Fight Fire With Fire

RHYS Griffiths took less than two minutes to extinguish the Davids Factor as he fired Argyle on their way to a 4-1 win at Barnet.

The Welsh striker converted a penalty after Mark Byrne fouled Luke Young to knock the stuffing out of a team buoyed by the appointment, earlier in the week, of Dutch superstar Edgar Davids as the Bees’ joint-Head Coach.

When Max Blanchard added a second ten minutes later, Argyle had achieved precisely what they had set out to achieve.

“It was fast start,” said Griff.

“They were excited about Edgar Davids being here and we needed to quell things, and we did that with two quick goals.

“It was a game we expected to win, being that they are bottom of the league, so we were perhaps a bit concerned that they were going to have that extra boost which was going to make them a bit more competitive.

“To be fair, they are a good side. They play some good football, so we had to make sure the Davids Factor wasn’t too big a factor.”

Griff had no thoughts about passing on penalty-taking duties after his effort against Wimbledon seven days earlier had been saved, leaving him to hit home the rebound.

“No chance,” he said. “It was a chance to put things right.



“Obviously I scored [against Wimbledon], but I still wasn’t happy. I went away a little bit embarrassed. I thought it was very bad penalty.

“I was not going to make the same mistake twice and I put a bit behind it this time.”

Griff has now scored three goals in his first, belated, season in the Football League, and believes there is plenty more to come.

“I had huge stutter with an early injury, which was disappointing for me,” he said, “and I wasn’t happy with my performance against Wimbledon, if I’m honest.

“It was better today, but I’m still not match-fit. So, when that comes, hopefully I’ll be able to really take command of that spot.

“It’s nice to score goals, but I haven’t got the same pressure to score that I had back in Wales, and all that counts is the three points.”