DEVELOPMENT coach Andy Tillson believes Exeter City's reserves will learn lessons from their 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Torquay United.

The Grecians fielded a youthful line-up and found themselves 4-0 down before hitting back with two late goals.

City's second string have lost their first two games of the season — they were beaten 4-0 by Bournemouth in their opener — and currently lie bottom of the Totesport.com Combination League Wales & West Division.

But Tillson says the latest setback against the Gulls at St James's Park will stand the youngsters in good stead for the rest of the season.

"There has been an improvement over the last few weeks and this was a real blow for them," he said.

"We started slowly and we got done from two throw-ins, which was really disappointing.

"We didn't set up quick enough and paid the penalty for not being organised.

"But we just need to learn from the experiences and make sure we concentrate a little bit harder.

"It is a learning curve for us. They (Torquay) were a little bit stronger physically than us and they were older than us as well.

"You expect it to be a little bit of a rollercoaster with young lads but they are a good, positive bunch and I enjoy working with them.

"We will try and learn from it and make sure we are better the next time."

After City keeper Artur Krysiak produced a good save to foil Ashley Yeoman, the Gulls took the lead.

Danny Sender crossed for Billy Kee, rumoured to be a City target over the summer before he signed for Torquay, to powerfully head home.

Kyle Bassett squandered a chance to equalise when he headed Jake Thomson's cross narrowly wide.

But City were outnumbered in midfield and Saul Halpin raced clear, rounded Krysiak and slotted the ball into an empty net.

Four minutes later Torquay further extended their lead when hesitancy in the City defence allowed Yeoman to poke the ball home from close range.

Gulls keeper Danny Potter pulled off two smart saves to deny Bassett and Elliot Frear before Lloyd Macklin nipped in to add a fourth for the visitors.

To their credit, City woke from their slumber and Tom Nichols showed good persistence in the box before being hauled down by Sender.

Ben Watson stepped up to convert the penalty and Ethan Phillips further reduced the arrears in the closing stages by firing home from close range.

Tillson added: "We were 3-0 down at half-time and we spoke about working our way back into the game.

"It looked like we were doing that really well until we conceded a sloppy fourth goal. We shot ourselves in the foot with that one

"We looked like we had a goal or two in us and to score two in the closing stages showed the character we have got in the side."