Lorent Tolaj fulfilled the expectation of the returning player when he went back to his old club, Port Vale, and scored Argyle’s winning goal at Vale Park.
The Greens’ 1-0 victory on Saturday ended a long losing run for Tom Cleverley’s team, though Tolaj’s goalscoring has continued at a good rate. He is the joint leading goalscorer in Sky Bet League One, with eight, and has scored nine in all competitions since becoming a Pilgrim.
At times playing the pantomime villain at the club he helped to promotion last season – and, contrastingly, gleefully acted the hero to the travelling Green Army – the Swiss forward’s goal, 18 seconds into the second half, ended up being the difference.
“We said to him at half-time, keep calm,” Cleverley told Argyle TV after the game. “It's not an easy job against three physical centre-halves. They were trying to provoke him into little bits and bobs here and there. [We said:] ‘Just keep your head’.
“I thought the moment might come a little bit later than straight after half-time. There's no-one in the league you’d rather it fall to.
“We're really pleased with what he's done since he's been at the club. I think there's still a lot more development in him. If he's in a more confident team, that we saw today, and we'll keep developing that confidence after a good result, then I think we'll get even more out of him.”
The goal won the game, but the clean sheet offered the foundation. It is not often that Argyle have kept an opponent out this season, but Vale were unable to breach Conor Hazard’s defences, with the Northern Irish goalkeeper being protected by a 4-4-2 formation, set up with resilience in mind.
Matty Sorinola played on the right side of midfield, with Owen Dale his counterpart to the left. In the back four, Kornel Szucs and Brendan Galloway, both adept at playing central defence, played as full-backs.
“The most important thing was the clean sheet today,” Cleverley said. “We looked really solid. Obviously, they're going to pump it in the box and make you backs-to-the-wall in the last 10 minutes, which it was. But I thought, in the main, we looked really solid today. We reduced them to very little.
“Conor Hazard's had a great two weeks. I know we conceded at Huddersfield, but it's the best game he's had under me, then he has a clean sheet with his national team and then a clean sheet today. He really looks back to his old self now.
“They play with three forwards, and we wanted a nice, narrow, physical back four, which we had today with more centre-back profiles in the full-back positions. I thought Matty Sorinola and Owen Dale did fantastic, honest jobs as wide players. We wanted our sixes to stay in a little bit more. We knew there could be a possibility there wasn’t going to be 20 shots on their goal today, but we had quality when it mattered. Most importantly, we looked defensively solid today.
“The team dug in, they rolled their sleeves up. Sometimes it's not all about structures and tactics. It's about really driving each other on, staying together, suffering together just before half-time. And like I said, the credit goes to those guys today.”
In the second half, Argyle made several substitutions, including bringing on Joe Edwards, Jamie Paterson and Joe Ralls. Between them, they have career appearances into four figures, many in the Championship and some in the Premier League, and around 100 years on this earth, to boot.
That experience was crucial to Argyle maintaining their lead throughout the second period, and through eight minutes of nervy stoppage time.
“I don't want to be disrespectful, but I don't think we would win the game without those three coming on today,” Tom said. “In a big game, when it's back to the wall, how do you manage those situations? Their experience was priceless today.
“If we can get some of those in the starting line-up, and some of those on the bench as well, then I think it helps balance out that age profile of the team. The young guys will learn off those guys as well. Their impact before the game in the dressing room, and on the pitch today, was a big part of why we won the game.”
There were 888 members of the Green Army in the away end and, having been starved of any points on the road on many, many travels of late, they understandably celebrate the victory with the players.
“They deserve that,” said Cleverley. “It's not been easy. It's not easy travelling, but travelling to see us get beat and a couple of those were really poor performances. So, for them to be rewarded, following a not-so-nice kick-off time today. Difficult travel and a performance that was fit to wear the shirt, and they give everything in every minute.
“The supporters are going home happy - and that makes me happy.”
