Plymouth Argyle: Season 2 Kick Off

Hello friends and welcome back to another chapter in my Plymouth story which in this update will see us begin the season in League One. Before I begin here’s a look at Plymouth’s  basic 22 players for this campaign with the back up players on the second line of each position.

August 2012

We started the season off as strong underdogs away to Stevenage though were playing like favorites for the first thirty minutes which saw Lecointe grab the opening goal off a breakaway run and square ball by Eccleston. In similar fashion the Liverpool loanee ran through the heart of the Stevenage defence to create an easy tap in for skipper Carl Fletcher. The home side pulled one back after the restart but Eccleston’s pace again was telling as he produced goal number three for right winger Luke Daley in the same way as the previous two for an opening day victory.

The following Tuesday saw us take on Colchester at Home Park in the first round of the League Cup. We were totally outplayed but somehow won on the night thanks to two powerful headers by Jamie Richards and playing the last 18 minutes with just 10 men. As an aside I managed to “anger” Eccleston in my half time talk so I’m wondering where that will lead?

Richards turned from hero to villain heading into his own net to give Carlisle the lead in our first home league game of the season. Carlisle added a second, catching us the break as we searched for the equalizer before half time. American Mike Pelosi neatly placed the ball past the Carlisle keeper in the 55th minute to stage the fight-back but we seemed to have little or no desire to win the game and so we tasted defeat in a game we should have easily won.

Kudus Oyenuga missed twice in the opening five minutes before we fell behind to Wycombe who took the lead through a spectacular 30 yard strike by Dean Bodwitch. He would go on to complete his hat-trick as we were soundly beaten and looked totally out of our depth as we continued toward to wrong end of the table.

It was a complete reversal as we took on Colchester for the second time this month and again at Home Park. Nathan Eccleston acquired his first goal of the season after 16 minutes with a low drive into the left corner of the net finishing off a through ball by Walton. This activated a 14 minute spell off dominance which saw Matt Lecointe score twice in the space of five minutes leaving the game effectively over after half an hour.

The final game of the month was again at home and I sent out all my youngsters to face Portsmouth in the second round of the League Cup. The first forty-five they played magnificently with 16 year old Booby Ponton opening the scoring after just 11 minutes with a cracking shot into the top corner of the net. Even after the interval we continued to dominate until Portsmouth equalized from a free kick in which two players looked very much offside but the goal stood. As the pendulum swung in their favor we held on until extra time but eventually capitulated due to fatigue and Jordan Pearce’s sending off though it was a brilliant effort all around.

So after the first month we had been eliminated from the League Cup and mid table in the League.

The Ricoh Arena provided the venue for our first game of the month in which neither ourselves or Coventry demonstrated a will to win the game and predictably it ended in a uninspiring 1-1 draw.

The next game was at home to Oxford in the 1st round of the JPT which saw us cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win thanks to a brace by Soukouna off two Booby Ponton corner kicks.

The speed of Brentford’s Fabian Brandy almost ruined our Saturday afternoon which saw Eccleston give us the lead on the half hour with a delicate side footed goal that Brandy cancelled out in the 57th minute. Eccleston, not to be upstaged lobbed the Brentford keeper right from the kick off which turned out to be the winning goal.

Next up was away to Rochdale and we got off to a terrific start with Lacointe netting the ball after just three minutes from a Bhasera cross. The home side were back on level terms almost immediately as Soukouna got caught flat footed and it was 1-1 just like that. In what was to be an exhilarating opening twenty minutes Soukouna headed us back in front from a Walton corner after which Bhasera supplied another cross for defender Colin Watson to score his first ever goal for Plymouth. Bhasera completed his hat-trick of assists just before half time to set up Luke Daley for goal number four. The second period was far less entertaining with no further goals to speak but we had satisfaction from a good victory on the road

Following that very nice away win we had two important games against early promotion candidates in Orient and Tranmere both of which turned into disastrous outings for us. We lost away to Orient by a single goal, creating hardly anything in the final third and then produced a mirror like performance at home to Tranmere but in that game managed to concede two goals. As we played with full strength teams in both games we just may not be competitive enough to push for a play off spot.

I felt we needed to finish the month off strongly and we did just that with a tidy 3-1 win at home to Gillingham. Two goals in two minutes by Eccelston got us off to a delightful start and a powerful effort by Bhasera created and own goal just after the hour mark for a valuable three points.

Full Results:

Not too bad to begin with and hopefully over the next couple of months will produce less of those red cirlcles.

League Table:

There’s a bit of a gap between us and the leaders Exeter but we find ourselves just a point out of the play-offs though there’s a long way to go yet.

Fixtures:

We start next month away to second place Millwall which I feel we need to come away from with at least a point to show some competitiveness. There’s also a chance to get revenge over Wycombe in the JPT.

Super Seven’s:

It’s the defenders for the most part who are featured here thouhg Eccleston has gotten off to a decent start. I was expecting to see 16 year old Billy Ponton in this group but so far the kid from Hearts has failed to live up to his attributes.

That’s it for this post, so thanks for reading and see you next time!