179 brave souls took on the 779 mile round trip from northern most club Carlisle United to the southernmost, our Plymouth Argyle. To make such an arduous journey on a Tuesday night is surely something the Football League has to look at when the computer gets the fixtures wrong? However there is no room for sentiment in football and we were hoping to make sure that they went home disappointed. Carlisle came into the game on the back of a memorable 4-4 draw with Cambridge United on Saturday that included a hat trick from the in form Jabo Ibehre. The Argyle support was in upbeat fashion, even if we did lose a few fans to the fireworks down at the Hoe.
The first half started as much of our season has been so far. A lack of pressure on the ball combined with long balls up to an isolated Reid. An early Wylde chance being put over the bar after good work down the left. The game was moving pretty laboriously with Carlisle's Charlie Wyke and Jabo Ibehre almost getting in on a couple of occasions. Jake Jervis was back from his groin strain and he was linking well with Mellor down the right wing, with the industrious Carey scrapping at the heels of the Cumbrians, but it all felt rather forced. Our defence still looked very open and a close range header from Ibehre pinged back off the inside of the left post. It was looking ominous when another opening fell to Luke Joyce in the Argyle box and he managed to somehow scuff his shot wide when he really should of scored. The feeling inside the ground was beginning to get moody and when Argyle fan Pieface was told off in the Executive box for airing his opinion it felt like the pessimism that followed the Portsmouth result could spill over onto an 'Adams Out' chant. It was probably a relief for both Adams and the fans when closing in on half time, the impressive Jervis picked the ball up on the left before taking it inside and thumping an unstoppable shot across the keeper and into the top right hand corner. This act no doubt saved the team from half time boos and it would have been easy for Adams to keep things the same, masked by a false 1-0 score line.
At half time something refreshing happened. Adams noticing our first half flaws made a change bringing on Josh Simpson for Gregg Wylde. He also changed the formation to a 3-5-2 with McHugh dropping into the back 3 with Nelson and Hartley, Sawyer and Mellor moving onto the wings and Jervis supporting Reid up top. The impact was immediate and we began to look like a team that will be fighting for promotion. We began harassing their midfield and dominating possession and it wasn't long before we were rewarded. A corner was whipped in by Carey and flicked on by McHugh to the far post where Reid was on hand to bundle it in, and with it also open his account for the season. 2-0 and the ground was rocking. You could see Carlisle sensing a shift of the balance of power and it wasn't long before Carey nicked the ball off the lethargic Danny Grainger before closing in on the keeper and coolly slotting home. We were now looking rampant and our constant pressing caused another mistake in the Cumbrians defence. This time a loose ball from Michael Raynes was picked up again by Carey who closing in on goal showed a cool head by slotting a pass to the oncoming Jervis on his right. He was composed and hit a lovely shot across Carlisle keeper Mark Gillespie and into the bottom corner....4-0! We were in dream land and the fans were loving it! An unfortunate minor knock on Boateng meant a change with Ryan Brunt coming on for him. This also meant moving to a 3-4-3 which again seemed to disrupt the balance. Craig Tanner replaced Jervis (who got a standing ovation) near the end and it looked like McCormick would keep his second clean sheet of the season. However a late left wing cross from Grainger found Carlisle substitute Joe Thompson in the box and from 8 yards out he guided a side foot volley into the net to give the travelling support a little cheer for the long trip home. McCormick looked furious and showed his frustration by walloping the ball out of the stadium! But in truth it was no more than Carlisle deserved for their first half efforts, and who could begrudge them after their mammoth journey. Next up is a trip to the Sixfields to face Northampton Town on Saturday and after this performance it will be met with expectation and not trepidation and maybe even a few more chants of 'Scottish Mourinho'.
Best Player - Graham Carey
Attendance - 6071
Next Game - 22/08/2015 Northampton Town (a) (League 2)
This post brings with it the new feature of Match Day fan, which is a short Q and A about Argyle related fodder and something I hope to do for every match day. If you would like to be featured please feel free to email me at
danstone84@hotmail.com or get in touch through one of the forums on FB, tagging me in Dan Stone. The next opening is for Northampton away and I will be on Coach 1 so please get in touch.
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| Josh Simpson (The Fan) with his namesake Josh Simpson (The Argyle Player)!! |
Today's fan is 19 year old Josh Simpson from Torpoint.
How long have you been an Argyle fan for? '11 years.'
What' your earliest PAFC memory? 'The victory parade in 2004.'
Favourite ever Argyle match and why? 'Rochdale away, the day we stayed up, need I say more.'
Best all time Argyle player? 'Paul Wotton.'
Best current Argyle player? 'Carl McHugh.'
General feeling around Derek Adams' appointment? 'Very positive appointment, I love him!'
Season prediction? '2nd behind Pompey.'
Prediction for our next match away to Northampton Town? 'My prediction for Saturday is a 2-0 win for Argyle. My reasoning for the prediction is that the momentum and positivity from the Carlisle win will carry us forward.'
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