Pointless

IT feels like a running joke that the rest of npower League 2 are in on except us but...

...once again, after a football match in which Argyle will feel they held sway for large periods, they emerged pointless.

The Pilgrims were applauded off at half-time after an opening 45 minutes in which they pinned Chesterfield back time and again. A ball was cleared off the line; the goalkeeper made great saves; the crossbar was struck. But the goal-line was not crossed.

The story was similar in the second half, and the game’s stats showed Argyle having 16 shots at goal;  forcing 13 corners to their opponent’s one; and having 53% of possession. However, the scoresheet’s tally – nil in the first column, one in the second – is the ultimate, damning, statistic.

“It’s tough to take, really,” said boss Carl Fletcher, “The pleasing thing is that the lads are playing well and working hard for one another, but the down side is that we aren’t getting any results.

“I end up sounding like a broken record but, again, we’ve dominated a game in every sense – chances, attempts at goal, possession, corners. It just didn’t bounce for us today.

“It seems to be the way we’re going. All the hard work we’re putting in just isn’t rubbing off for us.

 “We don’t just smash the ball around and hope something goes our way. We try to get into certain areas and make the right decisions at the right time.

“We’ve been working on getting on the front foot and getting teams penned in when we can, and I thought we did that wel. We just didn’t have bit of luck fall to us so we could get that finish.

“We’re just really disappointed that the results aren’t following the performances. It’s the only stat you look at the end of day.

“It’s football. That’s why people watch it. It’s why all their fans travelled down from Chesterfield to see the game – because you are always in with a chance, however the game goes.

“In one box, it’s not going for us, and in the other box it’s not going for us. We could have easily won the game 2-0 or 3-0 and been quite comfortable.”

To add insult to various undesirable emotions, it looked for all the world as though Argyle substitute Joe Lennox’s cross had been illegally halted by the arm of Chesterfield’s Nathan Smith in the closing stages, but calls for a penalty went unanswered.

“We should’ve had a penalty in the second half,” said Fletch, “but the ref didn’t see that one.

“I think it was a clear one - it hit his arm three yards inside the box. I think the linesman was that side, too, so I’m not too sure why he’s not seen it.

“But that’s just the way it’s going at the moment. I think we must have driven over a few black cats.”