Nick Barmby's angled shot was saved by keeper Andy Marriott before Craig Fagan put the ball just wide in what was a real let-off for the Gulls.
But they then let a golden chance go begging during a rare lapse in City's defence in a move started by the lively Jo Kuffour on the left who crossed to the unmarked Adebayo Akinfenwa. He was allowed acres of time to shoot from eight yards out but his shot was blocked and the ball fell to Leon Constantine who somehow managed to sky the ball over the bar in front of an open goal from just a couple of yards out.
The Gulls put even more pressure on the Tigers and Akinfenwa was extremely disappointed to see his 26th minute header ruled out for offside after out-foxing the defence once again.
A couple of minutes later at the other end, Craig Fagan had the Tigers' best chance of the game so far. He did well to escape his markers and chip the keeper but his 20-yard shot trickled inches wide.
In the 32nd minute, a powerful 20-yard shot from Akinfenwa seemed to come almost out of nowhere but Boaz Myhill reacted well to pull off an excellent save.
The second half did not really spring into life until the 60th minute when Junior Lewis was upended in the box by Martin Phillips. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and Fagan stepped up to place a low shot just underneath keeper Marriott and into the bottom left-hand corner.
The sizeable home crowd finally broke their silence in the following minutes as Barmby saw his acrobatic overhead kick ruled out for offside and then Stuart Elliott hit the post with a speculative shot from 25 yards.
A second penalty followed in the 73rd minute when Lee Canoville clumsily felled Barmby in the area. Elliott, who missed a penalty in midweek, made no mistake this time as he sent Marriott the wrong way with a powerful spot-kick.