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[Kernow Yellow]

Well we couldn't quite make it 5 wins in a row at Home Park, but by my reckoning that's FOURTEEN consecutive matches in Devon without defeat since returning to the Football League.

We should have won yesterday of course, but never really got going. Plymouth caused us problems of our own but were there for the taking. Our midfield and forwards were uncharacteristically hesitant on the ball, and time and again the wrong decision was taken or the ball was nicked away before the trigger was pulled. The poor pitch should probably take some of the blame, but why neither Hylton, Bowery nor Sercombe got a shot away when clean through with only the keeper to beat is a mystery and a source of great frustration.

As so often recently against the Pilgrims it was an open, exciting contest. Reid returned to the starting line-up for them after a long lay-off and did his best to bully us, but Dunkley had clearly been detailed to mark him at all times and gave as good as he got. Where they really caused us problems though was at set pieces and crosses into the box - I suspect Plymouth were delighted to see Slocombe's name on the team sheet as he lived up to his reputation for staying firmly rooted to his line in the face of an aerial bombardment. That's not to say he was at fault for either of the goals (I'd have to see the highlights to judge that) but he didn't inspire confidence and once or twice his teammates were berating him for not having taken charge at a corner. He did pull off a couple of fine saves though, including a wickedly-dipping free-kick where no-one seemed to be expecting a shot at all.

Not sure whether Skarz was injured, but Jordan Evans' inclusion definitely worked to our advantage as his pace prevented Plymouth from getting round the back on several occasions when I think our regular left-back might have been struggling. Mullins seemed a bit nervy though, and dwelt on the ball a couple of times instead of getting rid.

Ruffles looked ok in midfield, but Sercs had one of the poorest games I've seen from him. Although he lasted the 90 minutes his energy levels clearly dropped at times. With a few games under his belt Bowery is looking more like a decent player rather than just a poacher, and Roofe's strength on the ball is a real asset, but we couldn't get him involved as much as we'd have liked. Danny Hylton was his usual self, causing all sorts of problems but he was most guilty of holding on to the ball too long. Had we been more decisive and incisive we could have taken Plymouth apart, as shown by our beautifully-worked second goal. But it wasn't to be.

Can't be too disappointed though - I'd have taken a point before the game, and although we should have been well clear before they equalised, at 2-2 they came close to scoring a few times. It's just the thought of how the table might have looked had we converted our superiority into goals.

Nice to see a good number of yellows making the trip down for once - it's a good, friendly place to watch football. Was slightly alarming when the away end seemed to get pelted with rocks from outside the stadium in the second half though. Luckily it's well enough built and enclosed not to have been too worrying, even with young kids in attendance.

[theox]

Articles praising the quality of the match...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/201 ... league-two
http://www.plymouth.vitalfootball.co.uk ... p?a=437998

[ty cobb]

What a great game, real end to end stuff. Came away disappointed that we hadn't got all three points as we deserved to on chances created and the fact that they scored two goals from corners which is unacceptable at any level, especially given the injuries they had suffered, although in fairness we had a few of our own as well.

Special mention to Ruffels who was first class, getting stuck in and played some lovely balls. Sercombe in contrast was disappointing, I think he needs a rest and hopefully not having a game this week will give him a boost, he is a shadow of the player he was earlier in the season. Our two up front with Roofe and Maguire on the wing looked great and the amount of chances we had playing away at a top of the table team was fantastic. However, our uselessness at defending high balls continues - Appleton really has to sort this out. Chey was immense throughout but he seems to be expected to win every high ball, this is unrealistic. For the second goal Slocombe was no where to be seen - almost hiding behind their player, he needs to be stronger, get him out the way and dominate his 6 yard box at least. With Clarke in the team we'd be well clear of second place.

Still much more to be positive about and more performances like this will see us comfortably home...................

[OUFC4eva]

Can't we get either Matt Ingram on loan from QPR or Marcus Bettinelli from Fulham?

[ty cobb]

http://mobile.pafc.co.uk//news/article/ ... 93831.aspx#

This is a good watch and highlights how rooted to the line slocombe is, although not quite sure how their second got past our man on the post.

[Mr T]

Calls for Ryan Clarke are interesting given his poor record under pressure from high balls. When will Max be back? I'm concerned about how we will cope with Ollie Palmer this Saturday; maybe get Dunkley to man mark him?

[OUFC4eva]

Palmer or Gnanduillet could feature alongside Jay Simpson.

[slappy]

This game was quite enjoyable and we never gave up going for more goals even at 2-1 up as has been mentioned by the Plymouth supporters. I thought Bowery was very good attacking the defence, Hylton a constant niggling pressure, and but for a little bit better finishing we should have won, but then again Plymouth hit the bar too. I thought Luke McCormick was the better of the keepers, and he had presumably been instructed to put pressure on Dunkley with high balls directly to where he was in the middle of defence.

Noticable that we concede a headed goal to a 5ft7in player!
Plyometrics apparently... http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/CHRIS-E ... story.html

The gap to the play-offs is slowly increasing, fingers crossed for results going our way tonight.

[recordmeister]

It may well be the poo-stained glasses I'm wearing from Wilders use of the system, but when was the last time we had this number of consistently good loan players? Our problem seems not to be their ability, but the fact we don't own any of them (Baldock being the prime example). MApps use of the loan system has been outstanding (or maybe average, compare to CW's 'throw enough $hit against a wall and see what sticks' approach) and shows why this system works for both L1 and L2 sides and how it can be of benefit to L3 and L4 teams such as ourselves.