1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

It was the first day of half term and I hadn't seen the town for a while, with our game at Hereford a 1pm kick off and another derby with Vale the following week called off beacuse of poor weather, I was needing my football fix and so had no hesitations about getting on the supporters' bus at an unholy 7.20am in the morning to make my pilgrimage to the Riviera. I've just started out on my quest for the 92 and Torquay was to be my 6th so good to keep it up. There's a long way to go!

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?

After a kip on the bus, which was really quite quick (about 4.5 hours including pit stops is very respectable indeed) we arrived at 12ish to the sun beaming and went promptly to the pub. Had no parking issues obviously as a small ground but we were on the bus so no more than expected.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

As Man United were playing Liverpool in a hotly-anticipated first meeting after the reunion of Evra and Suarez (the latter NOT shaking the former's hand) we trooped off to Buccaneer Inn, a very pleasant sea-viewing Pub with friendly locals and a good atmosphere. Obviously the landlord was pleased too see us and sank a pint or two while playing pool. I hadn't had any breakfast so the Ciabatta cheeseburger and chips with relish tasted incredible, as did the crumble afterwards, top stuff. Home fans were welcoming and there were no problems with a small friendly seaside place as you'd expect. Afterwards we made a shortish walk through town to the ground.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground?

It's a pretty basic ground, although I prefer terracing for the away fans which we had it looked strange with the left Main Stand having been demolished. The matchday programme was okay although didn't meet my expectations having been crowned best in League Two.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..

Atmosphere was poor, a bunch of Torquay ultras no older than 12 did their utmost but Shrewsbury fans were no better, a decent following of 250 suprisingly muted, probably because of the poor quality of the game. James Collins hit the bar for Town about 10 minutes in and that was about as good as it got. Torquay got a winner on 60 minutes when Chris Neal came flapping off his line comically for a corner and Kenya International Taiwo Atieno scored. The atmosphere noteable improved then. Still pretty dreary although Torquay played some good stuff, and on 90 minutes no-one from the away end seemed overly fussed. A shame. Plus the portaloos at half time were rancid, but needs must.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:

Had no problems as away coach parked just outside the entrance. Very easily accessible.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:

A very nice place, a very basic ground that you would have to be a hyper-traditionalist fan to enjoy in all honesty. However, that's football. Sorry.