Will Cup Magic Spur The Gulls' Sombre Season Into Life?

With the carrot of Derby County and a certain live TV fee dangling in front of them, Gary Johnson knew boxing clever was the only form of attack on Tuesday.

Then his side went 1-0 down to Hampton & Richmond Borough in their FA Cup replay. Soon, they went a man down, too.

But when the knives are starting to be sharpened, being blunt is simply not an option.

Just when they needed it the most, the Gulls found something from somewhere and they hope a rare wonderful night can spur their season.

But Johnson knows their show of mental strength in south west London will mean little if they don’t carry that on this weekend.

Bottom of the table and the form guide,they can’t slip into bad old habits.

Altrincham won’t subscribe to the hope that it will be the start of the Torquay turn around.

BT Sport will be there to see it all unfold at Saturday tea and Johnson revealed some truth bombs being dropped help spin things in midweek.

“They had a little bit of a rollicking at half time,” said Johnson to DevonLive. “I didn’t want them to miss the opportunity to go through and to play Derby.

“I just reminded them what an opportunity it was. We had to show a lot of courage and determination, and a bit of quality as well.

“The boys put in a stint, and hopefully we’ll start our season.

“It was nice for the fans to enjoy a win with them, in a very, very important game for the club.

“But we’ve got some very important league games before the next cup tie. We can be excited right at this moment, but we’ll have to start thinking about Saturday’s Altrincham game.”

Alty stuck by manager Phil Parkinson after a terrible first two months and are now reaping the reward.

It’s three National League wins from four, with the one defeat coming at leaders Notts County.

After seeing off Aldershot, Gateshead and Dorking, they did exit the FA Cup on Tuesday at the International Stadium but there’s no hiding the improvement made.

With Marcus Dinanga in great form, the manager is thrilled with his work rate and says he is now a man to watch out for.

“Marcis is showing what a top striker he is now - he is torturing centre-halfs,” the Robins boss said.

“He is getting fitter and he is getting stronger, he should have had a hat-trick after the last league game.”

On his on-form team, he added: “It’s a young group, they are going to get stronger and they are going to be better.”

PHOTO BY THOM LANG