Late goals heartbreak for Argyle in Devon derby
Exeter City 3
Davies 56
Gow 82
Bennett 90
Plymouth Argyle 1
Young 69
Sky Bet Football League 2, Saturday 5 October 2013
Two late goals put paid to Argyle's hopes of leaving St James Park with some points as the Grecians won the Devon Expressway derby and the bragging rights.
With little to choose between the sides in a nervy, scoreless first half, it was Exeter who opened the scoring through an Arron Davies goal ten minutes into the second.
Proactive substitutions by Pilgrims boss John Sheridan saw Reuben Reid and Luke Young enter the fray shortly after and lift Argyle's tempo; and it was Young who levelled the match on 69 minutes with a fantastic free kick.
Exeter took the lead against the run of play when Alan Gow netted against his former club. With time running out, Plymouth could not muster another equaliser and it was Exeter who made sure of the three points when Scot Bennett made it 3-1 at the last.
Sheridan had introduced new loan signing Paul Hayes into a two-man attack with Marvin Morgan, leaving Reid on the bench. Hayes' two goals for Wycombe in their win at St James Park last year will have been in the manager's mind and, he will have hoped, playing on the minds of the Grecians' defenders too.
But while Argyle had good spells of control and the wind in their sails after Young's magnificent equalising goal, the morale boosting result was not to be. Exeter's second goal meant the Greens had to leave some defensive gaps as they pressed for another equaliser and that proved finally fatal.
Pilgrims' spirits will need lifting once again; a visit to Swindon in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Tuesday is up next.
Exeter City (4-4-2): 1 Artur Krysiak; 2 Danny Butterfield, 6 Danny Coles, 5 Pat Baldwin, 3 Craig Woodman; 7 Liam Sercombe, 14 Tommy Doherty (22 Jimmy Keohane 72), 11 Arron Davies, 32 David Wheeler ((8 Matt Oakley h-t) 29 Matt Grimes 53); 4 Scot Bennett, 10 Alan Gow. Substitutes (no used): 15 Jordan Moore-Taylor, 18 Jamie Reid, 26 Jordan Tillson, 30 Christy Pym.
Booked: Coles 68
Plymouth Argyle (4-4-2): 23 Luke McCormick; 17 Curtis Nelson, 15 Paul Wotton, 5 Guy Branston, 28 Jamie Reckord; 7 Lewis Alessandra (18 Tyler Harvey 88), 20 Hamza Bencherif (14 Luke Young 62), 6 Conor Hourihane (capt), 8 Romuald Boco; 10 Marvin Morgan, 19 Paul Hayes (9 Reuben Reid, 61). Substitutes (not used): 1 Jake Cole, 2 Durrell Berry, 4 Maxime Blanchard, 16 Neal Trotman.
Referee: Andre Marriner
Attendance: 5,700 (1,289 away)
Read more at http://www.pafc.co.uk.
