Cold, wet, miserable day out in the arse end of the country; by ‘eck this had better be a good game I thought to myself on the way to the ground, my mood momentarily lifted by an outstanding pasty out the back of a van.After a strong start to the season Plymouth have had a wobble recently which, according to a bloke on the train, was down to them experimenting with a 5-3-1 formation. Indeed.
Rovers controlled most of the possession in the first half but struggled to cut through a packed midfield designed to crowd us out then catch us on the break, which they duly did when a skewed pass from Andy Butler allowed Graham Carey to latch on and neatly slot away for the opener.
The second half was to bring more of the same with Rovers playing some nice football at times but frustrated by a lack of opportunities. Our defensive frailties were there for all to see and when Butler conceded what looked like a soft penalty our fate had been cemented.
The main taking point of the game came in the closing stages when Plymouth conceded a penalty and 19-year-old Liam Mandeville stepped up to take. Cue missed penalty, cue a disgraceful act of unsporting behaviour from the Plymouth keeper which resulted in James Coppinger receiving his marching orders for a simple act of instinctive captaincy.
Rovers tactically and technically beaten. A rubbish day out marginally saved by a brilliant meat and tattie.
by Jack Peat
popular STAND fanzine 
A pretty accurate account of the game, with the part regarding Luke being incorrect. Your supporters and some of your players were the reason that Luke reacted the way he did after the penalty was taken. Please don’t try to hide the fact that he was being taunted prior to the penalty being taken.
Thanks for your comment – it’s worth bearing in mind that it is only a 250 word match report, so it can often be hard to cram in every details, and to be fair to our reporter, when sending it over he did say in his email… ‘Wish I could have added more about the Coppinger incident, which I don’t think was helped by our lot chanting some disgraceful things at the keeper through the second half.’
With that in mind, I can agree with you to an extent that McCormick celebrating a penalty save (something he’d done) by gesturing to Rovers’ supporters would’ve perhaps been understandable. But celebrating a penalty miss (something he had no impact on) by goading a 19 year-old player was – as our reporter states – particularly unsporting.
Not being on the field of play, but in direct line with the penalty area, your “19 year old player” was saying somethings to Luke prior to the kick. Who knows what he was saying ?
Argyle supporters have “never” seen Luke react like he did, so we can only assume it was in re-action to what was said to him.
Lets not spoil what was a good game by both sides with an episode were no neither side comes out of smelling of roses.