Remi Making His Mark

WITH three clean sheets and one vital penalty save in his first four games for Argyle, Remi Matthews is certainly making an impact at Home Park, even if his future is uncertain.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper’s emergency loan from Norwich City will end the moment that one of the Pilgrims’ three injured custodians – probably Luke McCormick – recovers from injury.

“Luke is doing all he can to get fit – of course he is,” said Remi, who helped the Pilgrims to a 1-0 Sky Bet League One win at Bradford by saving Tony McMahon’s late penalty after Jake Jervis had put the Pilgrims ahead in the 35th-minute.

“Once that happens, it’s time for me to go down the road and that’s just the way it is. 

“When I first came in, I thought it was going to be one or two games; thankfully, for me, it’s been longer. 

“From Day One, I have enjoyed it since I have been here. The lads have been a different class. They have made me feel welcome; the fans have made me feel welcome. It’s a nice place to be and the atmosphere is excellent.” 

Since Remi’s arrival at Home Park, Argyle have picked up seven points from nine in the league and progressed to the second round of the FA Cup. The only time he has been beaten, in a 1-1 home draw with Rochdale, the goals was tinged by good fortune for the visitors. 

Against Bradford, he made two outstanding saves to tip over shots from Paul Taylor before thwarting McMahon from 12 yards, but he was insistent on spreading the plaudits around. 

“It’s not about me – it’s about the team,” he said. “Of course, I made the penalty save, but that’s what I’m here to do. I’ve been brought in to make saves and hopefully help the team to win games. 

“At the minute, that is what we have been doing, and all I can ask is for the team to keep doing what they are doing. 

“The team has been excellent even before I got here. The problem has been that we haven’t been picking up results and luckily, at the minute, we are; you can see, from the last four or five games, we have been good. 

“We can only keep pushing on. We have just got to keep getting as many points as we can and hopefully get out of relegation as quick as we can. 

“It was a massive win for the lads. 

“Once we got the goal, they were probably going to be on top for the majority of the game but we defended unbelievably and, when you have got that in front of you, you can’t ask for any more.  I thought Sonny [Bradley] was a different class and, even from the top, I thought we were excellent.” 

The defining moment of the defensive display came ten minutes before the end, when referee Carl Boyeson awarded a penalty for a foul by Aaron Taylor-Sinclair on Romain Vincelot. 

Remi said: “My honest opinion was that it looked soft, but the ref’s made his decision and you have just got to forget about it and start thinking about making the save which, luckily, I did.

“I had a guess. I saw [McMahon] have a little look the other way so I thought I’m maybe going to have a little step that way and go back the way he went. Sometimes it makes no difference – you just have to go with your instincts.”