Coventry 0
Argyle 1
Noone 86
CRAIG Noone is officially the new favourite of the Green Army.
The sprightly youngster came off the bench to secure a slightly undeserved 1-0 win for Argyle at Coventry with a stunning effort four minutes from time.
Argyle defended stoically all afternoon without offering much at the other end. That is until Noone gave the Sky Blues the blues with a mesmerising run and finish to justify the faith shown in him by manager Paul Sturrock.
Emile Mpenza's point rescuing heroics in last weekend's dramatic 2-2 draw with Charlton was enough to secure him his first Argyle start with Steve MacLean the unfortunate man to miss out.
The Belgian came on in injury time to save the day for the Greens with his first touch; steering a superb volley into the bottom corner after Argyle had squandered the first-half lead given to them by Mat Doumbe's header by conceding twice in the final four minutes.
The other change saw Jamie Mackie come in for suspended Scot Paul Gallagher, who operated from the left-wing against the Addicks. The spare place left on the bench from all the shuffling went to Frenchman Nicolas Marin.
Coventry also made two changes from last weekend, when they slipped to a demoralizing 2-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace, prompting angry criticism of his players by manager Chris Coleman.
Michael Mifsud, the victim of a midweek training ground injury, was replaced by Robbie Simpson. Michael Doyle took the place of Guillaume Beuzelin in the midfield engine room as Coleman looked for the Irishman to repeat his two-goal performance in Coventry's 3-1 win over Argyle last season.
The Sky Blues started like a team scorned. Leon Best beat Craig Cathcart in the air, allowing strike-partner Clinton Morrison to back into Marcel Seip and the former Birmingham and Crystal Palace striker's attempt to return the ball to Best was only thwarted by a goal-saving Cathcart intervention.
The energy of Jay Tabb on the left flank was a continual threat in the early stages and one clever trick on Doumbe gave Morrison the space to clip in a lovely cross which missed the run of Best by inches.
It took Argyle eight minutes to emerge from the onslaught and get down the other end of the pitch, and when they did, Coventry struggled to cope.
The industry of Mackie earned the Pilgrims a corner, which was swung in by Luke Summerfield. The cross found Seip at the back post but his header was blocked on the line by full-back Danny Fox.
Mpenza picked up the rebound and fired in a fierce low drive from just inside the box that saw goalkeeper Keiren Westwood get down very quickly and produce an excellent save to turn the ball around the post.
The Belgian came even closer to getting on the score-sheet five minutes later, but, unfortunately, it was at the wrong end from an Argyle perspective.
Fox whipped in a corner to the near post which glanced off the braids in Mpenza's lavish haircut and took a direct course to the top corner. Romain Larrieu was beaten but Summerfield spared his team-mate's blushes with a superb headed clearance from under his own crossbar.
The delivery of Fox from set-pieces was a problem for the Pilgrims and one free-kick from the left found the head of burly winger Robbie Simpson, but he nodded wide from close range. Argyle responded with a hopeful Karl Duguid effort from distance that Westwood comfortably gathered.
The sweet left foot of Fox got involved in open-play moments later when he unleashed a stunning 35-yard strike that saw Larrieu flying across his goal to palm the ball over.
One disappointment in a battling first-half display from the Greens was the lacklustre performance of Rory Fallon, who, after shaking off the laid-back tag of his early Argyle career, looked to have returned to Hamlet cigar mode.
It was in stark contrast to the vibrancy with which Mpenza was playing. The Belgian international has played and scored for big clubs in big games but he was already showing that he is also willing to put in a shift for the team.
The half ended with Mackie earning himself a yellow card for a prolonged and slightly cringe-worthy rant at the assistant referee. The offside decision looked incorrect but, for some reason, Mackie's arm-waving response reminded me of David Brent.
The second period opened with more embarrassment for the ever-willing Mackie as yet another lung-busting run down the right ended with a hideous shot that came closer to hitting the corner flag than the back of the net.
Simpson then produced a scary moment for the Greens with a dangerous low cross towards Morrison at the near post and Larrieu's muddled clearance from various parts of his anatomy owed more to luck than judgment.
Coventry were still winning the day in terms of territory and ball retention but Argyle showed their threat with a searing break out of defence on the hour-mark.
Larrieu claimed the ball from Gunnarrson's Rory Delap impression and released Chris Clark with a quick throw. He played a cracking one-two with Duguid before feeding the ball to Mpenza in the left channel.
The Belgian spun quickly and floated over the perfect cross. The only problem was Fallon, the obvious recipient, was strolling forward and 20 yards away from the box in a scenario that summed up the Kiwi's indifferent afternoon.
By the halfway point of the second period, both managers decided to take action in a bid to prevent the game from continuing its descent to a rather dull goalless draw.
Coleman introduced Freddy Eastwood and Beuzelin, while Paul Sturrock chose to bring an early end to Mackie enthusiastic and frustrating match by replacing him with young whipper-snapper Noone.
The best chance of the day for Coventry arrived two minutes later when Argyle allowed Simpson to run 40 yards across the pitch and set up Morrison, who, with the goal gaping, criminally fired over from inside the box.
Luggy then withdrew the tiring Mpenza for MacLean, but Fallon's surprising reprieve proved to be a double-edged sword as he promptly took a nasty blow to the head after a collision with Cathcart and Eastwood. In fairness to the big man, his physical presence was proving a useful tool in defending set-pieces.
MacLean was definitely unlucky to be excluded after his improved performances in recent games and he came very close to proving his point with a goal. His neat touch released Clark down the left and, after galloping into the box, his cushioned header drifted inches wide.
Argyle were not to be denied, however, and Noone made himself the hero with a sensational winner.
The young winger picked up a loose ball on the left-wing, sauntered inside, weaved a way past right-back Isaac Osbourne and kept his composure to lift a clever right-foot shot over the despairing dive of Westwood.
MacLean nearly compounded Coventry's misery in the last minute as he out-muscled Scott Dann and fired in a quick shot that Westwood beat away with his knees.
Noone then embarrassed Osbourne again with another dazzling run from the left and he continued into the box for what looked like a replica of his first goal before former Pilgrim Elliott ward stopped him with a desperate late challenge.
The game ended in farcical fashion as Westwood bounded forward for a corner. Argyle cleared the ball out to Noone, who was joined by Clark in bearing down on the vacant Coventry goal with one lonely defender to beat.
All Noone had to do was either pass the ball into the net or feed Clark to do the same. In the end he did neither, and clipped the ball embarrassingly wide.
He ended the game with head in hands - chin up son, you're now a Green hero.
Coventry (4-4-2):1 Keiren Westwood; 16 Isaac Osbourne, 5 Elliott Ward, 6 Scott Dann (capt), 4 Danny Fox; 24 Robbie Simpson, 8 Michael Doyle, 12 Aron Gunnarsson (7 Guillaume Beuzelin 68), 21 Jay Tabb; 9 Leon Best (10 Freddy Eastwood 65), 19 Clinton Morrison. Substitutes (not used):2 Stephen Wright, 3 Marcus Hall, 33 Andy Marshall (gk).
Booked: Gunnarsson 28, Osbourne 77, Dann 86
Argyle (4-4-2):1 Romain Larrieu; 13 Mathias Doumbe, 22 Craig Cathcart, 19 Marcel Seip, 15 Chris Barker; 25 Jamie Mackie (17 Craig Noone 68), 2 Karl Duguid (capt), 20 Luke Summerfield, 6 Chris Clark; 14 Rory Fallon (9 Steve MacLean 74), 31 Emile Mpenza. Substitutes (not used):3 Jim Paterson, 8 Yoann Folly, 23 Nicolas Marin.
Booked: Mackie 44, Clark 90
Referee: Nigel Miller (County Durham).
Attendance: 18,528 (879 away).
