Saturday, 22 October 2011 Npower League Two Plymouth 0-1 Swindon FT Goals: Plymouth: n/a Swindon: De Vita 82 LINE UPS Plymouth 23 Cole 02 Berry 06 Nelson 19 Gibson 03 Williams 08 Walton 13 Soukouna (Griffiths 77) 20 Hourihane 21 Atkinson (Bhasera 90+3) 11 Feeney (Vassel 66) 27 Lecointe Substitutes 01 Larrieu, 14 Bhasera, 15 Young, 22 Griffiths, 24 Vassel Swindon 35 Foderingham 04 Flint 07 Caddis 36 Ridehalgh 08 Ferry 10 Ritchie 12 McCormack 24 Smith (Risser 85) 23 De Vita 33 Jervis (Connell 90+2) 34 Montano (Kerrouche 46) Substitutes 05 Devera, 13 Risser, 17 Connell, 29 Magera, 39 Kerrouche Att: 6,872 First Half The weather was surprisingly sunny as the match began. Argyle, full of confidence after the Dag&Red match, started by putting on early pressure. The Swindon defence seemed up to the task though and the ball kept dropping back into midfield. Several fans around me groaned as the classic signs of "hoof ball" seemed to rear their heads. The ball spent most of the time in the air, the chips to Feeney were easily dealt with by the tall Swindon defenders. Not too many attacks of note for either team however Argyle seemed to be on top of Swindon most of the half. The ball just didn't seem to fall right for Argyle and the Swindon defence cleared nearly every chance. The most entertainment in the first half was given by the minority of idiots from Swindon who were dragged, kicking, to the exit by the stewards. Walton had a shot go harmlessly wide and then the ref whistled for half time. Second Half As Argyle and Swindon came back out there was a belief after a reasonably good first half that either team could take this game. Kerrouche was brought on by Di Canio and he seemed eager, perhaps too eager after he was booked after only being on the pitch for 6 minutes for a handball. Silly boy! Swindon seemed to control the midfield for the duration of the first 10 minutes. A Hourihane shot saved easily by Forderingham Argyle's only chance in this period. Hourihane tried his hand at goalkeeping shortly after and got booked for the handball. The next several minutes the ball was held in midfield. Fletcher then surprised everyone by taking off the hard-working Feeney and replaced him with Vassel. Shortly after this Soukouna left the field to be replaced by Griffiths, who shortly after coming on got on the end of the corner taken by Hourihane and saw his header saved by Foderingham. Argyle became a little lackluster up front after this and Swindon up'ed their game - they were rewarded in the last 10 minutes as De Rita latched on to a good pass from Richie and slipped the ball past Cole to score. 0-1. A cheer sounded from the Argyle fans as Bhasera took to the pitch in place of Atkinson, however he was unable to impact on the match in the short time he was on. The game played out with little further incident. Stats: 23 Cole - 6 Fairly sturdy for most of the game, became unstuck as Swindon pressured for the goal second half. 02 Berry - 6 Good display however was out of position for the goal. 06 Nelson - 6 played well. 19 Gibson - 6 As above worked well with Nelson. 03 Williams - 7 Got up the lines and supported Soukouna and Griffiths well. 08 Walton - 8 Probably one of his better games. Controlled the midfield quite well. 13 Soukouna - 7 shame he went off. Very much a key attacking threat. 20 Hourihane - 6 A good display, good tackles. Just seemed a little tired at times. 21 Atkinson - 6 Played well in place of Daley, crosses were a little wild at times. 11 Feeney - 7 Held up the ball well. 27 Lecointe - 6 Not his best display, seemed to fade away second half. Subs: Vassel - 6 Surprise replacement for Feeney. Griffiths - 6 good attempt after coming on but otherwise no real impact. Bhasera - 6 good to see him back but unable to impact. MoM: Unknown - sorry it was my friends first game and he was telling me how much he enjoyed the game so I missed the MoM announcement. Hobo's MoM: Walton - Some people would disagree but I think he was the best player today. Still not much of a Captain but moved the ball well and got up to attack when needed. Summary A draw would have been a fair result but Argyle failed a few times to take advantage and Swindon made more of their chances. Defence looked better though and overall Argyle did not play poorly, just that one mistake left Cole exposed. On to Oxford!
Thanks hobo.......I think Feeney and Soukouna are carrying injuries..............a groin injury in Feeneys case has been aggravated ........Tuesday might be to early for him. We need Fletcher and Larrieu on the pitch if it's only for their experience.
No mention of the Ref then hobo? Thought his performance was quite poor personally and he allowed Swindon to moan non stop throughout. As for the rest, once again a pretty fair summary and I note you agree with me that a draw would have been fairer. Not sure about your MOM though. He had a fair game it's true but for me it was Gibson who I thought was having his best game so far. It had all the hallmarks of a 0 - 0 written all over it but I did comment to my compatriots that Argyle don't do that score. Sadly it had to be them who put it in but it could just as easily have been us.
