United suffered their first defeat of pre-season as Plymouth Parkway emerged as winners at Bolitho Park.
A goalless first 45 minutes produced plenty of effort and endeavour, but there was little to report in the way of goalscoring opportunities.
Deon Moore came closest to breaking the deadlock, but his effort from Dom Bernard’s right-wing cross went wide of the target.
The home side were providing a good test for Jimmy Ball’s side, and although Gulls’ No.1 Toby Savin wasn’t overly worked, United’s defence had to remain organised against a lively Parkway team.
Following the restart, things remained tight and closely fought, but it was the home side that eventually broke the deadlock.
A neat build up from Parkway saw the ball laid into the path of Carlo Garside, who duly opened the scoring with his first touch of the game.
Although The Gulls upped their intensity in a bid to find an equaliser, Parkway’s well-drilled managed to keep the Torquay attack at bay.
The closest Ball’s side came was with eight minutes remaining, as Plymouth goalkeeper Aaron Dearing was forced into his first save of the game to keep out an effort from Trialist A.
United were unable to find a leveller, with Parkway doing enough to come out on top on the night.
Another step up on Saturday, as The Gulls head to Weston-super-Mare for their final away day of pre-season.
UNITED Starting XI: Toby Savin, Tyler Hill (Kian Jenkins), Jake Wannell (Sam Dreyer), Jordan Dyer, Dom Bernard (Jordan Thomas), Munashe Sundire (Dan Hayfield), Matt Worthington (c) (Matt Jay), Sonny Blu Lo-Everton (Dylan Morgan), Callum Morton, Deon Moore (Louis Dennis), Isaac Westendorf (Fin Herbert, Trialist A).
