Daggers Drawn

IN a season of great Argyle goals, Ryan Brunt’s late, late leveller to spare the Pilgrims’ blushes at lowly Dagenham & Redbridge is right up there.

Fair play, then, that Brunty was more concerned with his and his team-mates' well below-par display in the 1-1 draw than he was with his stunning 25-yard shot five seconds from the end of time added on that equalised Joss Labadie’s earlier opener.

“We hadn’t had a shot all game; it fell to me, and was there to hit,” said the 22-year-old forward. “I had to hit it and luckily it’s gone in. It might have taken a deflection, but I’ll take anything it that sort of game.

“It’s fantastic, personally; it’s what I play football for. It’s great for the team to get the point and keep us where we are. It’s just frustrating it was on the back of a rubbish performance. It was a rubbish performance – we can’t hide away from that.

“We weren’t great today – we know that – we need to get better. But a point’s a point away from home, against Dagenham, where we got stuffed 2-0 last year so...it’s not pleasing, but it’s a point.”

The stunning strike ensured that Argyle did not become the first side this season to leave the Chigwell Construction Stadium empty handed although they did relinquish their eight-week stay on top of Sky Bet League 2 to Oxford United.

The stark stat that they earned their point from their one shot on target was not lost on Ryan. He said: “That’s not something we’ve had all season – we’ve had shots and good play – and today we just lacked that bit of focus in the final third. We played into their hands a little bit.”

With no game next Saturday, the Pilgrims have a fortnight to prepare for the visit of Cambridge United on December 12.

“We have got to get better,” said Ryan. “We have got two weeks now to regroup; rest ourselves mentally and physically; and work on what we need to do to get better.

“The positive is that we got a point with a poor performance and go away on a two-week break; a loss and a two-week break is not great, so at least we’ve ended on a high.”