Argyle were held to a rare goalless draw against Reading in the lunchtime kick-off at Home Park.
The game was not short of incident, or atmosphere, but in the end neither side could break the deadlock.
Argyle made two changes to the personnel from the side that beat Cambridge United the previous Saturday, but retained the same 3-4-3 formation.
Murphy Cooper was absent due to a personal issue – all our love to Murphy and family – so Jimmy Storer deputised to make his league debut for the Pilgrims.
In front of him was a back three of Julio Pleguezuelo, Alex Mitchell and Wes Harding, slightly tweaked from Cambridge, as this time Mitchell took up the central position of the trio. Jack MacKenzie once again played as the left wing-back, with captain Joe Edwards coming in on the right, on his 36th birthday. Matty Sorinola was missing with a slight knock.
In the middle of midfield, Harvey White and Tyreeq Bakinson continued as the central duo, with Bim Pepple playing up front, and Will Evans and Xavier Amaechi in support.
Inside two minutes, Edwards burst forward to produce the game’s first chance. Mitchell began it, with some excellent defending and a ball forward which Evans knocked on to Amaechi. The latter was fouled as he played it forward, but it was a good advantage played as the Argyle skipper burst beyond the Royals. In the end, he was denied by an excellent challenge in the area, but it was a good early marker by the Greens.
On five minutes, MacKenzie struck a decent 20-yard effort which Reading goalkeeper Joel Pereira easily pouched, but it was a further indicator of a bright Argyle opening to the game.
Next came an opportunity for Pepple, who was best positioned to get on the end of a cutback from Amaechi, but again some last-ditch Reading defending just about did the trick.
Evans then had a shot from 20 yards saved, and then epitomised his game by being the man to cut out a potentially dangerous Reading counter-attack about 20 seconds later.
It had been a great start by Argyle, but the momentum hit a bit of a snag when Storer caught a cross, but stumbled into a goalpost, seemingly hurting himself in the process. Shaken, he held the ball for too long, conceding a corner, and then sat on his haunches.
Home Park took a collective intake of breath. The absence of Cooper had left the Greens without a goalkeeper on the bench, but Storer was able to recover and continue.
It was the cue for the visitors to begin to look dangerous, and come into the game. They really should have taken the lead when Kyreece Lisbie ran onto a ball and got round Storer. However, he skewed his effort way wide.
Reading’s kit seemed to resemble that of Partick Thistle and, to match, they started to get a bit spiky. Plenty of visiting players were perturbed by an altercation between Pepple and Paudie O’Connor, who went down off the ball. Reading cried foul for use of an elbow; a replay seemed to show Pepple really just trying to shrug his marker off.
Edwards hit a well-struck volley side after Amaechi’s corner was headed out to him on the edge of the box, to close out a half in which Argyle had had by the far the more numerous chances, but Reading the best single one.
Chances were at more of a premium in the second half. It was just over the hour mark when it looked like Devonian Jamie Reid might be on course to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Mitchell sliced a clearances which inadvertently put Reid through, and it was only the recovery pace of Mitchell that ended the danger. From the corner, neatly worked to the edge of the box, Randell Williams hit a deflected effort not far over.
It was the last the game would see from Reid and Williams, replaced by Daniel Kyerewaa and Jack Marriott, the latter of whom was returning from injury, and is Reading’s leading scorer and talisman.
It was Argyle, though, who had the next chance. A nice move got MacKenzie in down the left, and his low, square cross across the centre was only prevented from being tapped in by a superb clearance from defender Jeriel Dorsett.
A minute later, White struck an effort from at least 30 yards, as the Pilgrims looked to swing momentum their way once more.
On 68 minutes, an almost pivotal 30 seconds. Argyle worked Bakinson into a good position near the edge of the area, and it looked like he was fouled. Nothing was given, and Reading broke. The ball came to Lewis Wing on the edge of the area, and his clipped, curling effort struck the outside of the post.
On 80 minutes, an Argyle double change: Amaechi and Bakinson came off, replaced by Oli Irow and a returning Malachi Boateng, not seen since going off injured at Wycombe on 22 August. Shortly afterwards, Mathias Ross replaced Pleguezuelo…eventually. The referee did not initially allow Ross to come on, deeming Pleguezuelo to have taken too long leaving the field. Why exactly Argyle would have seen this as an advantage, as they had an attacking free-kick at the time, is anyone’s guess.
The Pilgrims had another attacking set piece as the game entered injury time, but it was cleared beyond the halfway line, allowing Kyreece Lisbie another chance to demonstrate his pace. His shot was blocked, eventually leading to Irow clearing.
While goals were scarce, the yellow card tally ramped up in the final few minutes, with referee Stephen Martin cautioning three Reading players over the course of added time.
However, neither side managed to break the deadlock, meaning the game ended in a stalemate – Argyle's first goalless draw of the season.
With, at least, a couple of weeks off from League One action, Tom Cleverley’s side will return to Home Park next weekend to face non-league side Alvechurch in the Emirates FA Cup.
Argyle: 21 James Storer, 3 Jack MacKenzie, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo (2 Mathias Ross, 83), 7 Harvey White, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Will Evans, 10 Xavier Amaechi (14 Oliver Irow, 80), 15 Alex Mitchell, 19 Tyreeq Bakinson (6 Malachi Boateng, 80), 27 Bim Pepple, 45 Wes Harding. Substitutes: 11 Ronan Curtis, 22 Alex Hartridge, 23 Bradley Ibrahim, 42 Jared Rendle.
Booked: Evans 25
Reading: 1 Joel Pereira, 2 Udoka Godwin-Malife, 3 Jeriel Dorsett, 4 Andy Rinomhota, 9 Jamie Reid (7 Jack Marriott, 63), 10 Lewis Wing (capt), 14 Randell Williams (11 Daniel Kyerewaa, 63), 15 Paudie O’Connor, 19 Kyreece Lisbie, 20 Josh Knight (5 Haydon Roberts, 85), 28 Josh Stokes (18 Jacob Brown, 85). Substitutes: 25 Jack Stevens (GK), 6 Liam Fraser, 8 Charlie Savage.
Booked: Dorsett 90+1, Lisbie 90+1, Rinomhota 90+4
Referee: Stephen Martin
Attendance: 16,316
