Argyle’s 1-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday night came a little over five weeks after a markedly worse day at Adams Park.
At the start of November, Wycombe beat the Greens 2-0 in the Emirates FA Cup, on a dreadful day to be a Pilgrim. A short while on, it would be ambitious in the extreme to suggest that all ills have been cured, but signs of progress previously invisible are straining to come into view.
For example – the FA Cup loss was followed the week after by a 3-1 loss at Huddersfield Town, that was a hard old watch, but in four away games since then, Argyle have conceded just one goal, and that was the very late one at Bristol Rovers.
The last three games on the road have yielded 1-0 wins – at Port Vale, Leyton Orient, and now at Wycombe.
This latest victory was probably the most satisfying of all. Wycombe had not lost a league game since the end of September, and had not lost at home in any competition since their second home game of the season.
The home side had loads of the ball, especially in the first half, but found Argyle organised, resilient and committed. Wanderers got increasingly frustrated, and when Owen Oseni scored just after the hour, Argyle had something to hold on to – three of them, actually – and they grasped them tightly.
Speaking to Argyle TV after the game, Head Coach Tom Cleverley said: “We can all get carried away with the stats - clean sheets, three away wins from three - but the main thing is that we’re building. We’re not the same team we were in the FA Cup game here - and that shows. We’re developing defensive resilience and starting to look like a side that can keep clean sheets regularly.
“The numbers are beginning to reflect the performances now. You could argue we didn’t deserve to lose at the weekend, but we got our reward tonight. We rode our luck at times, but let’s not forget they hadn’t lost since the end of September — this is a huge away win for us.
“The big difference tonight was preparation. They set up differently back then, but they’ve been consistent since, so we were more ready this time.
“What really stood out was our defensive resilience — discipline, structure, hard work, and togetherness. That’s been building steadily. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re growing.
“Full credit to the players. It’s not easy coming to places like this and winning. We had lads dead on their feet, which shows the effort they’re putting in. I’m so pleased for them — they deserve this win, especially given the circumstances.
“We’re not yet where we want to be in terms of controlling games for long spells, but tonight we held them at arm’s length. In recent games we’ve been creating more chances, so sooner or later it will click at both ends.”
