Goals either side of half time gave Cheltenham Town a well-deserved 2-0 victory in the first leg of their League Two playoff semi-final against Torquay United this afternoon.
Torquay fired a warning shot inside the first few minutes when striker Rene Howe powered forward and blasted over Scott Brown's crossbar, but the home side also threatened through Luke Summerfield, who shot wide at the other end.
Brown was called into action on the 12-minute mark, making a superb save to deny Ryan Jarvis, but the Cheltenham keeper almost turned villain from the resulting corner. The shotstopper fumbled the in-swinging cross, but Torquay were unable to capitalise.
Brown's opposite number Robert Olejnik was tested two minutes later when Ben Burgess's dipping header threatened to creep its way below the crossbar, but the Austrian was equal to it.
Torquay suffered a blow with less than 20 minutes on the clock when Howe was taken off with a suspected hamstring strain. He was replaced by Taiwo Atieno.
Things got even worse for Martin Lin's side when Jermaine McGlashan gave Cheltenham the lead, his shot from inside the six-yard box creeping into the bottom corner.
Expert defending from Torquay's Brian Saah kept the scores level after the first attack of the second half. His tackle to deny Kaid Mohammed forced a corner, from which Cheltenham's Elliot scuffed the resulting attack.
The home side continued on the front foot, and almost forced an own goal from Mark Ellis, who saw his interception from a Summerfield cross rebound off the post.
Cheltenham helped themselves to a well-deserved second on 49 minutes. McGlashan was the provider this time, crossing in for Ben Burgess to head home.
Torquay has their backs against the wall, but they almost hit back immediately through Jarvis, whose header came back off the crossbar.
Cheltenham had the better of the possession throughout the second period, and looked odds on to increase their lead, but were unable to further capitalise on shaky defending from the away side.
Torquay almost nicked a vital away goal with four minutes left on the clock when Atieno gave his marker the slip and fired on goal, only to be denied by Brown.
The two sides will meet in the return leg at Plainmoor next Thursday (May 17).
Mark Langshaw
