I tempted fate last week with the possibility that the game could be off and find this weeks forecast for Saturday is equally crap for Devon. Will this bleddy rain and wind ever stop I have to ask. Not showing much signs of doing so just yet is it. Assuming the game is on then it is going to be another toughie at home. Our home form has been a bit of a let down and especially as those are the ones I pay to see. Mansfield are on a half decent run at the minute and I hadn't realised they were actually in 4th spot until this week. If as predicted the wind and rain do appear then that's going to be a right leveller anyway and make the game a bit of a lottery for both teams. Don't know why I said leveller to be fair as Mansfield are not far away from us in position so we are a bit level anyway. This season has seemed to be a real stop and start season somehow. There seems to have been breaks in it all over the place. Probably hasn't been anymore than usual but it just seems that way. I have to say despite Argyle's reasonable success this term I find it hard to get excited when we don't have games week in week out. Hopefully they will continue to impress points wise and I will buck up as it goes on. Given what we've endured for the past few years I should be ecstatic shouldn't I. Fingers crossed.
Typical gray but not too chilly late morning through my front window, so absolutely no danger with regards to the match being off. The previously forecast strong winds have failed to materialise however I am fully expecting the rain to arrive in an hour or so (sailor's nose) and last most of the afternoon/evening. Should be ideal conditions for football but I suspect the pitch will be 'dead' which may have an impact. Whatever happens we will still be second come 5pm, but 3 points could see us 11 clear of 4th with 16 games to go, which in anyone's book has to be an excellent place to be. I know what you mean Sensible, February seems to have been particularly quiet this season, but with 15 fixtures in the 10 weeks between 20th Feb and 30th April things with start to hot up pretty quickly. What is even better is that there is a fair chance that I should be able to get to approx 10 of those 15 (the idle unemployed!)
Forecast is coldish with light rain showers. I think it rained most of the night so I don't think we'll see the sprinklers unless the opposition dig one up again!
Home with a beer very satisfied. Mansfield, 4th this morning, absolutely dismembered. Hard to know where to start with the plaudits: Wylde skinning the fullback everytime he got the ball, Carey stylish ,McHugh sensational in a quiet way, solid debut from Forster, Tanner bright, Brunt hard working and sticking away our first penalty in best part of a year. Far fewer mix ups at the back and enough chances for it to have been 6-0. Even the ref wasn't bad!
Excellent result and play then....shame teams around us looked convincing too but hold me hands up to Argyle as was a really tough match to dominate as they did. Onwards and upwards.
So there we go, Carey returns and Argyle transform back into the the team of a few weeks/months ago when we waxed lyrical about their flowing football and how they would/should/could dominate teams in this division. Any pre match nerves were unwarranted and Argyle deservedly claimed the three points, tbh the result was in little doubt from minute 1. DA shook things up a little with Brunty, Carey and Forster all given starts and Reid and Mellor on the very impressive looking bench. It was all one way traffic in the first half and very much a question of 'when' not 'if' Argyle would take the lead. Wylde marauded down the left early on and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon- he was unstoppable from start to finish and put some excellent crosses into danger areas-admittedly there wasn't always an Argyle player on the end of them, but there should have been. Wave after wave of Argyle pressure inevitably produced the first goal with a decent-ish strike from Wylde from the edge of the box to the bottom corner-not sure he hit it particularly well but it worked. Minutes later the Lino flagged, the ref consulted, and to the amazement of the crowd we had a justified penalty (remember them)-Brunty stepped up and duly obliged by smashing it high to the left of their keeper. Shortly after it would have been 3 but the post intervened. The much over hyped Mansfield were reduced to a few scruffy efforts as Luke looked like he didn't trust the bounce of the pitch and juggled one or two. Second half more of the same and it was very evident that Argyle were in total control of the pace of the match. Forster looked very assured and may well be another class act . He may not have the same attacking flair as Mellor but without doubt he has bags of confidence, plenty of skill and (much like the absent Boateng) seems to have plenty of time on the ball. Despite 3 early subs Mansfield showed very little; their MOTM was without doubt their keeper, without whom it would have been 6 or 7. Another one from Brunt made it 3 and very definitely game over. Brunt was replaced by Reid late on and rightly given one of the best standing ovations I have heard for a long time. He did everything that Reid doesn't,; battled well, held the ball up, made some great passes and also chipped in with a brace. The difference for me though was Carey; It's not always about what he does with the ball but with him in the side Argyle are a different team with so much space in midfield and always an option passing wise. So MOTM-perm any one from Wylde, Brunt and Carey with mentions in dispatches for Tanner, Forster & Mchugh. TBH no one had a poor game. Ill even give a shoutout to the ref- I guess he didn't get every single decision right but controlled the game well, let it flow , and took action when required-more importantly he didn't allow himself to be bullied by the crowd or players and worked well with his assistants. No idea why the clown sat behind me was berating him at every opportunity. All in all a fairly complete performance-the greens ARE going up!!
Agree with that lyndhurst pretty much. Thought the Ref was reasonable rather than good but we didn't really need him today. There was a better than evens shout for another penalty but to have expected two in one game when we haven't had one for a decade would be too much I suspect. Thought the Ref ought to have spotted the first penalty without the lino helping him out. Also thought his booking regime was a tad suspect with some contacts being much worse with a warning than anything Carey did for the first card. I read a post on pasoti by somebody who suggested Mansfield, whilst getting 10 out of the last 12 points had been assisted a bit in getting them by circumstances and decisions. I sort of dismissed this as wishful thinking but now think there may be something in what was posted. I expected a much tougher game than that and it didn't come. What did come though was a Wycombe like start by Mansfield. They maybe did their homework in what winds up an Argyle crowd most and started time wasting right from the start. They squealed like stuck pigs at challenges and tried everything to con the Ref they could find. It didn't work although the Ref did start to warn them about the time thing but didn't brandish any cards for it just like the last one. Mansfield moaned and groaned all afternoon and did all they could to get players booked at least. I hate to see players do that. They had to move quicker when they went behind which was the only thing that saved the day to be honest because had we not scored I think they would have settled for a point all day long. I was not impressed with Mansfield at all and will be surprised if they are there at the end of the season. We played really well all day. Very impressed with Wylde today. Carey was the missing link. McHugh was immense all game with the rest of them all playing well for once. At the start I thought Brunt was going to have one of those days but things did get better for him. My MOM is shared this week. It could be any of the first three I have just mentioned but a creditable silver to all of the rest of them as well. Best game I've seen for some time now and lets hope the wobble has finished.
Now that's more like it.......a real rarity scoring three goals.......we obviously played better......and the BBC site said that Mansfield had no shots on target.....although they did hit the bar. You can never be sure from a distance if we where really good or if they where duff.......not living up to all the hype about them being the form team. When we are playing really well no team in this league is as good has us....including Northampton.
This was a good performance but it's important not to get carried away. I thiught there were a couple of things that need sorting: 1) Chances we didn't take. With a lone striker, several good crosses which eluded the Mansfield defence and goalkeeper were wasted due to a lack of green shirts in the box. Tanner and Wylde need to get into the far post area if the ball's coming from the other side and at least one of Carey, McHugh and Thelkeld need to get in there too. Not even Brunt can be everywhere. 2) Discipline. Hartley DID take some retribution on the Mansfield centre forward after a tussle on the half way line, although as far as I could see, he used his shoulder to barge him, not his elbow as the guy tried to make out. We got sucked in by Wycombe too although I accept they were dispicable. The squad isn't big enough to lose players to unnecessary suspensions - we are already going to lose McHugh for 3 games as I can't see him going 6 matches without a yellow card.
