Truro City’s FA Trophy hopes were ended at Plainmoor, as Dan Hayfield’s 52nd minute free-kick settled an absorbing tie, which saw the visitors dominate for long spells. 

Torquay were indebted to ex-City incumbent James Hamon, who made three fine saves to keep his former employers at bay. 

He was helpless to stop Connor Riley-Lowe firing the ball into the net two minutes before the interval, but curiously, the City captain’s effort was chalked off by the flag of assistant James Long. 

Going in at the break ahead would have been the least Truro deserved as they were in the ascendancy during the opening 45 at both ends of the pitch. 

But just seven minutes after the restart, Hayfield found the top corner with a magnificent free-kick 25 yards from goal. 

City then looked the more likely to snatch a leveller and potentially more as time ticked down, but Torquay held firm to book their place in round three. 

Visiting boss John Askey made three changes from the side which lost 1-0 at Boreham Wood on Tuesday evening. Tyler Harvey was ruled out of the matchday squad altogether with a quad injury while Jaze Kabia was only fit enough to make the bench, after requiring stitches in a facial wound post the Hertfordshire reverse. 

Riley-Lowe returned to the starting line-up and captained the side in place of Tylor Love-Holmes while in the engine room, Will Dean was back from suspension and Billy Palfrey dropped to the bench.

There was also a place among the substitutes for recent City acquisition Levi Andoh, who joined the Tinners on loan from York City. 

With Harvey and Kabia both missing, the Truro line was led by Dominic Johnson-Fisher and Andrew Neal.

Truro settled well into proceedings against the hosts, who were without their manager and former City chief Paul Wotton, as he was forced to watch the game from the stands due to a touchline ban. 

With Wotton not able to take his place in the technical area, his assistant Mikey Edwards was joined by Neil Warnock, with both watching on as City had the first chance of note after six minutes. 

In a central position, City were awarded a free-kick after Johnson-Fisher had his shirt tugged by Jordan Dyer, who went into the book. Dean struck towards goal, but his effort went over the top. 

Johnson-Fisher was proving to be a real thorn in the side of the hosts in the early stages with both Ed Palmer and Dyer given the runaround by the former Whitehawk man. 

And shortly after Dean’s sighter, Johnson-Fisher found himself in on goal, denied by a smart low save from Hamon. The resulting corner went low into the near post with Hamon called into action once more, to save with his legs on the line. 

Dean had another shooting opportunity after 20 minutes when Yassine En-Neyah robbed Palmer of possession, but the effort on goal went narrowly wide. 

Such was City’s dominance in midfield and the stout resistance from their three central defenders of Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, Tom Harrison and Sam Sanders, it took Torquay’s frontline 28 minutes to have any sight of Dan Lavercombe’s goal. 

The ball fell to former City favourite Cody Cooke in the box, but several blocks by players in white shirts stopped the home charge. 

Cooke then registered a shot on goal shortly after when Ryan Law went down in midfield, Torquay didn’t stop, and Oscar Threlkeld played in the Penryn man, but he couldn’t find the target. 

The game’s big talking point then came just shy of the interval when an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross caused pandemonium in the home box. Firstly, Johnson-Fisher was bundled over by Palmer but the referee played on. 

Then Neal, Johnson-Fisher and Dan Rooney all tried to poke the ball home and it fell to Riley-Lowe, who swept into the top corner. 

Referee Lewis Sandoe signalled a goal and with Torquay trudging back to the centre circle, Hamon rushed over to remonstrate with the assistant who never raised his flag in the first instance. 

However, after a period of deliberation, offside was ruled, as the Cornish assistant felt that two Truro players were in an illegal position, and affected Hamon’s line of sight. 

Goalless at the break with the hosts making a change for the second half as Will Jenkins-Davies replaced Matt Carson, as Torquay looked to shore up a midfield that had been dominated by Dean, En-Neyah and Rooney. 

And this change did result in Torquay enjoying more of the ball in the early stages of the second half. They had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down before the deadlock was broken by Hayfield. 

The former Bath playmaker made no mistake from distance after Dean had impeded Cooke, meaning City, not for the first time this season, would have to come from behind. 

But shipping the opening goal did not deter Truro and just shy of the hour mark, Neal was millimetres away from turning Riley-Lowe’s teasing cross, into the corridor of uncertainty, past Hamon. 

Just moments later, Neal almost turned provider for Johnson-Fisher, but once again Hamon was Torquay’s saviour. 

As the half wore on, Dyer was fortunate to escape a second yellow card for grabbing the same handful of Johnson-Fisher’s shirt, while Threlkeld went in late on Dean and was also carded. 

Andoh, on as a substitute for Law, nearly claimed a debut assist when he flicked Dean’s free kick into the path of Neal, but once again the ball was just out of the pint sized hitman’s reach. 

Dyer then appeared to tug Harrison’s shirt in the box with City wanting a penalty, but the referee waved away the visitors’ claims. 

Truro sacrificed a midfielder in favour of another forward with 90 minutes approaching, but Tavonga Kuleya’s introduction couldn’t swing the pendulum towards Askey’s charges and Torquay, with their only significant note of effort, progress into round three. 

Match Facts

City: Lavercombe, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Harison, Sanders, Riley-Lowe, En-Neyah, Dean, Rooney (Kuleya, 85), Law (Andoh, 73), Neal, Johnson-Fisher (Kabia, 73). Subs not used: Jones, Palfrey. 

Torquay: Hamon, Palmer, Dyer, Foulston, Young, Threlkeld, Hayfield, Carson (Jenkins-Davies, 45), Thomas, Cooke, Jeffers (Mussa, 67). Subs not used: Dreyer, Seymour, Tonks.

Referee: Lewis Sandoe

Referee: 1,967