Argyle’s 2-1 win over Port Vale was trying on the emotions, but in the end a gloriously turbulent journey that saw the Pilgrims prevail, and ensure that next week’s final game, at Northampton Town, will have something on it.
Let’s set the scene. Argyle will head to that game in eighth place. The Greens are two points behind Stevenage, in sixth, the final play-off position, and one point shy of Luton Town, in seventh.
Argyle must win, and they need both Stevenage and Luton to not win. That is the fairly straightforward equation, if not remotely a straightforward task.
Now, let’s explain how we got to this point…
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So, where to start?
Let’s begin before the beginning; let’s arrow in on the hours before the kick-off, which was eerily reminiscent of last year, with circumstances a little different.
Some 364 days ago, Argyle learned of their Sky Bet Championship relegation during the warm-up at Preston North End, as Luton had won their 12.30pm kick-off, and thus condemned the Pilgrims to life back in the third tier.
This time, also in the build-up to the season’s penultimate game, eyes were on another game, with Stevenage playing at Doncaster Rovers. Stevenage, starting the day four points ahead of Argyle, went in front, but were pulled back, settling for a draw.
In the concourses and fan zones at Home Park, green-and-white clad Pilgrims cheered for the red-and-white of South Yorkshire, in one of those end-of-season moments where alliances are fleeting and temporary.
Elsewhere, the world of football continued to write better stories than any Hollywood script or soulless AI churn could ever manage. Argyle know all about dramatic last days at Rochdale, but we will never surpass what happened this day at Deepdale as York City got themselves promoted in astonishing fashion.
To PL2, then, and the hope that things could be less dramatic, and far more serene. Argyle were taking on an already-relegated Port Vale, but one sensed that if the Greens did not get ahead early, it could end up being a nerve-laden drudge of an afternoon.
125 seconds into the game, Argyle scored.
It was a nice goal, too. Ronan Curtis worked hard to get the ball to Lorent Tolaj, who crafted a perfect ball in behind the square Vale defence, to where Bim Pepple could run on, and the Canadian fired in with chilling confidence.
Argyle had their lead, and would be looking to protect and perhaps enhance. However, another of those moments that only seems to happen when it matters, happened.
A Port Vale ball forward was approaching the edge of the penalty area, where goalkeeper Conor Hazard was running towards, sensing he needed to get there before the Vale attacker. He did, but the bounce went higher than anticipated, and as it went above his head, Hazard’s instincts took over, and he grabbed with a hand.
Referee Isaac Searle deemed it the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and Hazard was summarily dismissed. Luca Ashby-Hammond came on to play in goal, with Caleb Watts the unlucky fall guy withdrawn.
On 13 minutes, more drama, more controversy, more unthinkable nuance to the tale. With most Pilgrims still with their heads in their hands, Jaheim Headley seemed to handle the ball.
The Port Vale left-back was on the attack at the time, but no free-kick was given. Indeed, within a couple of seconds the visitors had a corner, from which they scored.
Perhaps playing a short corner to use the player advantage in their favour, perhaps also smartly realising that referees have a tendency to quickly rectify incorrect-given corners by finding a reason to give a free-kick, Vale worked it nicely to Hall at the far post, and he headed home, putting a further early dent into Argyle’s optimistic start.
Despite their numerical hindrance, Argyle stayed on the attack for the period of play after the equaliser. Pepple hit a free-kick which deflected and fell to Owen Dale, who headed on target but into the hands of Vale goalkeeper Joe Gauci. Tolaj went for the spectacular with an overhead kick; Joe Edwards was not thrilled about the Swiss’s decision, as the skipper was running on to the ball, but in fairness to Tolaj the acrobatic effort was not far wide at all.
Immediately afterwards, Edwards nearly found Pepple unmarked at the far post with a gorgeous early cross, as Argyle did all they could to restore their lead quickly.
Port Vale, though, had the next chance – chances – of the game, with Ashby-Hammond making a vital pair of stops as required. The first was from a Jordan Shipley effort, and was a good save. Within a few seconds, he had saved from Ryan Croasdale, and it was an even better stop, low to his left, with the ball destined for the bottom corner.
Argyle looked a little tired from mental and physical endeavours as the first half drew to a close, but the half-time break worked the oracle.
In this half, Pepple beat his own goalscoring beat-the-clock challenge by a whole nine seconds. The second half was 116 seconds old when Pepple drove in a goal to put Argyle back in front.
As he bore down on the area, it looked as though Pepple’s best option was a pass to Tolaj, very similar to Tolaj’s to provide Pepple in the first half. This time, though, Pepple continued himself, and struck a precise effort into the bottom right-hand corner. Elation abounded.
Argyle clearly believed that the best bet was to try to add another to the tally to create daylight, and to strike while the proverbial iron was fully up to temp.
Alex Mitchell headed over from a corner, Tolaj had an effort that deflected over the goalkeeper by wide of the post, and then the Swiss striker had another effort blocked at the near post by Gauci.
Approaching the final quarter of the game, there were signs that some legs were tiring and some nerves were jangling, as Port Vale seemed to have more possession, in more dangerous areas, but it was Pepple who had the game’s next big chance, slamming a 20-yarder so, so close to the top corner for what would have been one of the great hat-tricks in Argyle history.
Having already brought on Matty Sorinola for Curtis, Argyle made their final change with Brendan Wiredu replacing Pepple. This meant a shift from the 4-3-2 they had employed post red-card, to a 4-4-1 which was obviously designed to offer sturdier resistance in the face of Vale insistence, but which might naturally sacrifice further attacking intent of the Pilgrims’ own.
This was true, as Argyle repelled a series of Vale attacks – comfortably, to be fair – but then broke, with Tolaj beyond all retreating Valiants. However, his gallop turned into a flail as he stumbled towards the area, his exertions catching up with him, and the visitors swept round to clear.
A minute into six prescribed added minutes, Grant Ward hit a shot for Vale, low into a group of players, where it struck a leg…and rolled wide. The relief was beyond palpable.
The decibel was also peaking. ‘Green and White Barmy Army’ boomed from all but one block of the ground as Vale lined up time and again to cross, to shoot, to probe.
The song persisted throughout stoppage time, and so did Argyle’s resilience. In fact, that’s not true. The song paused for perhaps three seconds as the Green Army roared to acknowledge a cracking Ashby-Hammond catch from a corner.
The only thing to halt the home fans’ refrain was the final whistle, which evoked an enormous roar. What a performance, on pitch and off, against remarkable odds.
One cannot help but flash back to the depths of a sorry autumn, when Argyle propped up the division, and when division dominated the narrative. For us to tell you then that by the final home game, everyone would be pulling together, and making the final game of 46 mean something, you would scarcely believe us.
Actually, that isn’t true. You would assume that game 46 was for Argyle to be staying in the league, avoiding the basement, and not to be trying to extend their season in the quest to escape it through the skylight.
That we can head to Northampton, still with some hope and belief, is a credit to a lot of people, and testament to our spirit.
Keep believing – see you for game 46 at Sixfields.
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 2 Mathias Ross (capt), 9 Lorent Tolaj, 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 7), 19 Malachi Boateng, 27 Bim Pepple (4 Brendan Wiredu, 73), 28 Ronan Curtis (29 Matty Sorinola, 66), 35 Owen Dale, 45 Wes Harding. Substitutes: 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 10 Xavier Amaechi, 18 Owen Oseni, 23 Bradley Ibrahim.
Goals: Pepple 3, 47
Sent off: Hazard 5
Booked: Dale 64, Wiredu 82
Port Vale: 46 Joe Gauci, 3 Jaheim Headley (10 Dajaune Brown, 79), 5 Connor Hall (15 Liam Gordon, half-time), 6 Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel, 11 Ethon Archer (33 George Hall, 71), 18 Ryan Croasdale (capt, 12 Rhys Walters, 56), 19 Ben Waine, 21 Martin Sherif, 25 Cameron Humphreys, 26 Jordan Shipley (28 Grant Ward, 56), 50 Onel Hernandez. Substitutes: 13 Ben Amos (gk), 35 Tyler Magloire.
Goals: Hall 14
Booked: Archer 16, Hall 25
Attendance: 16,129 (355 away)
Referee: Isaac Searle
