Torquay United Dominates AFC Stoneham 6-1 in FA Cup

Torquay United swept into the FA Cup third qualifying round with a ruthless 6-1 dismantling of AFC Stoneham – and Jimmy Ball’s main emotion at full-time was satisfaction at a job done properly.

Facing opponents from two tiers below them in the Isthmian League South Central, the Gulls never allowed the tie to drift into a contest. They grabbed control early and never let go.

Callum Morton settled any nerves inside six minutes, striking to give Torquay the perfect start. From there, Ball’s side dictated the tempo, moved the ball with purpose and pinned Stoneham back.

The pressure told again nine minutes before the break. Beaumont-Clark stepped up from distance and unleashed a long-range effort that flew in for 2-0, underlining the gulf in quality.

Stoneham’s response was immediate. Straight from the restart, Tom Annetts found a way through to pull one back and briefly jolt the visitors into life.

Any hint of a wobble vanished before half-time – largely thanks to Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton.

The midfielder took charge of the tie in the closing minutes of the first half. On 43 minutes he drove in a crisp finish from the edge of the box to restore the two-goal cushion. Deep into stoppage time, he struck again, finishing smartly from a corner routine to send Torquay into the break 4-1 up and cruising.

Torquay came out after the interval with the same intent. Lo-Everton completed his hat-trick midway through the second half, capping a standout display and stretching the scoreline to 5-1. Cody Cooke then applied the final touch in stoppage time, rounding off a dominant attacking performance at 6-1.

Ball, speaking to BBC Radio Devon, highlighted mindset over margin.

“Our attitude was good, mentality was good throughout, that's all I wanted really,” he said. “I thought that if we did that and did it properly and acted in a professional, humble manner, we would be fine.”

He made it clear that the standard, not the status of the opposition, drives this Torquay side.

“We just made the players aware that of our standards, regardless of who we're playing, when we're playing, what competition we're playing in, we need to come off the pitch proud of ourselves and proud of our output and proud of our performance.”

Torquay’s front line delivered on that demand. They picked their way through a packed Stoneham defence that sat deep and tried to clog the central areas.

“Attacking-wise we looked good,” Ball added. “Like I said at the beginning of season, it's hard to beat a team that sits in there very deep and has lots of bodies in there that you've got to navigate, but we did it and we did it quite well today.”

Six goals, a hat-trick for Lo-Everton, and a manager pleased not by the scoreline alone, but by the professionalism behind it. Torquay’s FA Cup campaign has its first statement win – now the question is how far that mentality can take them.