Cheers All Round

GOALSCORERS Antoni Sarcevic and Ruben Lameiras were not alone in drawing praise from Argyle manager Derek Adams after the Pilgrims extended their unbeaten away run to five Sky Bet League One games with a 2-1 triumph at Oldham Athletic.

Antoni and Ruben scored within three minutes of each other midway through the first half to set Argyle on their way and send them up to 13th place in the division. 

“I’ve said before that Antoni can do whatever he wants,” said Derek. “He’s a top player – he can run forward; he can run back; he can get in the box; he can make challenges; and he’s got a terrific engine – and he has shown that today with a very good finish. 

“He was an Olympic sprinter at pre-season training; he’s an unbelievable athlete. We have got a good number of them who can run all day, and they had to today because it was very heavy out there. 

“Ruben is one that gets on the ball and creates openings. He attracts players to him, as well. He took his goal very, very well. It was a well-timed strike to the bottom of the goal.”

Derek also noted the contribution of forwards Ryan Taylor and Simon Church, the latter of who was a late substitute. 

He said: “Simon is an experienced player. He has played 38 times for Wales. He can take the ball in and take us up the pitch. Ryan Taylor was very good today. He and the midfield three gave us the platform to go forward.” 

The result meant that, away from home, Argyle have lost one of their last nine league games and taken 16 of their 18 away points this season in those matches. 

“We have done exceptionally well away from home over a good period of time and the players are in fantastic spirits”, said Derek. 

“Look at them: they are working hard, they can run all day – we didn’t make substitutions until late on the game because it looked like they were a team that was comfortable in the shape they were in. 

“We have shown, this season, that we can compete with the best teams. We are a promoted side – we came up last season from League Two – and we have competed well in this league. It’s all about consolidating and moving forward, and we are doing that. 

“It’s just about trying to win the next game, which is Blackburn at home, a side that are doing really well. They want to get automatic promotion back to the Championship.”