Bristol Rovers 1 Argyle 1: Match report

JOSH Simpson's first Argyle goal rescued a deserved point for Argyle in front of a boisterous five-figure crowd at the Memorial Stadium.

Both Bristol Rovers and Argyle are in form, and this was shown on the pitch and on the terraces. The game continued to build to it's crescendo, and Rovers thought that meant a single goal victory when substitute Billy Bodin struck with only 11 minutes remaining.

That reckoned without Josh Simpson, though, who fired home a late equaliser for the Pilgrims on a day where really neither side deserved to lose.

Derek Adams brought in Ryan Brunt to line up against the club from which Argyle signed him, and he joined Reuben Reid in a two-man Argyle attack. Adams has chosen a regulation 4-4-2 to try to outdo Rovers' 3-5-2 system. Craig Tanner was the man to make way for Brunt, with Graham Carey, missing through injury since November, joining him on the substitutes bench.

Argyle did a decent job of nullifying any early Rovers threat, and indeed looked to initiate their first attack on the counter. The Pilgrims dealt with a corner, and Gregg Wylde burst away. At the point where he looked to perhaps release Reid, he was felled by Tom Parkes, who went into the book for the challenge. Brunt's free-kick, deflected, caused no alarm.

Rovers felt a little aggrieved at the Parkes caution, and grew even more perturbed when Peter Hartley halted Matty Taylor's progress on the edge of the area, and decided not to book Kelvin Mellor for a foul on Stuart Sinclair.

Argyle forced a series of corners and throw-ins that stretched Rovers to their limits, with Carl McHugh's header wide the closest the Greens came to opening the scoring.

Rovers then settled into the game, trying to make their numerical advantage in the centre of the pitch count. Brunt's job seemed to be to marshal Chris Lines, the deepest of the Gas midfield three, but this allowed their centre backs to push on with the ball and take Rovers up the park. Similar to Argyle's mini spell of pressure, the blue-and-whites' purple patch yield little in the way of chances, but saw the confidence of the home side visibly growing.

It was Wylde again who punctured the Rovers' pressure, this time at their invitation. Parkes' errant pass was delivered to Wylde, in space, and his pace was no match for the retreating defenders. Wylde's shot was also past Mildenhall in a flash, but the ball rebounded off of the crossbar.

Wylde seemed to be the key to a niggly game, as once again his pace got him down Rovers' right, and his stabbed cross looked certain to end in a goal. Reid's touch set the ball perfectly for Jervis, eight yards, but a last-ditch combination of Parkes and goalkeeper Mildenhall conjured the ball over the bar. From the resultant corner, Hartley headed narrowly wide.

The half ended goalless, with both sides probably quite content. Rovers will have felt they had more of the ball and dictated the tempo, yet Argyle could certainly point to having the three most clear cut chances of the opening 45 minutes by far.