Triple Threat

ARGYLE’S attacking trifecta has been integral to the side’s upward charge, and Derek Adams was delighted to see them create and convert plenty more chances in a 4-2 win over AFC Wimbledon.

Graham Carey, Ryan Taylor and Ruben Lameiras all etched their names into the score-sheet against the Dons – joined by the slightly more unfamiliar name of David Fox – as the Pilgrims overpowered their opponents to notch yet another win and rise to eighth in the Sky Bet League One table. 

Each of the three forwards notched a single goal, but it could well have been plenty more, as the Greens ran riot on a memorable evening at Home Park. Taylor, for example, had two other goals ruled out for extremely tight offside decisions. 

“The chances created for Ryan Taylor; he could’ve had a hat-trick,” said Derek, “having two chopped off. I couldn’t tell you from where I was [if they were offside]. It’s two great crosses – one from Gary Sawyer and one from Graham Carey – and two great runs from Ryan Taylor, but I can’t tell you if it was [offside] or not. Overall, it’s about getting three points and moving up the league.”

Lameiras was the last to find the back of the net, but it was an inevitability after his dazzling display of darting runs and precise passing. Netting his fourth of the season, it seems that Ruben is adding a goal-scoring streak to his already impressive arsenal of skills. 

“He was unlucky not to have scored a second,” said Adams. “He’s got very quick feet and is wonderfully skilful. To do what he did for his goal: it was a good ball into Ryan Taylor, a flick-on and he just took it away from the goalkeeper, and struck it cleanly into the net.” 

The performances of not just the three forwards, but also the eight Pilgrims behind them, always looked like enough to give Argyle a comfortable victory. However, for a period in both the first and second halves, that looked very much in doubt, as AFC Wimbledon’s Lyle Taylor netted twice. The Dons’ stand-out striker caused problems for much of the evening, but a tactical switch from Adams in the second half killed off the potential for the visitors to record another away day upset.

“They probably didn’t deserve to be anywhere near us tonight,” said Derek, “because we were the better side throughout the 90 minutes. Their goalkeeper was in outstanding form. Graham Carey had two fantastic strikes and he was able to save them. But Lyle Taylor always causes a problem. He’s a very good player at this level and he scores goals. 

“Taylor was causing us huge problems down our left-hand side, and I took Gary [Sawyer] off to bring Aaron Taylor-Sinclair on. He [Taylor] has been playing there [on the right flank] for a good period of the season. He’s very capable of playing in that area. He’s a player that does really well. In League Two and League One, he’s shown that he can score goals. 

“We knew it was important game tonight, because they’d gone away to Bradford and won 4-0. They’ve shown that, away from home, they can get that result. I know they’d lost their last three games, but to win 4-0 there is not easy.”