Argyle won a third straight home game, beating Stockport in style on a blustery Home Park Saturday.
The tempestuousness of the climate threatened to infiltrate the game, with a controversial Stockport penalty on half-time, scored by Oliver Norwood, dampening the fact that a Kyle Wootton own-goal and a glorious Caleb Watts effort had taken Argyle two clear.
In the second period, though, Argyle were superb. In their best 45 minutes of the season, they accounted for County, who were no match for Tom Cleverley’s resurgent Pilgrims. Bradley Ibrahim, the best player on the pitch, and involved in about as much incident as the other 21 players put together, drove in a third early in the second period, and Lorent Tolaj rounded off matters with a coup de grace with 15 minutes to go.
Ahead of the game, Cleverley made one nominal change to the line-up that had shipped four at Cardiff seven days earlier, bringing in Joe Edwards for Ayman Benarous. The more eye-catching change took shape once the teams lined up, though, as it became apparent that Argyle had changed their formation.
Goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond now had three central defenders in front of him, in the form of Kornel Szucs, Alex Mitchell and Brendan Wiredu. Edwards and Matty Sorinola played as wing-backs, with Malachi Boateng and Ibrahim marshalling the midfield. Further forward, Bali Mumba, in his 150th Argyle appearance, and Watts played in the ’number 10’ roles, in support of Tolaj.
The opening to the game was cagey, with the strong wind being something each team needed adapting to. Funnily enough, Argyle have made a habit of starting well in games this season, and not making that count. This time, Stockport probably had the better of the opening 15 minutes, but steadily the Greens improved, and they were on top by the time they got the scoring going.
When Argyle took the lead on 24 minutes, it was in slightly odd style. The wind played to their favour on this occasion, as Sorinola swung in a corner from the left, into the centre. Wootton was the player underneath it, but he seemed to lose the ball in the flight, and ended up diverting into the net past his bewildered goalkeeper, Corey Addai.
In an attempt to be an impassive as possible, it is worth us saying that were this a Premier League game, there is a fair chance that VAR would have had a look at Ibrahim’s literal hand-holding of Wootton as the latter fluffed his header. Please remember this attempt at impartiality in about four paragraphs time.
Addai’s bewilderment increased when Watts made it 2-0 on 39 minutes, but it was a completely different bafflement this time. Addai will have looked on, watchfully, as Argyle took a second corner in succession, on the left flank, short. After the first saw Sorinola have a low cross blocked away, the second saw Sorinola and then Mumba set the ball for Watts.
Watts still had plenty to do, but he let fly from outside the area, and the trajectory of the ball, into the wind, dipped and swerved and carried it into the side-netting, on the inside. It was a wonderful goal, and Argyle were sailing.
They did their best to allow Stockport back into it, straight away. A Mumba pass across his area was tricky for Wiredu to handle, and rather than just knock it out for a corner, he tried to smuggle away, but it became a loose ball in the six-yard area. Mitchell did enough to extract the ball and Argyle could breathe again.
Then came the talking point of the half. Of the game. Maybe of the season so far.
Time for the whole ground to experience bewilderment. Bewilderment plus. Uber bewilderment. Before a left-wing Stockport corner was taken, referee Neil Hair twice warned players in the box to stop their jostling. Eventually, the kick came in, sailed over everyone, and seemingly out for a goal-kick.
Not so. The referee had quickly pointed to the penalty spot. So quickly, that most inside the ground, including those on the pitch, failed to really realise that a penalty had been given.
No wonder, given basically nothing happened. There was, as mentioned, a case to make that for Argyle’s opening goal, Bradley Ibrahim may have been holding Kyle Wootton. Here, there could potentially be a case made that Ibrahim was affectionately stroking Nathan Lowe’s arm, and even that would be questionable. However, down went Lowe, and then Norwood went low, down the left, with a well-hit penalty.
The second half began with Argyle – certainly the Green Army – feeling a sense of injustice. Probably rightly, but Cleverley will have had the half-time interval to remind his players that a) their frustrations at a decision would not result in anything being changed, and b) Argyle were in the lead.
What would be helpful, for sure, would be a goal shortly after the resumption, to settle everyone. Cue the ubiquitous Ibrahim.
It was Ibrahim who leapt for a header with a defender that led to Argyle being awarded a corner, from which the Greens were alive again to the prospect of a short one. As it was, a combo of Sorinola, Mumba, Watts and Ibrahim could not really work the angle to cross the ball in.
Sensibly, they kept the ball, resisting residual calls to pull the trigger or just hope for the best with a wild, likely-to-be-blocked centre. Instead, they kept popping it between each other until Ibrahim saw the light.
A gap emerged, and Ibrahim drove a low, precise shot in, and it took a neat little cannon off the near post before nestling in the net. Lovely.
This did, as prescribed, settle Argyle. Actually, no it didn’t, it boosted them, and suddenly the Pilgrims were playing with a verve and a confidence perhaps unparalleled so far this season.
Had Argyle gone in 2-0 up, as probably should have happened had the penalty not been given, that would have been harsh on Stockport. Argyle were not two goals better than their visitors in the first half.
But they were streets ahead in the second. Just before the hour mark, Mumba, having his best game of the season, reached the bye-line and crossed, with Tolaj coming ultra-close to following up his double in the week with a first league goal.
Argyle chances kept on coming. A swaggering Ibrahim blasted from range, forcing Addai into a stop; Mumba had an effort deflected at the wrong time from a green perspective; Ibrahim made another burst and laid on Boateng, who just looked a little tired as he poked past Addai and wide; and there will have been other opportunities along the way, that we will leave undocumented for brevity’s sake.
The first four goals of the game had all, directly or indirectly, come from corners. The fifth was so Route One, the Romans might have designed it. Ashby-Hammond struck a ball up the pitch, Tolaj outmuscled Callum Connolly, and then stroked past Addai. Simple as you like.
Owen Dale, on for his debut, nearly crowned his bow with a goal, as Argyle really looked to turn the screw, although Wootton did hit the post from – naturally – a corner, as he looked to score at the same end in which he inadvertently got things rolling in the first half.
Deep into injury time, he managed it, but the game was long beyond County by then.
Argyle: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 4 Brendan Wiredu (2 Mathias Ross, 82), 6 Kornel Szucs, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Lorent Tolaj (18 Owen Oseni, 82), 11 Bali Mumba (14 Ayman Benarous, 90), 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (35 Owen Dale, 74), 19 Malachi Boateng, 23 Bradley Ibrahim, 29 Matty Sorinola. Substitutes: 13 Zak Baker (gk), 24 Caleb Roberts, 39 Tegan Finn.
Goals: Wootton og 24, Watts 39, Ibrahim 49, Tolaj 75
Booked: Mitchell 7, Sorinola 62
Stockport: 34 Corey Addai, 7 Jack Diamond, 9 Nathan Lowe (18 Lewis Forini, 86), 10 Jayden Fevrier (11 Malik Mothersille, 59), 15 Ethan Pye, 16 Callum Connolly, 19 Kyle Wootton, 21 Owen Moxon (27 Odin Bailey, 86), 23 Ben Osborn, 24 Tyler Onyango (2 Corey O’Keeffe, 65), 26 Ollie Norwood. Substitutes: 1 Ben Hinchliffe (gk), 5 Joseph Olowu, 33 Brad Hills.
Goals: Norwood pen 45, Wootton 90+4
Booked: Fevrier 35
Attendance: 15,719 (628 away)
Referee: Neil Hair
