Argyle book their place at Wembley

Argyle 1 Portsmouth 0: Match report

ARGYLE booked their place at Wembley for the League Two Play-Off Final as a last-minute Peter Hartley goal secured a 1-0 win over Portsmouth at a raucous Home Park.

Just as everyone was contemplating extra time, Hartley met Graham Carey’s far-post corner to spark scenes of delirium at the Theatre of Greens.

In front of a packed house that included two former promotion-winning Argyle managers, Neil Warnock and Paul Sturrock, the home side served up a performance that suggested that the name of Derek Adams may soon be added to that select group.

Following the decision of the FA not to impose a retrospective ban on Jamille Matt for his clash with Pompey skipper Michael Doyle in the drawn first leg at Fratton Park on Thursday, Adams was able to name an unchanged side, with the personnel on the bench also being identical. Portsmouth’s Paul Cook likewise sent out the same starting eleven, but made one change among his substitutes, preferring one Conor (Chaplin) to another (Wilkinson).

In an atmosphere every bit as charged as in the first encounter three days previously, the hosts were quickly into their stride. Their flying start may well have owed something to Adams’ decision to walk onto the Home Park turf before kick-off and applaud all sides of the ground, bringing over 13,000 home fans to their feet. Cook followed suit, to rather less acclaim.

Within the first 70 seconds, Matt and Graham Carey had both tried their luck from distance, the latter forcing a diving save from Ryan Allsop.

A foul on Carl McHugh by Danny Hollands in the seventh minute gave Jake Jervis the chance to test Allsop from 35 yards, with the keeper having a bright sun to contend with. The thought process was sound, the execution less so.

Other than an off-target effort from Kyle Bennett, Portsmouth did not come close to causing the Argyle defence any concern in the opening quarter-hour.

A Jervis break, after being released by Matt, almost created an opening, but Argyle did not have to wait long for a real opportunity to break the deadlock. Carey was tripped by Bennett on the edge of the area, but his attempt to curl the free-kick into the top corner was always too high.

A pacey burst by Gregg Wylde was undone by a misplaced pass, which largely summed up the opening exchanges from the Argyle point of view. The home side was making all the running, but what was lacking was that crucial bit of accuracy with the final ball.

As the half progressed, the momentum began to shift towards the visitors, although they failed to carve out any clear opportunities to threaten Luke McCormick’s goal.

There cause was not helped by losing Gareth Evans and Danny Hollands to injury in the space of a little over ten minutes, to be replaced respectively by Adam McGurk and Ben Close. The challenge which ended Evans’ participation brought a yellow card for McHugh, who was visibly more cautious in the tackle thereafter.

Despite being behind in terms both of possession and territory, Argyle continued to create the better chances. Perhaps the most clear-cut came when Curtis Nelson’s knock-down from a Kelvin Mellor free-kick sat up invitingly for Jervis, but the striker snatched at the chance with his weaker left foot and sliced wide.