According to Head Coach Tom Cleverley, Argyle scintillating Saturday win over Doncaster Rovers was a product of getting the basics right, and building the foundations necessary to provide the 5-1 win that the Greens left South Yorkshire with.
It certainly put the ‘fun’ into ‘fundamentals’. Although Argyle went a goal down when Brandan Hanlan scored after four minutes for the hosts, the responded with an equaliser from Lorent Tolaj, provided after good work by Owen Oseni, and then Tolaj turned provider to set up Oseni to put the Pilgrims in front.
Less than two minutes later, they were at it again, with Oseni threading a ball that Tolaj ran onto and slotted. Then, in the second half, Oseni was fouled in the box, and Tolaj took the resulting penalty for his hat-trick, and to make it 4-1.
Substitute Xavier Amaechi scored a fifth late on to pop a bow on the box that contained the cake with the icing with the cherry on it.
It was notable, though, that within seconds of his opening answer to questions on Argyle TV after the game, Cleverley was swift to look ahead, and to try to ensure there is no repeat of a hangover of a previous exciting away day.
Argyle won 4-0 at Burton Albion in September; they followed that with a disappointing draw then six straight defeats. For us, the Green Army, we should enjoy the result, enjoy the positivity going into Christmas. For the Boss, he is rightfully sounding the calm signals.
“Every small detail was delivered to a tee,” Cleverley said, minutes after the final whistle at Doncaster. “All down to doubling up on their dangerous wingers, to putting the ball in the back of their net, which is the biggest of details. I thought we delivered them really well today.
“The key is now not to get carried away. It's three points, it's one game. We're in a good run, but last time we won by four goals away from home, I feel like we got ahead of ourselves a little bit. It’s important we don't do that.
“[It was such a good day] because the fundamentals were there, and the quality and confidence is growing all the time.
“[Coming from behind to win] is a key milestone that gives the players a lot of belief when we do go behind — that we have the calmness, the quality, the character to come from behind. So, a big box ticked there.
“We're growing all the time. We're not going to get carried away by this one. I think we're on a good journey that's starting to show in our performances and results.
“I thought this would be the journey that we went on. First of all it was: ‘OK, can we solidify this team?’ We were too easy to beat six, eight weeks ago. First and foremost, it was making us solid.
“Then with results, we'll grow confidence, and you'll see the real quality and talent of this group. We're on that journey. We're nowhere near where we want to be. We don't sit comfortably looking at that league table still. But we're on the right track, and that's down to hard work, togetherness, and some good performances — consistently good performances — from a lot of the players.
“I love the festive period in football. There’ll be full focus on Reading. It's an important time to spend with the family, but the main focus for me is what we do on Boxing Day against Reading. That's where my focus will be.”
