Brilliant piece of writing from Plymouths pressman! http://www.pafc.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10364~61308,00.html Stourbridge 2 McCone 52, Evans 73 Argyle 0 by RICK COWDERY A FAIRYTALE evening for Stourbridge. For Argyle, simply grim. The War Memorial Ground staged a proper FA Cup tie as lowly Stourbridge entertained Football League opposition for only the second time, and the challenge to the Pilgrims was to produce a proper professional response in a replay made necessary by a 3-3 draw at Home Park ten days previously. Instead, they made proper idiots of themselves in becoming only the fourth Argyle side in history to go out of the competition to non-league opponents. Chief chump was Paul Bignot, who needlessly got himself sent off seven minutes before half-time for kicking out at Sean Evans after the Stourbridge man had gone in late on him. Argyle manager Carl Fletcher had suggested before the game that his side might be underdogs going into the game; if they had not been then, they certainly had become so as Bignot trotted to the dressing-room. The disadvantaged Pilgrims held out for a quarter of an hour either side of the interval before Paul McCone caught them sleeping at a 52nd-minute set-piece. The tie was beyond redemption at that point but Evans made sure with a second 17 minutes from time. Fletcher's starting 11 had reflected a high degree of pragmatism, being both experienced and conservative. With loan signing from Blackpool Craig Sutherland cup-tied, the manager opted to play just one striker behind a five-man midfield to which he recalled himself and Conor Hourihane after the pair had been obliged to sit out Saturday's defeat at Torquay because of suspension. The Irish Under-21 international occupied a slightly withdrawn role alongside captain Simon Walton behind a forward-looking triumvirate of Luke Daley and Will Atkinson - out wide - either side of the gaffer, a support unit for lone forward Warren Feeney. The back four was the same that had conceded three at Plainmoor but showed one change from the unit which had played in the first match of the tie 10 days previously.Robbie Williams, who, like Hourihane, had been sent off in that game was given a place only on the substitutes' bench as Ben Gibson kept his place, while Jake Cole was recalled in goal. The Glassboys probably would have lined up precisely as they had done in the initial game had it not been for a suspension to Aaron Drake, score of their first goal at Home Park. His place went to Evans, who had seen action as a substitute first time around. The cup-tie opened at cup-tie pace on a War Memorial Ground that had evidently taken a lot of water, deliberately or otherwise. A great leveler, of course. Stourbridge bustled forward and called Cole into action when giant centre-back Nathan Bennett headed a set-piece goalwards, and Argyle responded by way of a pacy break that ended with Hourihane firing over. Referee Scot Mathieson was centre stage early on, too, first when he had to tend to one of his assistants who had been poleaxed by a stray clearance; then when Fletcher flattened Leon Broadhurst for his second early crunching late tackle. By fair means and foul, though, Argyle managed to keep their hosts at arm's length. Indeed, the first 20 minutes passed by in something of a blurry battle for the middle ground with neither keeper being tested for a quality other than concentration. That changed when Walton gave the ball away in the centre-circle. Stourbridge worked the ball quickly out to Evans, whose cross was met first time by Ryan Rowe. The red and white-striped number nine, such a thorn in the Pilgrims' side at Home Park in the opening game, got a decent touch on the sweet delivery but Cole athletically turned the almost point-blank attempt wide with a combination of fantastic anticipation and superb reflexes. However, the threats on the Argyle goal were few and far between, which meant they were at least getting one part of the job done. They were comfortable in possession, too, and worked the ball forward pleasingly without making significant incursions in the opposition penalty area. Lewis Solly, in the Stourbridge goal, could have kept a decent sized cigar going. The game was meandering along nicely when Evans left a late one on Bignot, whose instinctive reaction was to kick out at the Glassboy and, although he missed, referee Mathieson spotted the incident and had the red card in his hand before he reached the miscreant Pilgrim. It was the 20th red card shown to a Green since the beginning of last season and seventh of this campaign. In a quarter of all matches the Pilgrims have played since the beginning of 2010-2011, they have failed to finish with as many men as with which they started. Rowe and Nelson were booked for their part in the subsequent handbags, although they seemed fairly random yellows. Evans, meanwhile, walked away Scott free, as the instigators of these situations often do. Argyle responded to the deficit in numbers by bringing on Durrell Berry in place of Luke Daley, sacrificing attacking options for defensive stability, and easily saw things out for the ten minutes until half-time. The Pilgrims came out early for the second half though whether this was to warm up, to escape the confines of the somewhat bijou dressing-room, or because ESPN were on a long ad break was not immediately clear. It did not take long for the home side to turn their numerical advantage into an actual one. Peter Reid, watching from the makeshift ESPN studio, would have been familiar with the scenario in which they conceded, with McCone outdoing the Argyle defence on the near post to head home Sean Geddes' corner. Geddes nearly made it two with a cross that became a shot in mid flight and beat Cole before bouncing off the crossbar to Broadhurst, who headed the ball back narrowly over the goal. With a quarter of the game left, Fletcher withdrew himself in favour of the younger legs of Matt Lecointe, but the best Argyle chance of the game immediately fell to the more experienced Warren Feeney, who spooned Berry's promising delivery over the goal. The stand, actually. Evans made sure of Stourbridge's progress to another home tie against Stevenage when he slotted the ball home in the 73rd minute after Cole had beaten out a shot by the again impressive Rowe. For Argyle, there is a tougher, less palatable, journey to be taken. And the road is a steep and tricky one.
