It was pretty much a case of taking the game to the opposition from the opening kick off. Our last couple of games have seen less than wonderful first halves. It was clear the plan was to be not losing 3-0 at half time. And maybe even something better than that.

It was a one sided first half that could have been put to bed within the opening minute or two. Chris Dagnall weaved in and out of a couple of Torquay defenders before being brought down on the corner of the penalty box. The ref erred on the side of caution and seemed relieved to be able to award it as a free kick outside of the box.

TK stepped up to take the free kick, and perhaps conscious of receiving a verbal bashing off the BBC on Saturday night TV, decided that crossing was his best option rather than adding to his tally for the season, but no one could get on the end of it.

But Dagnall's run was characteristic of his performance, certainly in the first half. It's perhaps not been acknowledged just how much pressure there was resting on his shoulders following the sale of Alfie, given that he became our only "proper" striker at the club.

However, upon today's showing, he's not the player he was pre-injury, he's far better than that, with a display which must rank against any other performance he has made in a Dale shirt. He was everywhere, non stop running, but perhaps more importantly, there was always a purpose to everything he did. Today, he was unplayable.

But this was far from a one man show. It seemed the whole team were up for it, and Daggers was assisted brilliantly by Will Buckley who caused all sorts of issues for the Gulls defence, and loanee Chris O'Grady who needs to be telling Oldham that he wants to be the next in the Dale striker conveyer belt.

It wasn't a case that Torquay were playing badly. They just weren't allowed in the game by a Dale side which produced one of its best halves of the season with free flowing, neat passing football still the order of the day. This is pretty much the second side that Hilly has put together at Spotland, and despite the pittance it has been put together on, it's questionable which has been the better.

It's interesting watching Dale this season. There seems to be some sort of time limit to watch the wonderful football without scoring. For twenty minutes, its great football. From twenty one minutes onwards, it becomes overplaying it. And whilst I'll freely admit to a slight concern of not having scored whilst we were on top, we were having chances a plenty and there was nothing to suggest the visitors would come back into the game.

Apart from when they scored that is. 

A neat passing move of their own saw Elliot Benyion produce a decent finish from smack back in the middle of the six yard box. Fortunately for us, the linesman raised his flag, albeit slower than Steve Bucknor raises his finger to cut short the celebrations. Well cut short all celebrations apart from the short wearing yellow clad Where's Wally lookalike in the sparse away end who was the last person in the stadium to realise.

Jason Kennedy came close with a brilliant passing move which eventually saw him end up the furthest forward he's been all season. Past history suggests he can only score from 30 yards plus, so there was no doubt a touch of panic as he received the ball inside the Gulls box. His shot narrowly avoided the far post, denying him a much deserved first goal for the club.

But the goal came and it was almost a classic. Buckley produced what made him the hottest prospect in League Two last season, going past the Gulls defenders for fun, making room for himself before letting fire. His shot was well saved by the Gulls keeper Poke but Chris Dagnall popped up to finish off the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.

To add injury to insult, the Gulls keeper was left lying on the floor clutching his face after colliding withone of his defenders as Daggers came in to score. And left lying there by a set of team mates who didn't seem overly bothered.

O'Grady was getting in on the action too, and he was a constant menace to the visitors. His touch was wonderful and the Dagnall / O'Grady partnership has the potential to surpass all previous combinations under Hilcroft.

Half time brought a much deserved ovation from the Dale supporters for what could have seen us lead by three or four goals quite easily. It was very one sided, and it wasn't just those with a vested interest in Dale thinking so. Gulls boss Buckle was forced into a double change at half time, sticking on a couple of wide men to try and salvage something from a game that looked already lost.

The change worked as it certainly gave us something to think about, and that comfortable feeling that we enjoyed throughout the first half was long gone. Don't get me wrong, we weren't under the cosh or even on the receiving end of wave after wave of Torquay attacks, but the game was much more even than it had been in the first half and it seemed to have the air of the sort of game where Dale concede.

We seemed to cope with anything that the Gulls tried and if they got the better of us the first time, we seemed more than capable at the second attempt. It was very rare that a third attempt was required.

But as an attacking force, we seemed to struggle to be as fluid as we were in the first half, and whilst it may have been down to the Gulls changing their tactics, we weren't imposing ourselves as an attacking threat of the same calibre as the first half. God help an opposition when we get it right for the full ninety minutes.

As the half progressed though, the impact of the Gulls changes lessened, and it was that man Dagnall again causing all the issues. He forced Torquay keeper Poke into a wonderful save after good work.

But it wasn't long after when he grabbed his second and wrapped up all three points. With the long haired Hargreaves having to fit in at centre back whilst a Torquay defender took treatment off the pitch, Dagnall showed why Hargreaves was a midfielder in his pomp rather than at the back.  A ball from O'Grady saw Dagnall read it perfectly and his turn left Hargreaves with the best seat in the house to watch the goal. Daggers raced goalwards, with all the time in the world and Poke was not to deny him this time. 2-0 and the points secured.

That goal put him just two behind his entire League tally for last season after just seven games. That pressure from before is something he is thriving on.

Time for a hat trick? Well so we thought as Dagnall again raced clear but this time, Poke denied him before the scouser had the chance to er.... poke it past him.

Another good Dale move was spoiled after Thompson received the ball in acres of space, but a Torquay player receiving treatment decided he could just re-enter play racing on to the pitch to deny Thompson. Had we not been cruising to a relatively easy win, I think we'd have kicked up more of a fuss.

But we wouldn't be Dale if we didn't give ourselves a little scare. Three minutes of added time displayed by the fourth official, and a late foray into the Dale box by the Gulls. Despite Nathan Stanton's best efforts to give away a penalty by trying to rip Chris Hargreaves shirt off, we managed to clear.

But the ball was straight back in the box, and the veteran midfielder managed to steer it into the top corner, though there was a slight suspicion that Stanton may have had the final touch as he tried to defend the cross.

Lincoln 2002 was suddenly a very vivid memory, and with such a young Dale side, there was a slight concern that bottle might go and we'd repeat the 2-2 draw that most of our side missed due to being in Primary school at the time.

But the last throw of the dice from Torquay saw the ball threaten the windows at Oulder Hill school as the ball was volleyed so far over the roof of the Sandy Lane end that at no point was traffic in any danger.

Job done, game over, three points nestling nicely in the bag and it was just what we had deserved. Very professional, very pleasing on the eye and very well deserved. Hill mentioned in the Ob before the game about the importance of the squad, and its showing. Its only a couple of weeks ago since it was the defence we were raving about. Dawson doesn't even get a mention in this report. Thompson has been collecting plaudits and distributing servings of humble pie but again, it was others in the squad that caught the eye today.

It's just five weeks since the season started, and that Summer of evaporated enthusiasm suddenly seems a very long time ago. Perhaps this Hill bloke knows what he's doing.