Argyle almost there after 1 - 1 draw

Plymouth Argyle drew in another pulsating encounter with Portsmouth at Fratton Park, with Jake Jervis' goal being cancelled out by Gary Roberts' strike. But while the Green Army celebrate a point well earned in Hampshire, eyes and ears remained in a small corridor of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

The point, in a live television game being played 30 minutes earlier than matches elsewhere in the division, put Argyle in a position to be promoted by day's end, as when the final whistle blew at Portsmouth, Luton trailing Leyton Orient and Stevenage being held had Argyle waiting on news.

In the end, Luton's draw with the O's means Argyle must wait until Monday for the chance to ensure next season's participation in Sky Bet League One - but only four Argyle defeats and four Luton victories can stop the Pilgrims from going up now.

Argyle made one change for the game, with former Portsmouth man Jake Jervis coming into the team, nominally for Gary Miller. The true switch, though, was moving Oscar Threlkeld into a right-back role, from his central midfield berth, the previous weekend. It did not feel like too much of a stretch to suggest that this may have been at least in part because of the presence of Pompey winger Kyle Bennett, a player praised by Derek Adams in previous encounters, and whose pace causes all teams problems. Threlkeld, not short of pace himself, would be tasked with keeping Bennett quiet.

Elsewhere in the Argyle line-up one could find Ryan Taylor and Sonny Bradley, both former Pompey men, while former Argyle loanee Drew Talbot was on the bench for the hosts.