Argyle fell to a disappointing defeat against Rotherham United at AESSEAL New York Stadium in Sky Bet League One.
The game’s only goal came just seven minutes in, when the ball ricocheted off Joe Rafferty and beyond Luca Ashby-Hammond.
Tom Cleverley opted to make four changes to the side that were beaten at Luton Town on Tuesday evening.
The first switch came in goal, with Conor Hazard struggling with a groin injury and unable to play; Ashby-Hammond took his place.
There were more injury issues in the defence. Mathias Ross was absent with an achilles issue, paving the way for Julio Pleguezuelo to come back into the team.
Midfielders Bradley Ibrahim and Brendan Wiredu were both absent through injury, meaning Caleb Watts was brought into the side, and there was a change in position for Joe Edwards, who filled the vacant midfield spot.
Xavier Amaechi dropped to the bench and was replaced by midweek goalscorer Tegan Finn, who made his first league start since early October.
There was early pressure from the Greens; set plays had proved an effective method of attack for Cleverley’s side as of late, and this continued to be the case.
Rotherham faced an early barrage of corners and long-throw-ins, which they dealt with, but not convincingly. It looked from an early stage that this could be an area for the Pilgrims to exploit.
However, it would be the hosts that opened the scoring on seven minutes.
Curtis did well to head away the initial threat when Rotherham sent a dangerous free kick into the Greens’ penalty area. Dru Yearwood collected it on the edge of the box and struck goalwards, the ball deflecting off Rafferty before it nestled into the bottom-right corner, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.
This early goal gave Rotherham a real boost; they kept the pressure on and tried to deal Argyle a double blow in the minutes that followed.
The Pilgrims did what they could to respond. Boateng headed Curtis’ corner into the arms of Ted Cann from a decent position.
Cleverley’s side continued to grow into the game, and the chances followed. Great industry from Pepple saw him shrug off his marker and knock the ball back to Curtis, who could not make a clean contact. There was then a further chance for Edwards on the edge of the area, but it was well blocked.
Ashby-Hammond was called into action when Sam Nombe raced beyond the Greens’ backline. The forward cut away from Mitchell and then Edwards before firing a powerful effort on goal; Ashby-Hammond made himself big and made a good stop.
There were further heroics from Argyle’s goalkeeper shortly after; Zak Jules crashed a header against the crossbar, leaving Ashby-Hammond grounded after he was at full stretch in an attempt to tip it away.
When the ball ricocheted off the woodwork and to Nombe, who was poised on the edge of the six-yard box, it seemed inevitable he would score. Fortunately for Argyle, Ashby-Hammond recovered spectacularly, throwing himself back across his goal to beat away the effort and keep the score as it was.
Half-time came not too long after, with it allowing Cleverley the chance to speak to his team and create a plan for how to turn the result on its head in the second half.
Whilst Argyle had shown threat in periods of the first 45, so had Rotherham, therefore the Greens needed to be careful of the hosts’ attacking capabilities when pushing on to find a leveller in the second period.
Pleguezuelo was withdrawn at the interval; his replacement was Jack MacKenzie, who slotted in at left back, Harding then moved into central defence.
This change saw more reshuffling; Edwards reverted to his usual right-back position, and Watts headed into central midfield, he was replaced on the left flank by Sorinola, who had stepped forward a line.
Just minutes after play got back underway, Cleverley was forced into another change. Finn had pulled up injured and could not continue; Xavier Amaechi came on to replace him.
Argyle had much more of the possession in the second half, but were unable to turn this into meaningful efforts on goal; this was now the task for the Greens.
Rotherham tried to press Argyle, allowing space to be found in-behind their rearguard, which Cleverley’s side exploited well on a number of occasions.
Both Pepple and Curtis had opportunities to stretch their legs and attack the space; it felt as though this would be a potential route back into the game for the Pilgrims.
There was a moment of confusion when Pepple was played through on goal, but the assistant referee had his flag raised to indicate offside, despite the ball being passed back by a Rotherham player. Cleverley was subsequently booked for his protests.
Pepple did eventually get his chance when Amaechi picked him out well in the penalty area from distance. The Canadian brought the ball down well and held off Rafferty with ease, but fired his shot well over the crossbar from a position he would expect himself to do better from.
With time now beginning to slip away from them, Argyle could not afford to miss any more chances of this calibre.
The end-to-end nature of the game increased with both sides in search of a goal. Sorinola saw an effort blocked before Gray countered well for the hosts; once it was collected by Argyle, it was fed wide to Curtis, who lashed a shot into the side netting.
Cleverley’s final roll of the dice saw Owen Oseni and Jamie Paterson introduced for Edwards and Sorinola, caution thrown to the wind.
It was a potential high-risk, high-reward situation. Rotherham continued to exploit space around Argyle, who were now playing all-out attack.
Substitute Dan Gore was inches away from sealing the result when he poked Reece James’ cross narrowly wide of the post.
Six additional minutes were added at the end of the second half, but a leveller did not feel like it was too close for Argyle.
It actually seemed as though Rotherham would be the ones most likely to score, Gray – who had been the main outlet for the Millers’ counter attacks – dragged an effort just off target.
The Greens had the ball in the back of the Rotherham net, but were again denied by the offside flag. Watts had done well to nod a header beyond Cann, but it was not to count.
Despite a late push, the elusive goal did not come, and Argyle fell to defeat at AESSEAL New York Stadium.
Cleverley’s side will have the chance to respond when they face Doncaster Rovers at Home Park next Saturday.
Rotherham United: 13 Ted Cann, 2 Joe Rafferty (capt), 6 Reece James, 10 Sam Nombe, 11 Arjany Martha (18 Lenny Agbaire, 82), 15 Jamal Baptiste, 16 Dru Yearwood, 19 Josh Benson (44 Dan Gore, 53), 20 Duncan Watmore (17 Shaun McWilliams, 53), 24 Harry Gray, 36 Emmanuel Adegboyega (3 Zak Jules, 35). Substitutes: 1 Cameron Dawson (gk), 28 Brandon Cover, 29 Gabriele Biancheri.
Goals: Rafferty 7
Booked: Baptise 15, Benson 29, Martha 33, Gore 75, Rafferty 78
Argyle: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo (3 Jack MacKenzie,46), 8 Joe Edwards (capt) (7 Jamie Paterson, 81), 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts, 19 Malachi Boateng, 27 Bim Pepple, 28 Ronan Curtis, 29 Matty Sorinola (18 Owen Oseni, 81), 39 Tegan Finn (10 Xavier Amaechi, 50), 45 Wes Harding. Substitutes: 13 Zak Baker (gk), 14 Ayman Benarous, 43 Sam Hayman.
Booked: Harding 28, Pleguezuelo 42, Cleverley 68, Sorinola 80, Edwards 81, MacKenzie 87
Referee: Zac Kennard-Kettle
Attendance: 8,502 (1,139 away)
