"So close just seems to be where we are at, at the moment, and it's frustrating"

The weather was dreadful as Torquay United drew 1-1 with National League South leaders Maidstone United on Saturday - with the manager Jimmy Ball saying afterwards it was "all good - just no three points".

Despite a performance full of determination and passion, and the Gulls taking a 27th-minute lead when Harry Shield's clever cross was turned into his own net by Maidstone man Frankie Hvid, it was a long old slog in the never-ending rain and strong wind, and when Dan Hayfield failed to clear the ball from a corner in the 84th minute, the ball landed straight on Hvid's head and looped over goalkeeper Toby Savin's reach and into the net.

But a saved penalty in the first half was a great opportunity denied - when Matt Jay was fouled and Cody Cooke's strike was stopped by Lenny Holden. Had Torquay gone 2-0 ahead then, it would have been a real problem in the conditions for the visitors to get two goals back.

While Maidstone stayed top of the division, Torquay dropped from 13th to 14th - ahead of Tuesday night's trip to Ball's former club AFC Totton.

The manager said: "So close just seems to be where we are at, at the moment, and it's frustrating. I thought we had done enough. I am proud of the fight, I am proud of the spirit and how we played. The lads stuck together. We had one lapse and it ends up in our net.

"That's tough to take but I try to put myself in the shoes of football supporters, because I am one as well - and if my team battles like that in conditions like that, and never give up and keep going, then you are proud of your team. But it's not three points and all I really care about. It's three points and we haven't been able to deliver them again and that's disappointing for me because I think we did enough."

Ball made four changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Oxford City in the FA Cup, with injuries to several players restricting Ball's choices and his ambition to play three centre backs and no wingers. In the end, Shield on the right and Kian Jenkins on the left did well to get the ball forward - but Deon Moore and Cooke were often left wanting more, especially in the first half when balls forward were often pushed too far by the huge wind.

"The team selection was good - horses for courses playing against a team like we played," said Ball. "I know people think you should just have a system and stick to that system and that's the only way you can play. I think we have got bodies in the building that can actually change things up and play a different style and in a different way.

"I knew the conditions were going to be bad so it was going to be a bit of a lottery - not as much as it was. It was very difficult to control the game and play out there, get your weight of pass right. We didn't do anything wrong within the game of football. We have mis-cleared a corner that has gone straight onto their lad's head. And those kinds of things didn't happen for us. Sometimes that's the way you take it.

"Even without wingers we went down the wings well and we delivered into the box well. If there's different ways to do it, we showed a different way today. All good, just no three points, which is what's hurting me.

"I think we have just got to get the points our performances have deserved at times - and we haven't done that enough, we are just not ruthless enough when needed. We have just got to keep working hard to be more ruthless when the chances come."