Gillingham progressed through to the second round of the Worthington Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 victory away to Torquay on Tuesday evening.

Andy Hessenthaler's side always knew the game could be a potential banana skin and it needed a goal from the player-manager himself to avoid the indignity of going out to a Division 3 side.

The first period was a tight contest with both sides trying to pass the ball without creating any clear-cut chances.

At the start of the second half the two teams appeared to be more positive as Guy Ipoua headed a great chance wide of the target for Gills and Kevin Hill and Alex Russell had good opportunities for the hosts.

However, the deadlock was broken with 20 minutes remaining when Hessenthaler pounced on the loose ball after Kevin James' shot was saved by the Torquay keeper.

In the closing stages Torquay pressed for an equaliser but apart from a couple of speculative long-range efforts they didn't look like finding the back of the net.