eSports Preview: Weight Lifted

ARGYLE eSports manager Ben Taylor confesses that it felt like “a massive weight off our shoulders” to secure their first competitive victory over Green Line on Tuesday night.

The 3-1 win lifted the Greens off the bottom of Virtual Pro Gaming League One South, and Taylor is keen to use that crucial first victory as a platform heading into another double-header on Thursday night against Cardiff City eSports and Fearless eSports.

“It’s a considerably better feeling than it was the other day,” admits Taylor. “After the game, it was a much more positive feeling. It felt like a massive weight off our shoulders and it gives us a bit of confidence going into tonight against two good teams.”

The Greens were made to work hard for their first competitive victory, which came immediately after a spirited 2-0 defeat to top-flight RSG eSports in the opening round of the cup. Despite being pegged back to 1-1, Taylor’s colleagues rose to the occasion to get off the mark in domestic competition.

Taylor said: “In the first game we got beat by a good team, and we made the decision to try something slightly different in the second game. We went 1-0 up very early, and even when we conceded the equaliser we didn’t feel that they were in a position to beat us, to be honest.

“Even though they had a lot of the ball, we felt in control and that we’d score if we got a chance – and obviously we got two more to win 3-1.”

With the League One South season still in its infancy, we are just beginning to see the green shoots of progress among a squad that have only been together a matter of weeks – and Taylor is, as ever, keen to emphasise the positives displayed from their opening six fixtures.

“Even though we’ve played a lot of top-half teams, we could still have won a few more. It’s been silly little mistakes that have cost us,” explains Taylor. “For example, in the first game of the season, we only lost 1-0 through a lapse in the last-minute - they’re a good team and they’re fifth in the table.”

Taylor sees Thursday’s games as a perfect opportunity to back up Tuesday’s result – particularly given that the Greens face opponents that they have already beaten once this year.

“We’ve played Cardiff before in pre-season [winning 2-0] and played them off the park, really. Hopefully we can reach the high standards again and get a similar result.

“We really didn’t expect to be in this position, but hopefully we can use the win as a platform and push on. It’s not like we’ve resolved it after one win, we need to get back the five games that we’ve lost, but we’re getting there.”

Argyle kick-off their first game, against Cardiff City eSports, at 8.45pm, before facing Fearless eSports at 9.15pm. Both games will be available to stream live through our Facebook and Twitch channels.