Bare facts: Argyle lost the first Devon Derby of the season, falling 2-0 at Exeter City.
Goals from Reece Cole and Akeel Higgins, one in each half, put the game beyond Tom Cleverley’s team, and condemned the Greens to a miserable Thursday in the east of the county.
Here’s another fact: nothing hurts like a derby defeat, and for the 1,000 or so in the away end, and the many, many more watching around the world, the evening was crushing.
To begin with, there was hope. Admittedly, when Cole scored a goal that was rather presented to him by confusion in the Argyle rearguard, that took a hit, but to be fair to Argyle their reaction was somewhat tangible, and they ended the first period on the front foot.
In the second, though, whenever Argyle pushed on, Exeter looked a threat on the counter, and from the point Higgins made it two, the Pilgrims barely landed a blow.
“I can't dress that one up,” said Cleverley, after the game. “I can't find any silver lining on that cloud of a performance.
“I think we're all quite embarrassed by that performance - and that's a strong word, in the football industry.
“It looked like it was a step too far for the guys. That's disappointing because, at 2-0, one goal changes everything.
“I was half pleased with the reaction to the first goal. I felt like Exeter had started to defend what they had after about 20 minutes, and that gives a glimmer of hope. We pushed and prodded without managing to penetrate their goal.
“In the second half, it was a whole lot of nothing to be honest.
“We went to 4-4-2, trying to get some wide players on and get bodies forward. You’ve got to really commit to something as a team. We want to try to play through the lines, but if there's two or three that are not committing to that, then it all falls apart a little bit.
“It is completely back to the drawing board. Coming into the football club, I knew exactly how I wanted my team to play, but what you can never forget is the fundamentals of football, and that's clean sheets.
“A large proportion of our work moving forward will be to ensure that that is happening.
“We weren't creative enough, and we haven't been in the last three games, but we're not giving ourselves a chance to even draw football matches with some of the defending that we’re seeing.
“We need to analyse how we're successful, moving forward, because it's been a tough three games. The one constant is defensively being more tight and more solid. I'm sorry, that's not a very sexy answer, but it is fundamental to us going forward.
“We know they're [the fans] suffering, in a lot of pain right now. I’m sure there'll be a lot of people that regret that performance. Me first; there will be a lot of accountability held for it.
“We have to work harder, more than ever, to make sure we react from that.
“We have to remember this when they come to our place. We have to remember this performance, because that was a painful one.”
