TORQUAY chairman Mike Bateson runs a tight ship at Plainmoor, avoiding the sort of debts that could come back to haunt him and his fellow directors in the future - unlike some we could mention.

There's no room in his strict budgetary regime for frivolities such as overnight trips to away games - even though the club's location in the South West involves a lengthy coach journey every other weekend.

Not that it seems to worry boss Leroy Rosenior and his players, who have lost fewer matches on their travels this season than in front of their own fans. And they coped with another 6.30am start on Saturday to frustrate Wrexham at a windswept Racecourse.

More importantly perhaps for a Torquay side poised just above the League One relegation zone, they maintained the cushion between the two sides

And after getting to within three minutes of registering their fourth away win of the campaign, Rosenior was full of praise and admiration for his players.

'We showed a lot of character because we could easily have gone away with nothing,' he said. 'I'm delighted for my lads because they were up at half six this morning to come here, and it speaks volumes that they put in that amount of effort.

'If you had said before the game that we'd take a point, I would have been satisfied with that.'

Anything less than a share of the points would have been a travesty for an admittedly out-of-sorts Wrexham side who enjoyed enough possession and territorial advantage during the 90 minutes to have won several games.

But the wind, the bumpy surface and one or two below-par performances from key players conspired with United's determined defence to produce a stalemate.

On an afternoon of few positives for Reds boss Denis Smith, who had surely earmarked this match as a banker three points, Alex Smith was a busy and able replacement for the injured Andy Holt, Danny Williams won more than his fair share of tackles and keeper Ben Foster continued his fine form.

But for the most part, Wrexham's passing left a lot to be desired, their lack of width played to United's strengths at the back and the quality of delivery into the front two - who were often isolated - was a consistent problem.

There was little to commend the game until the visitors, with the wind at their backs, opened the scoring in their first meaningful assault after 19 minutes.

Torquay striker Leon Constantine, the club's record signing for £75,000, got beyond Dennis Lawrence too easily and pulled the ball back for the unmarked Jo Kuffour to side-foot a well-placed shot into the net.

The Wrexham defence, until then merely going through the motions, were suddenly rattled and both Constantine and Adebayo Akinfenwa had chances to inflict further punishment before the home side regrouped.

A foul by Brian McGlinchey on Mark Jones produced a free-kick which Ugarte curled just wide of Phil Barnes' goal. And minutes later, Foster saved well from Akinfenwa, who should have done better considering he received the ball when Williams completely lost both the plot and possession for the home team.

Ugarte saw a cross caught by the wind to almost deceive Barnes, then made a mess of a good chance created by Smith.

On three occasions in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, as United kept virtually everyone behind the ball, Chris Llewellyn seemed the most likely candidate to put Wrexham back on terms. His best effort was matched by a fine save from Barnes.

As the game continued to be squeezed into one half of the pitch, Jones was inches away from meeting an Edwards cross at the far post. Then a stunning effort from Williams, which was too hot for Barnes to hold, should have been turned in by Ugarte but instead was hacked clear.

The Spanish striker, though, was not to be denied his eighth league goal since arriving at the Racecourse just three months ago. Unusually for him, it came from just outside the penalty area with a half-volley on 87 minutes after Llewellyn and sub Hector Sam combined to set him up.

Wrexham: Foster, Roberts, Morgan, Lawrence, Edwards (Bennett 77), Williams, Ferguson, Jones (Sam 77), Smith, Llewellyn, Ugarte. Subs not used: Crowell, Pejic, Harrison.

Torquay: Barnes, Canoville, McGlinchey, Robinson, Woodman. Kuffour (Hockley 66), Taylor, Russell, Hill, Akinfenwa, Constantine. Subs not used: Jarvie, Villis, Pulis, Phillips. Booked: Russell.

Referee: Clive Oliver. Attendance: 3,608.