Torquay United: FA Cup exit upsets boss Gary Johnson

Torquay's players were unhappy with the referee's decision to award Maidstone's opening goal

Torquay United manager Gary Johnson says he is unhappy with the manner of Maidstone United's opening goal in their 2-0 FA Cup loss at Plainmoor.

Stones' Levi Amantchi appeared to play the ball out of the hands of goalkeeper Mark Halstead to give their National League South rivals the lead.

He went on to double the tally in the second half as Torquay spurned a number of chances to score.

The fourth qualifying round defeat was Torquay's third defeat in four matches.

"They looked good first half up until the minute the goal that he allowed, that 100% he should have disallowed," Johnson told BBC Radio Devon.

"I thought we played well in the first half.

"We didn't play well in the second half, we didn't carry on the momentum that we had in the first half even though we were 1-0 down.

"People affected the game in the first half and didn't affect the game in the second half."

The loss means no repeat of last season when the Gulls drew League One side Derby County in the first round of the FA Cup and earned a replay after holding them to a draw at Plainmoor.

"We can't let a result like this affect our season," said Johnson.

"We're all gutted we're out of the cup. Some people wish I wasn't here but we do a lot, we give everything to the football club, we love being here and we want this football club to succeed.

"We'd have liked to have carried on in the cup, we showed what we've got, as always, we've got some good players, but some good players that we had were not good players in the second half."