A celebration of survival at Hemel as United showed its togetherness

ONE of the most significant and emotional moments of Torquay United's trip to Hemel Hempstead on Saturday happened a little while after the final whistle, and many departing fans may have missed it.

- Richard Hughes is the Torquay United correspondent for the Herald Express and DevonLive.com

The Focus Community Arena in Vauxhall Road is a quirky little ground with a warm welcome. It sits in the middle of a housing estate and its long-suffering neighbours must have had a bit of a shock when 2,000-plus visiting fans showed up on Saturday.

Coaches manoeuvred outside their driveways and fans poured down the pavement in search of pre-match refreshment at the Crabtree pub nearby.

There's a structure in one corner of the ground that looks a little like a Lego box. On ground level spectators can peek out between its supporting pillars. Up above is the directors' balcony, where club officials can stand and look out across the pitch to watch the action.

Torquay's directors spent the match up there, almost within handshaking distance of the massed ranks of the Yellow Army packed in behind one of the goals.

Plenty of banter went back and forth. Joint chairman Michael Westcott, who attended the promotion clincher at Southend in 2004 as a fan in yellow, responded to demands for a song by yelling 'Give us a T' back at the fans, starting a rousing rendition of the old spelling chant.