Scunthorpe United 1
Morris 54

Argyle 0

THERE are possibly worse places to see a promotion dream start to fade in front of your eyes, but I am jiggered if I can think of one right now.

Of course, the Pilgrims can still acquire the points they need to finish in the Championship's top six, but the margin for further error has slimmed considerably with defeat at Glanford Park.

They were not helped by a poor decision by red-card happy rookie referee Stuart Attwell to send off goalkeeper Luke McCormick midway through the second half, ostensibly for handling the ball outside his area, a dismissal which potentially further dents Premier League ambitions.

With Romain Larrieu out of action, they face the prospects of going to leaders Bristol City on Saturday with third-choice Lloyd Saxton currently the only available option to manager Paul Sturrock.

A battling display in awful conditions was not enough to take anything from another long-range Tuesday-night trek as Ian Morris's goal ten minutes after the break settled the game.

It had not been a night for faint hearts at Glanford Park, with rain whipping in horizontally off the North Sea as the promised second wave of lightning-led storms coincided almost precisely with the team's disembarkation from their nearby hotel.

There was a certain ruthlessness to Luggy's team selection, too. For the first time in five matches, he made unenforced changes:out from the previous Saturday's 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield United- and, indeed, the three games prior to that - went defender Gary Sawyer, right-winger Gary Teale, and striker Jermaine Easter.

Sawyer was replaced by Lee Hodges, a veteran of the Pilgrims' previous two title-winning sides, in the second of two changes to a defence which also witnessed the return of Marcel Seip instead of suspended new Hungarian international squad member Krisztián Timár.

Teale's fellow Scot Chris Clark came into the midfield, while Easter's place was filled by the world's most enthusiastic footballer, Jamie Mackie, making his full debut after a string of substitute appearances since his transfer-window move from the team of whose name we dare not speak.

Scunthorpe, beaten 2-0 in the derby at Hull four days earlier, brought back two defensive players, Andy Butler and Ian Baraclough, who doubles up as one of Nigel Adkins' assistant managers, in place of Jack Hobbs and Marcus Williams.

Argyle had to weather another storm right from the off, with Jim Goodwin, a man who once scored two own goals for Argyle in the same match, forcing McCormick into a full-length save.

With the attacking flood subsiding, Argyle waded into the game and began to string some neat passes together on the slick surface. Best to keep the ball down in the swirling wind.

Halmosi worked an overlap with Hodges, whose cross back from the bye-line was hoicked over by Mackie, leaning back and slightly ahead of the ball.

Hodges, incidentally, was one of several Argyle players wearing brand new boots, the result of a break-in at Home Park on the eve of the match that saw players relieved of the most essential element of their kit. On the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining principle, it at least gave Luggy something to fill his afternoon with as he went on a shopping spree in Scunthorpe to replace the plundered footwear.

Some old heads accompanied the new boots, with Russell Anderson and Seip, who showed no ill effects from either his groin injury or the lay-off it caused, towers of power in the face of some fairly agricultural deliveries.

For long periods, the game was played entirely in the Argyle half, a spell broken when the always eye-catching Mackie put centre-back substitute Hobbs under pressure, and won the ball but failed to pick out a team-mate with his cross.

Mackie so nearly put Argyle ahead shortly afterwards with a dazzling run in from the right wing that left three players trailing in his wake before he pinged in a fierce shot that goalkeeper Joe Murphy acrobatically tipped over.

Scunthorpe responded with a wave of attacks that tested the Pilgrims' resolution, Anderson and Connolly this time repelling dangerous situations.

Argyle made it to the interval without further ado, and with one outrageous piece of skill from McCormick who, in taking a pass from Connolly under some pressure from an on-rushing forward, executed a perfect Cruyff turn. You could not see Luggy but it was easy to imagine him turning to his goalkeeping coach and saying: "Crudgie, get him told…"

A punt from the Argyle's non-Dutch goalkeeper at the beginning of the second half gave Mackie another sniff of goal but his hurried shot never carried enough to trouble Murphy. Similar could be said about Halmosi's attempt a few minutes later after an exquisite set of passes had worked the opening.

Another piece of Mackie endeavour had the Green Army singing his praises, with a subtle dig towards his former employers thrown in. The away section comprised nearly a tenth of the gate, and spoke volumes for their dedication, not to say sanity.

For all Argyle's second-half threat, it was Scunthorpe who took the lead, manufacturing a quick break that saw them overload the right side of the Pilgrims' defence. Morris cut in off the left wing unmarked and his shot took a deflection off Anderson to loop over McCormick's head.

Luggy immediately went for broke by putting Teale on in place of Clark,and, soon after, Paul Wotton for Lilian Nalis - 4-2-4 showed how much he wanted the points.

His plans were sent asunder straight way when McCormick was adjudged to have fielded a pass shepherded back from Seip outside his area. To be fair to Attwell, it was his linesman who flagged for the offence, but he got it wrong. The ball was on the line, and the line belongs to the goalkeeper.

With no substitute goalkeeper on the bench. Hodges, the player who has always been Argyle's emergency goalie without ever having previously played the position - even in training - took over between the posts, and immediately made a rather fine save from Goodwin's free-kick.

Ten-man Argyle made a decent fist of keeping the ball away from their temporary custodian, and went close to embarrassing the only real keeper on the pitch when Teale crossed for substitute Rory Fallon, who headed low and wide of the goal.

With no McCormick, Argyle lacked the back-up to press too hard, and were caught in a sort on no-man's land, unwilling to commit, unable to sit back.

A wee flurry towards the end offered brief hope of rescuing at least a point, but Halmosi could not get a toe on the best chance, and it was not to be.

So much for the white shorts.

Scunthorpe United (4-4-2): 1 Joe Murphy; 5 Izzy Iriekpen, 4 Andy Crosby (2 Jack Hobbs 25), 18 Andy Butler, 11 Ian Baraclough; 16 Jack Cork, 8 Jim Goodwin, 17 Grant McCann, 27 Ian Morris; 14 Geoff Horsfield (30 Ben May 83), 10 Martin Paterson (15 Curtis Weston 87). Substitutes (not used): 9 Paul Hayes, 22 Josh Lillis (gk).

Argyle (4-4-2): 23 Luke McCormick; 2 Paul Connolly, 21 Russell Anderson, 19 Marcel Seip, 17 Lee Hodges; 6 Chris Clark (7 Gary Teale 60), 26 Nadjim Abdou, 4 Lilian Nalis (capt, 15 Paul Wotton 67), 16 Péter Halmosi; 9 Steve MacLean, 25 Jamie Mackie (14 Rory Fallon 75). Substitutes (not used):20 18 Gary Sawyer, 36 Jermaine Easter.

Sent off: McCormick 71.

Booked: Anderson 66.

Referee: Stuart Atwell (Warwickshire).

Attendance: 4,920 (417 away).