Grind It Out

Sonny headed home Graham Carey’s 50th-minute corner to give promotion-chasing Argyle a 1-0 Sunday afternoon victory at Doncaster Rovers and close their hosts’ lead at the top of the division to just three points with seven games of the season to play.

It was a first league defeat at home for 22 matches, since March 2016, for Rovers, who tested the Pilgrims throughout the game but found them utterly impenetrable.

“We’re delighted,” said Sonny, afterwards. “We knew they had a good home record but we’re also very good away. We’ve proved already, against teams that play football, that we can sit in and grind out a result and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

“Sometimes it’s not all about playing amazing football and playing the other team off the pitch; sometimes it’s about sitting in and defending properly. We’ve done that on numerous occasions this season.  

“I don’t think there was ever a point in the game when we felt comfortable. They had two up front, never gave us time on the ball; they had a high press from the first minute. It was a just a case of grinding it out. 

“We knew, coming here, that we weren’t going to outplay them. We know that, especially at home, they are very good; they move the ball well; they create chances. So it was just a case of digging in, defending for our lives and nicking a chance from a free-kick or a corner.

“If we were going to win the game, we felt that we had to score from a set-piece, and we worked on them this week. We just got a little bit of a block on their defender; I’ve gone round the back, where I’ve gone a lot this season, and it’s a great ball in. 

“All I had to was to make contact with the ball. I didn’t feel I had to do much, just get contact and hit the target and there was no chance of the ’keeper saving it.

“That was our game-plan; we’ve executed it perfectly. We’ve got the three points and that’s another brick in the wall when it comes to our promotion push. I think a couple more wins will see us over the line.”