No goals but the gulls show form
Especially in a second half which they dominated with some pacy attacking play, Paul Buckle's United were more than a match for Nigel Clough's Rams.
They did it with another new-look attack, which took a while to find its bearings but then kept the County defence at full-stretch. And in midfield United's quartet of Wayne Carlisle, Nicky Wroe, Tyrone Thompson and the outstanding Danny Stevens made their opposite numbers look almost anonymous.
And if Scott Bevan did have to pull out one brilliant save from Derby striker Luke Varney, it was the Rams' Saul Deeney who was the busier goalkeeper.
After a couple of games trying out a 4-1-4-1 formation, Buckle reverted to United's well-tried 4-4-2.
But there was still a strong element of experimentation to it – winger Mustapha Carayol partnered Elliot Benyon up front.
Regular centre-forward Tim Sills was on the bench.
And at right-back was former Sheffield United defender Ben Starosta, who had reportedly signed for League Two rivals Darlington earlier in the summer.
His situation may have been clouded by the Quakers' continuing problems securing a licence from the Football League.
Unsurprisingly, Carayol's 'geography' was uncertain for most of the first half, and United's defenders and midfielders struggled to find the movement they wanted up front.
Steve Davies for Derby and Chris Robertson for United swapped shots at fit-again Scott Bevan and Saul Deeney around the quarter-hour mark.
But there were precious few clear openings for either attack in the first half-hour.
The Rams, with Luke Varney and Giles Barnes as strikers, often flattered to deceive.
But the game finally livened up in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
A through-ball by Tyrone Thompson, who was partnering Nicky Wroe in midfield, set up Carayol to use his pace against Jake Buxton.
Carayol worked room for a shot, but the effort flew not far wide across the face of goal.
Almost immediately Barnes broke down the right wing, and it took a good block by Starosta to stop Varney scoring from Barnes' cross.
Bevan had to pull out a top-drawer save to stop County skipper Robbie Savage, clear on Derby's right, giving the visitors the lead.
But then referee Oli Langford appeared to deny Torquay a clear scoring opportunity.
Carayol's headed flick put Benyon in against Arnaud Mendy, Benyon went to ground and United howled for a penalty.
Mr. Langford blew up, not for a spot-kick, but for a head-knock to Derby midfielder Ben Pringle.
Pringle recovered quickly and, to the consternation of Buckle, his players and Gulls fans, Mr. Langford restarted with a drop-ball.
Mendy was also lucky to escape with only a pre-season lecture after catching Thompson late just before the interval.
United put together their best move of the match so far in the 52nd minute – a cracking six-pass effort down the right wing.
Wroe, Thompson and Carayol were all involved in getting Carlisle away.
His cross just eluded Benyon, and Stevens should probably have tried to finish first-time in front of goal, instead of trying to take a touch which failed him close in.
United had certainly restarted in a higher gear than they had left off.
Wroe forced Deeney to a flying parry-save to keep out Wroe's 30-yard shot.
Then Stevens sent Carayol clear on the left, with a lovely pass inside Derby right-back Jason Beardsley.
Carayol's cross went begging, and so did a Kevin Nicholson free-kick in the 58th minute – Benyon was a hair's breadth away from the scoring touch.
The first change came in the 61st minute, and it was Derby captain Savage who made way for Mark Randall, a 19-year-old trialist from Arsenal.
Danny Stevens was continuing to look a class-act on the ball – he rarely gave away possession and, midway through the second half, controlled a difficult pass from Nicholson, tight to the touchline, as if it was merely routine before nearly beating the offside trap with a through-ball to Benyon.
A County counter-attack in the 67th minute saw Mendy join strikers Varney and Barnes for a shot deflected wide.
And from the ensuing corner Bevan pulled off a magnificent save, low to his right, to keep out a close-range header by Varney.
Another clever piece of play by Stevens, with little room to work, beat Beardsley tight to the touchline and sent Carayol away down the left.
Carayol gave Mendy the slip, but wasted a chance to cross with Benyon waiting in the middle.
United continued to play some sparkling football, as good if not better than anything that Derby managed, as the game moved into the closing stages.
While Rams boss Nigel Clough made two more changes, sending on Gary Teale and Lee Croft, Buckle delayed his first substitution until the 79th minute.
Then he sent on Blair Sturrock, on the comeback trail after injury, for Carayol, who had warmed to his new role, worked hard and earned a warm round of applause from the Gulls' fans.
More changes followed in the last ten minutes, three of them for Derby and 17-year-old left winger Saul Halpin, making his second appearance of pre-season, for Stevens.
Buckle led the deserved ovation for Stevens.
United's play had deserved a goal, and they nearly got it in the 85th minute when Starosta crossed from the right and Benyon's first-time volley was deflected behind.
Then, in stoppage-time, a raking counter-attack through Wayne Carlisle on United's right was carried on by Wroe, whose 25-yard shot was parried by Deeney.
Benyon nearly forced the rebound home.
