Another disappointing performance/result from a windswept rainy and a bit chilly home park.
Fair play to Cambridge, they were well drilled, attacked and defended as a unit, but most of all appeared to have more desire/spirit than the greens-but actually man for man I am not convinced they are any better than us?
Struggling to remember many highlights from the first half - we tried to pass the ball on the deck- they were first to every ball, Wylde made a couple of decent runs down the left but without any end product. Plenty of misplaced and aimless passes. Despite the return of Hartley (more about him later) and Mchugh, the defence looked decidedly shaky-Sawyer was his usual Steady Eddie which is fine providing the rest of the team play well but an attacking full back he is not. Mellor had one of his 'off games' - his powderpuff approach means he has to be in a winning team otherwise his confidence takes a complete nose dive. Despite Argyle having most of the ball, it was no great surprise when Cambridge scored - more defensive slowness allowed Corr a little space to turn and shoot through Nelson's legs and passed the unsighted keeper. In fairness, every time Argyle attacked (albeit slowly) Cambridge were very quick to assemble their two banks of four with two attacking the ball carrier and this pretty much nullified any threat .
DA clearly got into the players at half time and they came out and tried to take the game to Cambridge with some good attacking periods of play for the first 15mins. Cambridge sat back and we eventually equalised with a good Wylde header(!) from a decent cross from the otherwise anonymous Jarvis. At this point I would have put serious money on Argyle going on to win , but a combination of renewed effort from Cambridge and Argyle sitting back led to more pressure from Cambridge and the eventual winner. Hartley made another bad double mistake- he slipped when not under much pressure to let their attacker in; to add insult to injury he then tried to bring their player down and missed-an average attempt at a save by the keeper meant it was 1-2. A couple of half shouts for penalties and a bit of attacking intent gave some hope (but I think the ref was correct on both occasions). End result Cambridge won a game mainly because we didn't play to our potential.
Front to back we were poor and no one deserves any credit. Walton in goal was less than convincing; cant kick and his handling is sometimes suspect. Back 4 looks fragile and their mistakes led to the goals. Midfield were not existent. Jarvis hardly turned up and Brunt for all his endevour had no end product. Worryingly DA didn't make a single substitution which can only suggest he has no confidence in those on the bench.
So, what next Hartlepool away and Yeovil at home suggests that we ought to take 6 points. Lets hope so, still in the top 3 and the matches are being ticked off. All argyle fans would have taken 40 points by Christmas but the last few games mean we are starting to think 'same old Argyle'- lets hope not.
PS No MOTM for me .
Fair play to Cambridge, they were well drilled, attacked and defended as a unit, but most of all appeared to have more desire/spirit than the greens-but actually man for man I am not convinced they are any better than us?
Struggling to remember many highlights from the first half - we tried to pass the ball on the deck- they were first to every ball, Wylde made a couple of decent runs down the left but without any end product. Plenty of misplaced and aimless passes. Despite the return of Hartley (more about him later) and Mchugh, the defence looked decidedly shaky-Sawyer was his usual Steady Eddie which is fine providing the rest of the team play well but an attacking full back he is not. Mellor had one of his 'off games' - his powderpuff approach means he has to be in a winning team otherwise his confidence takes a complete nose dive. Despite Argyle having most of the ball, it was no great surprise when Cambridge scored - more defensive slowness allowed Corr a little space to turn and shoot through Nelson's legs and passed the unsighted keeper. In fairness, every time Argyle attacked (albeit slowly) Cambridge were very quick to assemble their two banks of four with two attacking the ball carrier and this pretty much nullified any threat .
DA clearly got into the players at half time and they came out and tried to take the game to Cambridge with some good attacking periods of play for the first 15mins. Cambridge sat back and we eventually equalised with a good Wylde header(!) from a decent cross from the otherwise anonymous Jarvis. At this point I would have put serious money on Argyle going on to win , but a combination of renewed effort from Cambridge and Argyle sitting back led to more pressure from Cambridge and the eventual winner. Hartley made another bad double mistake- he slipped when not under much pressure to let their attacker in; to add insult to injury he then tried to bring their player down and missed-an average attempt at a save by the keeper meant it was 1-2. A couple of half shouts for penalties and a bit of attacking intent gave some hope (but I think the ref was correct on both occasions). End result Cambridge won a game mainly because we didn't play to our potential.
Front to back we were poor and no one deserves any credit. Walton in goal was less than convincing; cant kick and his handling is sometimes suspect. Back 4 looks fragile and their mistakes led to the goals. Midfield were not existent. Jarvis hardly turned up and Brunt for all his endevour had no end product. Worryingly DA didn't make a single substitution which can only suggest he has no confidence in those on the bench.
So, what next Hartlepool away and Yeovil at home suggests that we ought to take 6 points. Lets hope so, still in the top 3 and the matches are being ticked off. All argyle fans would have taken 40 points by Christmas but the last few games mean we are starting to think 'same old Argyle'- lets hope not.
PS No MOTM for me .
