IN THE SPOTLIGHT
BURNLEY 1
Blake 65
ARGYLE 0
We started with Gary Sawyer in today's Player Watch at Burnley. Gary has been mainly deployed in his Argyle career so far, but injury to Krisztián Timár and Mat Doumbe succumbing to flu gave Gary his chance in his favoured centre-back position.
His first act at centre-back was to deal with an awkward bouncing ball in the box that could easily have bounced up and hit an arm, but Gary kept his composure and cleared the danger.
He then made a crucial challenge on Burnley's top goalscorer Andy Gray, who was shaping up to shoot before Gary flicked the ball out of his path with an important toe.
Gary's tussle with Andy Gray looked like being one of the defining battles of this match and it was vital that our man stood up to the physical challenge of playing against such a powerful forward.
To be fair to Gary he won every header in the first 20 minutes in a very competent spell in the spotlight.
We turned our attention to Lukas Jutkiewicz, who made his first start for Argyle since his loan move from Everton.
Lukas started the game with Jermaine Easter as his strike-partner but manager Paul Sturrock reshuffled his pack after just 15 minutes, leaving Lukas to plough a lonely furrow up front.
It was a tough task for the youngster against a vastly experienced Burnley backline, although his sheer physical presence was a constant issue for the likes of Stan Varga and Steven Caldwell.
After a turbulent week at Argyle with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake leaving the club to join Wolves plus injury and suspension problems, it was an admirable performance from the Greens in the first-half.
Burnley were undoubtedly the more potent attacking force but the Pilgrims defended well and Lukas worked very hard in the van.
HALF TIME
Our second-half focus began with skipper Lilian Nalis, who showed all his experience in the midfield battleground during the first period.
His direct opponent in the engine room was Joey Gudjonsson, an old chum from their Leicester days together.
Lil just has that wonderful knack of being in the right place to pick up the pieces, as was the case on the hour-mark when he snuffed out another Burnley attack with the sort of endeavour and understanding of the game that we have all become accustomed to from our pony-tailed Frenchman.
It was back-to-the-wall stuff for Argyle and Lil is one of those men you want in the team when you are under severe pressure. Unfortunately, the Pilgrims, and Lil, could resist no longer with Burnley taking a deserved lead through Robbie Blake.
Our final man in the spotlight was substitute Rory Fallon. The imposing Kiwi replaced Lukas and set about the task of rescuing this game for the Greens.
Rory worked hard and won some headers, but it was a measure of Burnley's dominance that Argyle really struggled to create a decent opportunity for the big man. Today was just not a Green day.
