Farsley Celtic 1, Torquay United 2

Last term's Football League dropouts Torquay United kept up their hopes of an immediate return when a victory at Farsley Celtic tonight maintained their second place in the Blue Square Premier.

The Celts remained just outside the relegation zone despite this close defeat.

The visitors showed a totally professional attitude and looked comfortable right from taking a sixth-minute lead.

They forced an early corner which the home defence could only half clear. The header out was whipped back in and a shot hit the bar before Chris Zebrosky tucked in the rebound.

Farsley's best effort of the first half saw Steve Torpey, making his home debut, produce a header that hit the side-netting.

Ten minutes into the second half, they almost levelled but James Knowles hit the crossbar.

Torquay recovered to double their lead when Danny Stevens rifled home a 68th-minute shot.

The Celts set up a tense finale and gave themselves almost a quarter of an hour to rescue at least a point. A cross into the danger zone in the 76th minute was volleyed home by Roy Stamer.

But the visitors' experience came to the fore and they managed to shut out Farsley for the remainder.