Argyle made it three wins from three in pre-season thanks to Bim Pepple, in a closely fought encounter on Tuesday night.
Pepple scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half, finishing well from inside the six-yard box after good work on the Argyle right.
It was a battle for Tom Cleverley’s side who were definitely challenged more than they had been in their previous two matches; James Storer more than kept busy under sunny skies on the south coast.
20 years to the day that Argyle took on the might of Real Madrid for a pre-season fixture, they swapped the Austrian Alps for the English Riviera for the now traditional warm-up game with Torquay United.
As is customary with this fixture every summer, the travelling Green Army descended on Plainmoor in vast numbers, filling the away end, and some sporadically placed in the home stands. And in general, it was great atmosphere. A few fiery challenges, from both sides, and some decent action kept the thousands more than happy with their evening’s entertainment.
It was the hosts who started the better though and in the opening ten minutes they had looked more composed. Argyle ‘keeper Storer had to be dominant with balls raining down on his penalty area and both wingers, Callum Morton on the right and Deon Moore on the left, were causing trouble.
It was little surprise then that the first big chance of the game fell to the hosts. Seven minutes in Morton latched onto a flick on from Isaac Westendorf and stung the palms of Storer, who did brilliantly to tip over his vicious volley.
Argyle created their first positive passage of play when Caleb Roberts did well to shrug off a challenge in midfield before attempting to slip Pepple through. The pass was slightly overhit, but it seemed to get Argyle going.
The next five minutes saw Ronan Curtis try his luck on a couple of occasions. First, he shot from range and good defending from the Gulls saw what could have been a big opportunity snuffed out. A couple of minutes later Curtis again cut in from his right wing, only to see his curled effort saved by former Pilgrim Zak Baker.
That positive upturn continued and it in was the 28th minute that Argyle took the lead. A nice move which started with Freddie Issaka on the left, saw Argyle move it through midfield and then out to the right. A nice interchange between Joe Mwaro and Curtis got the young fullback free and his low cross was finished from close range by Pepple. A reward for Argyle’s pressure.
The Canadian and Argyle sensed another. A clipped ball into the forward saw him spin his man but get the shot wrong.
Torquay weren’t out of it though, and in particular their front line was causing Argyle problems. Westendorf, Torquay’s newest forward, was a handful. Ten minutes before half-time he nicked the ball off Wes Harding on the edge of the Argyle box and narrowly shot over.
There was a flurry of changes at the break. Torquay made four while Argyle and Cleverley opted for three.
Both strikers, James Sharpe and Pepple were withdrawn along with Alex Hartridge and Owen Oseni, Michael Baidoo and Matthias Ross replaced them.
It took a little while for the second half to get going. Young full back Mwaro, who set up the opener, was looking lively in attack once more.
He was set free by Curtis, overlapping with pace, and after his initial cross was blocked had the composure to find Curtis unmarked in the box and although his effort rippled the netting, it was the wrong side of the post.
More changes, as is the way in pre-season, made the game rather disjointed. Both sides had little forays forward but neither managed to muster any real opening until two remarkable defensive interventions prevented an equaliser.
First Storer tipped a Sam Dreyer header onto the post before Harvey White hooked a goal bound effort from Kian Jenkins off the line.
Torquay smelled an equaliser and it wasn’t long until the Argyle goal was under siege again. Once more however, Storer was more than up to the task, tipping over a dipping Louis Dennis effort.
This one was a proper workout for the Argyle squad. Torquay would potentially feel aggrieved they couldn’t find an equaliser, but Argyle did manage to hold on for a third win of pre-season.
Torquay on a Tuesday done, attention now turns to Truro City on Saturday.
Argyle starting line-up: 21 James Storer, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo (39 Hayman 60’), 11 Ronan Curtis (10 Amaechi 60’), 22 Alex Hartridge (2 Ross 46’), 23 Bradley Ibrahim (6 Boateng 60’), 24 Caleb Roberts (7 White 60’), 25 Freddie Issaka (38 Campbell 60’), 27 Bim Pepple(18 Oseni 46’), 40 Joe Mwaro (29 Sorinola 60’), 43 James Sharpe (20 Baidoo 46’), 45 Wes Harding (capt) (44 Rendle 60’),
Goals: Pepple 28
Yellows: Matty Sorinola 74
Torquay United: 13 Zak Baker, 2 Dom Bernard, 3 Tyler Hill, 4 Jordan Dyer, 6 ManasheSundrie, 10 Sonny Lo-Everton, 14 Deon Moore, 16 Jake Wannell, 18 Matt Worthington (capt), 19 Isaac Westendorf, 39 Callum Morton
Yellows: Manashe Sundrie 18, Louis Dennis 87
