six minutes, Callum Morton striking to remove any hint of an upset before it could even form.

From there, the Gulls controlled the tie. They moved the ball with authority, pinned Stoneham back and waited for the next opening. It came on 36 minutes, when Beaumont-Clark stepped up and drilled in a long-range effort to make it 2-0, underlining the visitors’ dominance.

Stoneham, though, refused to disappear quietly. Almost straight from the restart, Tom Annetts pounced to pull one back and briefly jolt the contest to life. For a moment, the home side had something to cling to.

Torquay’s response was brutal.

With the half ticking away, Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton took charge. On 43 minutes, the midfielder found space on the edge of the box and drove in a crisp finish for 3-1. Deep into first-half stoppage time, he struck again, finishing smartly from a corner routine to send Torquay into the break 4-1 up and with the tie effectively buried.

The second half became a test of attitude rather than jeopardy, and Lo-Everton made sure the standards stayed high. Midway through the half he completed his hat-trick, capping a standout display and stretching the lead to five.

Torquay kept pushing right to the end. In stoppage time, Cody Cooke applied the final touch to a dominant performance, adding the sixth and rounding off a clinical afternoon in front of goal.

Ball’s satisfaction centred on how his players handled a potentially awkward assignment against deep, committed opposition.

“Our attitude was good, mentality was good throughout, that's all I wanted really,” he told BBC Radio Devon, stressing that he had demanded a “professional, humble manner” from his side regardless of the level of the opposition.

He spoke of reinforcing standards – the need to walk off the pitch “proud” of performance and output, whoever they face and in whatever competition. Torquay did exactly that.

Attacking fluency, Ball pointed out, was key against a team that sat deep with “lots of bodies” to navigate. On this evidence, his Gulls found the answers – and looked every inch a side ready for sterner FA Cup tests to come.