Argyle rescued their Easter weekend, and got their play-off hopes back on track, with a 3-0 win at Barnsley on Monday.
Owen Oseni’s goal had the Greens in front at half-time, and he had been teed up by Lorent Tolaj. In the second half, Oseni obliged by creating a goal for Tolaj to make it two, and then after Oseni was fouled in the area, he picked himself up to convert for the game’s third and final goal.
The 3-0 scoreline makes it sound like it was a little easier for Tom Cleverley’s side than it was. Barnsley responded well to going behind, had enough of the ball, and seemed enough of a threat for Cleverley to shift his side’s shape at half-time, even though the Pilgrims led.
Tolaj’s goal took him to 19 for the season, 18 of them for Argyle. Oseni, with his pair, is now on ten goals, and Bim Pepple, absent with a calf injury, has 15. It is an excellent return for the trio of recognised forwards to have all got to double figures, and a word too for Caleb Watts, who has often been asked to play in an advanced role, and has seven strikes to his name.
“It didn't look, either side of half-time, like it was going to be as comfortable as it ended up being,” said Cleverley, speaking to Argyle TV in the aftermath of the win at Oakwell.
“For large parts of the game, they had the ball, but we were in control. But either side of half-time, we didn't feel so in control. I’m really pleased with the character throughout that period, the impact of the substitutes. Tolly's goal kills the game off at a really important time when we were suffering a little bit. In the end, we managed the game really well with the experience we had out on the pitch.
“We changed the system to 4-2-3-1 to try and manage the overload that they were creating in midfield. I think Barnsley can count themselves a little bit unfortunate to lose 3-0 today. I think Conor [Hourihane, Barnsley head coach] does an outstanding job at trying to get the best out of the group of players he's got, and the type of team they are. It causes a lot of problems, so to win the game 3-0, in the fashion that we did and as comfortable we did in the end, there's a lot of credit to our players.
“I think a 4-2-3-1 was there when we needed it, but you've got to give up some possession in an overloading midfield to get two strikers on the pitch. When your strikers [provide so many assists and goals] then I think that justifies going two up top.
“We play to our strengths, which at the minute looks to be 4-4-2. Bim should be back for the weekend, but I couldn't be more happy with the other two. To have three guys in double figures is credit to the work they've put in, and the work the rest of the staff have put in. All three were not playing at this level last season and had very little experience at this level between the three of them. To have them in this place, we're really proud of them and happy for them.”
