Cheltenham went into the break with a 1-0 advantage over Torquay in their League Two playoff semi-final first leg thanks to a Jermaine McGlashan strike.
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, though 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 McGlashan gave Cheltenham the lead, his shot from inside the six-yard box creeping into the bottom corner.
Two-way traffic continued up to the half-time whistle, though both sides struggled to get anything on target.
