SAINTS reached the FA Cup fourth round with ultimately as comfortable a win as they could have hoped for.

The game against Tor-quay, the Football League's bottom team, was the proverbial no-win situation.

If Saints won, as they did, it was only to be expected.

If there was an upset, it would have been a massive shock.

As it turned out, Saints beat Torquay with a bit to spare.

The conditions were once again bad - on this occasion, Torquay's pitch was so bobbly it made a passing game very difficult.

But credit to both sides as they still attempted for the large part to keep the ball down and build from the back.

Saints' superior quality was there for all to see throughout.

Torquay, six points adrift at the foot of League Two, weren't without their occasional moments but they lacked quality and conviction in the final third and that meant Saints were in cruise control.

You felt Saints had at least another two gears they could find.

That was even with an injury-hit team, though it hardly seems fair to trot that one out when Torquay didn't even have enough players to name five subs.

As well as the victory, there were other positives to take.

When you have injuries and shuffle the side, you are looking for players to come in and show why they deserve a run in the team.

And David McGoldrick did that.

He was asked to start out of position on the left-hand side of midfield but did very well.

He was always a threat, staying out wide to receive the ball and driving at the Torquay defence, both inside and out. And, as we know with McGoldrick, he's not backwards in coming forwards when it comes to pulling the trigger.

McGoldrick was just as impressive when he moved up front towards the end of the tie alongside Grzegorz Rasiak.

His performance certainly told George Burley not to think purely in terms of having three front-line strikers, but also that there is a fourth who can be called upon when needed.

Another piece of good news was Darren Powell getting through the full 90 minutes.

Having not played since April, it was a massive ask to chuck him in and hope he did alright. But he did more than that and didn't look a lot different to when he last played.

That's a big bonus for Burley and opens up a few options for him at the back.

Saints almost got off to a flying start when McGoldrick was found in the box by Jhon Viafara after 35 seconds, but he saw his shot well saved by 20-year-old Martin Horsell.

Torquay scrapped away in the first half but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

Bradley Wright-Phillips produced a weak finish from inside the area before Saints took the lead two minutes before half time.

The scorer was no surprise but the way the goal came about was.

Steve Woods slid to block a cross and directed the ball towards his own goal. Horsell, making only his third start for the Gulls, dived to his left to gather the ball but, as he landed, appeared to try and stop it going behind for a corner.

But all he succeeded in doing was spilling the ball to Rasiak, who nicked it away from him and rolled it into the empty net from an acute angle.

Having that 1-0 lead at half-time made a big difference to Saints, who looked more confident in the second half.

The big question was whether they could turn their superior quality into a second goal that would kill off the tie.

As the game opened up a bit and both sides had half-chances, Rasiak did provide that important second goal.

Mario Licka, yet again impressive from the bench, whipped in a cross from the right after his corner had been returned to him and Rasiak powered through to slam his header home.

That was 18 for the season for him and game over.

Torquay probably played their best football, and certainly created their best chances, after that.

If Lee Thorpe would have shown a little more composure, he would have pulled one back when found in acres of space in the area.

Woods also came close when a corner broke to him in the area but he leant back and blasted over.

All in all, it was job done.

Saints went to Torquay to make sure they got through to today's fourth round draw ... and they achieved their objective.