REACTION: Fair Point
Argyle manager Ryan Lowe felt that a draw was fair reward for the Pilgrims' battling display against Accrington Stanley at Home Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Pilgrims hit back twice after falling behind, first with Luke Jephcott netting on his 50th senior appearance, before substitute Niall Ennis opened his Argyle account following a brilliant give-and-go with Danny Mayor on 78 minutes.
The Greens finished strongly in a thoroughly entertaining game, but could not find a way through a resolute Stanley back-line to take all three points.
Lowe said: “It certainly was an excellent advert for League One football. Accrington are a good team, they do it right, and so do we. The assessment will be that it’s a fair point, they’ll probably be happier because it’s on the road. We’d have loved three, but it wasn’t for the lack of trying, I thought we had some great chances towards the end.”
The draw keeps the Pilgrims in 13th place in the Sky Bet League One table, and extends an unbeaten league run which stretches through the whole of January.
Lowe said: “To keep that little run going where we’ve not been beaten for a little while, we want to continue that. We’re progressing nicely, we’re becoming a good team, and that’s what we want to continue to keep doing.”
Lowe is satisfied enough with maintaining that run, although he was disappointed with the manner of the goals the Pilgrims conceded – particularly the second, which occurred immediately after the half-time break.
“We did dominate large parts, and the [second] goal is rubbish really. Is it a good ball? We haven’t dealt with that good ball. There’s loads of stuff that we’ll look at and come up with an agreement of where we can get better next time. But, again, the character of the lads to get back in it, against a good team [was excellent].
“I’m always satisfied when you don’t lose the game of football – but I think they’d be more happy with the point than I am. If it was a bit different, where we weren’t playing the way that I want us to play, then I’d be disappointed. As you’ve seen there, they’re a good team, but we possibly could have went on and won it.”
The Pilgrims dominated possession and territory for the majority of the second-half, with Stanley sitting deeper to protect their lead. In the end, the catalyst for the equaliser came from a triple substitution made by Lowe on 68 minutes, when he introduced Ennis, midfielder Ben Reeves, and wing-back Adam Lewis.
Lowe said: “The subs were fantastic – and it’s tough because you don’t want to be called a super sub, but it’s the job. Whatever subs I make, they’ve got to go out and produce, and that’s certainly what they’ve done. They’ve made a good impact, so I’m pleased with that.
“It’s a squad game, it’s a team game, when the lads came on the pitch and got on the front foot, it gave us that little bit of energy. Our lads had that little impetus, and we’ll look it back, and hopefully they can give us more.”
After a mammoth travelling and fixture schedule, Lowe is keen to use a rare week with no Tuesday fixture to get some much-needed rest into his squad, ahead of Saturday’s trip to high-flying Portsmouth.
“Some of them our out on their feet in there, we had a few doubts early before the game – they’ve gone out and give us it all. They’ve put their bodies on the line, we’ll rest and recover them, and get ready for another exciting, important game next Saturday away to Portsmouth.