Torquay United completed the great escape in their fight against relegation out of the Football League, but phew...didn't they put their supporters through an afternoon of agony! United's 0-0 draw against Boston United was enough to keep them up, because of results elsewhere. Oxford United are the unlucky ones, being relegated to the Conference. But at one stage near the end of the afternoon, United knew that if they conceded a late goal and Oxford - then drawing 2-2 at home to Leyton Orient - grabbed a winner, the Gulls would be down. It was that tight. As it was, Torquay held on for an all-important point and it was Oxford who conceded a last minute goal against the promoted Eastenders. So Oxford end with 49 points, joining Rushden and Diamonds - who were already down - in the drop zone. Torquay finish 20th on 52 points, the same as Stockport and Notts County (who both drew), but United have a better goal difference.  | | Ian Atkins led the Great Escape (Getty) |
To think, when Ian Atkins took over the helm in April, United were rooted to the bottom of League Two, six points adrift and with only six games to play. It really is a great escape. The dramatic afternoon started with United kicking off, attacking the 'away end' - only today the away end was packed full with Gulls fans. Almost everyone in the 5,697 crowd was cheering on the Yellows, and they were all praying for an early goal to ease the nerves...it never came. "All we are saying, is give us a goal," pleaded the Pop-Siders after five minutes. You knew it was going to be a long 90 minutes. United looked nervous and all the players in yellow seemed to be playing in defence...this wasn't what Gulls supporters had expected at all! Plainmoor, from being a riot of noise and colour at kick-off, had gone very quiet as the nerves spread contagiously. Half-time arrived, and United hadn't created a single chance. Surely, the second half would be better... The half-time interval was like a Christmas panto, with cheers and boos greeting the other scores as they were announced over the PA system.  | | Torquay fans celebrate at the end |
It looked as though Torquay might need to win to stay up - a point may not be enough. Three minutes into the second half, and United's Steven Reed forced Boston 'keeper Conrad Logan into his first save of the day, the goalie pushing out a 25-yard free-kick. At this point, Gulls fans started singing The Great Escape - a bit prematurely, I thought. On the hour, and an audible intake of breath went up around Plainmoor as a Boston corner was swung in, and Paul Ellender had a free header a few yards out - he put it wide! The atmosphere fluctuated from joy to despair, as scores came in from elsewhere. At the start of the day, any one of seven teams could go down. In these days of high technology, it was reassuring to see so many people with little radios pressed to their ears. Finally, with three minutes left at Plainmoor, United fans felt confident enough to start singing "Torquay's staying up." And when the final whistle went, hundreds of fans rushed onto the pitch to celebrate. They still needed confirmation of the Stockport, Notts County and Oxford results at that stage. Slowly but surely, those results came through and United had, indeed, completed their Great Escape. Afterwards, Ian Atkins said: "It's job done. It was horrible to watch. I've never experienced anything like that before. But the main thing is staying up." | 
