No Joe we had already qualified before tonight for the knock-out stage. A win tonight would have given us a home tie.
The first link is Argyle's 2 minute highlights and the second, Bristol Rovers' 10 minute highlights. I've watched the Argyle 10 minute version with a Green commentary but that's behind the ArgyleTV subscription. No doubt you'd get a quite different impression from listening the Rovers' audio so I'd turn the volume down and form your own conclusion. From text commentary last night, it seemed that Argyle had taken a bit of a beating, with constant references to shots and saves at the Argyle defensive end. Looking at the video is a bit different: yes there are shots but often the corner flag is more at risk than the goal net. Yes, Ashby-Hammond made some saves but they are very routine. In the 10 minute version, you can see that Ashby-Hammond made a terrible mistake to give Rovers their goal, but right before that, the Rovers' keeper very nearly scored an almost comical own-goal. That's been the story of recent games. The event that turned it though was the sending off. The Argyle commentary made the point that the lino, who'd have been very close to the incident on the offside line didn't flag. The ref who was some distance away and potentially behind other players did. Cleverley said it was naïve and so it was. Was it a red card though? Not for me. The attacker has hold of Szucs' arm and twists him away from the ball, without which he might well have cleared it. Szucs then does the same and gets sent off. Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. That's been the story of recent games.
EFL VERTU TROPHY....Second round. Tues 2nd Dec away at Leyton O...ko 7.00pm. Winner pockets £20,000. Lorent Tolaj will be available for this game....it does look difficult not to have to play him with the strikers we have at the club.
The game is on Sky Sports - presumably Sky Sports+ as there are also three Premier League games, Blackburn v Ipswich in the Championship and the Women's Nations League final and runners-up game.
Ashby-Hammond...Ross...Wiredu...Pleguezuelo...Paterson...Edwards...Tolaj...Oseni...Roberts...Sorinola...Dale. Subs Hazard...Mumba...Mitchell...Boateng...McCabe...Hatch...Finn. Pleguezuelo returns from injury.....Wiredu starts...Edwards in and Captain.....Ashby-Hammond gets a game.....Tolaj plays before his three game ban.
0-1.....F/T......(90+6mins) Tolaj (90+3mins) Tolaj of course ....who else can score...? Three games now without him.....
Cleverley said he liked the determined and disciplined style of the win at Port.Vale. He got the same tonight. I wouldn’t say it was pretty but Argyle certainly held their own throughout and probably looked the more likely to create something. Interestingly he seemed to have opted for two up front -Tolaj and Oseni - which worked pretty well. Orient could well have had their right back sent off for two cynical trips but the ref refused to show a second yellow. Their keeper certainly should have been given a straight red (and Argyle a penalty) for a wild charge out into a crowd of players for a high ball with his arm and fist held out like a battering ram. Keepers seem to have the dispensation to do that sort of thing. Edwards remonstrated long and loud with the ref shortly afterwards when Orient were given a free kick for a far less dangerous challenge by an Argyle outfield player. One rule for keepers and another for the rest….. With penalties looming, Argyle pressed hard in the dying minutes. Tolaj received the ball a few yards out with his back to goal. Surrounded by defenders. 999 players out of 1,000 would have laid it back to someone facing the goal. Not Tolaj, who casually back heeled it into the net. We’re going to miss him…..
