Scunthorpe United v Plymouth Argyle
Glanford Park
Coca-Cola Championship - Saturday, March 20, 2010
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FULL-TIME
Scunthorpe United 2 Plymouth Argyle 1
That's an almightly relief. It was an open and honest game of football that I've enjoyed watching, but at the end of it all I'm ecstatic to say that Scunthorpe have attained a crucial three points.
SECOND-HALF
94 Minutes: Forte breaks clear. He's five yards clear of everyone when he hits a shot in the area, but Stockdale still saves. He's played so well today. He saves from Thompson soon after too.
93 Minutes: Tackle of the season by Sam Togwell swipes the ball from the feet of Reba Jonhson who was three-yards out with the goal at his mercy. That passage of danger came about after Fallon won a header.
91 Minutes: Reba Johnson smacks a ball out of Plymouth's defence and it goes all the way through the two teams and back to Joe Murphy. 'Thank you very much' he says, as he takes all the time he can to collect and distribute it.
89 Minutes: Andrew Wright cushions a header back to Joe Murphy and even that draws a huge round of applause. The referee adds six minutes of time. Where he got that from I simply do not know. There's been no real injuries, and I believe that only thirty-seconds are added for a goal and sub - so that's mind boggling. The crowd show their distaste via some colourful chanting.
88 Minutes: Time is nearly up, but hardly anyone is leaving early. So much rests upon this game. So much.
86 Minutes: Forte steams into the area and tries to roll the ball underneath the advancing frame of David Stockdale. That was another effort that could easily have gone in, but again, is saved by the impressive visiting goalie.
85 Minutes: SUB: Forte is the replacement for Hayes. I guess that Hayes is sacraficed so that Scunny can play with a more defensive formation in these last five minutes.
84 Minutes: Mackie catches Matt Sparrow late with a tackle when he was never really going to win the ball. The tackle brings frustration and ill-feeling back to the forefront of the game, and leaves Mackie in the book.
80 Minutes: To keep you informed about the progress of our relegation rivals, Peterborough are behind again; yet Crystal Palace lead away at Blackpool. Sheffield Wednesday are not in action today.
76 Minutes: SUB: New Zealand international target man Rory Fallon is brought on to replace Bradley Wright-Phillips for Argyle.
75 Minutes: Paul Hayes gets beyond the last man to latch on to a loose ball in the area. He pokes his finish towards the far-corner of the goal, but instead of scoring, Stockdale thwarts another one-on-one, somehow.
73 Minutes: United have everyone back except Thompson to defend a free-kick Plymouth win in their own territory.
69 Minutes: Decisions are going Plymouth's way left, right and centre. United need to clean up their act a little bit, and try to secure this game by pushing for another goal - and not by defending, which is hardly one of the teams major strengths.
64 Minutes: GOAL! He has such a great habbit of scoring goal when Scunthorpe really do need them! Scunthorpe surge forwards down the wing and Martyn Woolford eventually decides that he'll have a go. His shot hits Stockdale on its passage to edging United ahead. SUB: Chris Clark is taken off for Joe Mason in the aftermath by Argyle.
Scunthorpe United 2 Plymouth Argyle 1
63 Minutes: Michael Raynes has to make-up for a mistake by Andrew Wright which almost allowed Yannick Bolasie a free passage through on the Scunny goal. He wins the ball back before Wright slams clear.
61 Minutes: Nigel Adkins and Ian Baraclough are deep in conversation, while Andy Crosby keeps a watchful eye over proceedings on the field. What he's seeing at the moment is a long spell of possession from Plymouth.
59 Minutes: A tackle by Sam Togwell on Jamie Mackie is fortunate to escape a booking. It wasn't a tackle aimed at hurting the opponent, but as they'd say in rugby, was a 'big hit' that left Mackie in a heap.
57 Minutes: Bradley Wright-Phillips uses his pace to escape from the desperate tracking man - David Mirfin - and reach a through-ball. He hits a first-time stinging shot when he gets there, which goes narrowly over the bar, but had Murphy well-beaten nonetheless.
55 Minute: United have hit a dip in performance levels. The crowd are calling for McDermott. One things for sure, they haven't had a shot this half and need something. Oh, speak of the devil! Garry Thompson breaks free, turns his man, chips it to the far post where Hayes is ... but he's sheltered from the ball by a defender. It was never really going to set-up for him anyway.
53 Minutes: Bolasie goes on another dangerous run on the left. Again, he does well to get in the area and create a great opportunity for himself - but his eventual shot is dragged wide from an angle.
50 Minutes: For the second time today, Paul Hayes clips a really dangerous ball across the box towards Thompson. This time, he doens't quite manage to get on the end of it though, and it rolls agonisingly out of the area on the other side.
45 Minutes: Argyle start the game again. Reba Johnson gets his name in the book within a minute, after a nasty challenge that the fans around me seem to deem was worthy of a red. Sorry, I'm not sure who it was on as I wasn't looking at the time. It could've been Togwell.
HALF-TIME
Scunthorpe United 1 Plymouth Argyle 1
There are three points here for the taking. Plymouth aren't any worse or better than United, but I just feel that with home advantage, The Iron should be able to capitalise today, and take three immensely importaint points.
ATT: 5,153 (426 away)
FIRST-HALF
48 Minutes: Kari Arnason gives the United defence the run around. He gets into the area, so nobody dares tackle him, but he's pushed just wide enough that his shot is weak and gathered easily by Murphy.
47 Minutes: Hayes hits the post with a shot after a McCann corner comes to him. The ball had already sailed out of play however, so it wouldn't have counted anyway.
45 Minutes: We've moved into the three minutes of added time. Andrew Wright just got a powerful cross in, but Stockdale caught it without issue.
43 Minutes: Calls for a handball by one of the Argyle defence are ignored by the referee - who plays the adavantage. The advantage is that Garry Thompson gets through one-on-one; but despite a composed attempt under pressure, David Stockdale manages to block it with his legs.
40 Minutes: Joe Murphy takes a cross which Jamie Mackie had managed to get into the area following a wriggling run. That wouldn't usually have seemed troubling, but in these conditions, the chances of a slip or something taking place are greatly increased.
38 Minutes: Another card-happy referee - just what The Iron don't need! Martyn Woolford's booked for a mis-timed challenge on the wing.
35 Minutes: Scunthorpe have a spring in their step now. They're playing with much more confidence. In a strange sort of way, I think that it could turn out that going one-nil down was the best thing that could've happened to The Iron. It sort of seems to have given them a wake-up call!
31 Minutes: GOAL! Paul Hayes chases down a ball that's seemingly heading out for a goal-kick, and in one fluid motion slides both to keep it in play and square it into the box. Garry Thompson rushes on to his fellow striker's cross, and turns it low into the net. What a relief that it!
Scunthorpe United 1 Plymouth Argyle 1
30 Minutes: They don't really win that often, so it's fairly understandable that the Argyle fans are in fine voice.
27 Minutes: GOAL! It's not gone in the right end though. Jamie Mackie pounces on a ball that's loose in the penalty area. It was played in from the left wing; and the defence were unable to stop it. Mackie then kept his cool to roll it home.
Scunthorpe United 0 Plymouth Argyle 1
25 Minutes: A half-volley lines itself up nicely for Andrew Wright after a Grant McCann corner is partially cleared. His effort hits the top of the stand: at least he had a go though. Hayes has a go seconds later; but Stockdale saves.
24 Minutes: Havoc is caused when Yannick Bolasie whips a corner into the box and it bounces off Murphy's wet gloves. Within a moment what seems like five Plymouth players swamp Murphy, but somehow he and his defence manage to divert away the ball. There were a few "oh no's" at the start of that move from the crowd.
22 Minutes: SUB: It must be due to an injury at this early stage. Plymouth's Chris Barker takes the place of Richard Eckersley.
20 Minutes: An attempt to launch an immediate counter attack goes wrong, but raises the decibel level slightly.
19 Minutes: Plymouth win a free-kick, and play it aerially into the Scunthorpe area. Reba Johnson gets up to win the flick-on; but United are fortunately able to deflect it away before anyone can make anything of it.
15 Minutes: A nice passing move by Scunthorpe breaks down prematurely. It involved Williams, McCann and Woolford - who didn't quite have the legs to meet the final through-ball down the wing.
10 Minutes: Marcus Williams deals with a cross by slide tackling it behind for a corner to the away side. Damian Johnson tries to put it in towards the near-post; but Grant McCann volleys it away. McCann's quite good at doing that actually. It's often him who clears set-plays.
5 Minutes: Sam Togwell uses the wet pitch to bobble the ball around a defender in the area. At first, it looked like the heavy pitch had gobbled the ball up, but it in-fact fell nicely for Martyn Woolford to have a pop at. The winger quickly took a touch, before striking a low right-footed drive which David Stockdale did well to claw away.
4 Minutes: Just to confirm the positioning: as I predicted, Thompson is playing in attack with Hayes. Woolford and Sparrow are on the wings; and Togwell and McCann are playing in the centre of midfield.
3 Minutes: Plymouth dominate the early exchanges. I guess their mission statement reads something like: 'try and get an early goal, and then park the team bus in-front of our goal'.
1 Minute: Right on schedule, we kick-off. I'm sat outside at Glanford Park today rather than in the warmth of the indoor press box; but will hopefully get a much better taste of the atmosphere out here. Also, United seem to lose each time I sit inside!
BUILD-UP
14:59: A few muffled boos greet the decision (presumably by Plymouth) to swap ends. So United will kick towards their own fans in the first period. "Green Army" someone sarcastically chants.
14:57: The last few spectators filter into the ground as the twenty-two players who will contest today's game emerge from the tunnel. The fans clap loudly, but there's certainly some tension in the air. Plymouth, wearing an all-white kit, look slightly like Real Madrid!
14:50: Plymouth haven't done too badly in terms of travelling numbers. The away stand is about a third full, which is more than most teams in League 1 (who were located geographically much closer) brought last year. And in fairness, the Plymouth-Scunthorpe journey is an awful one. I did it earlier in the season for The Iron's away game there, and would be lying if I said that it was overly enjoyable, especially after the defeat.
14:45: Rain continues to splutter down dampening the surface. That's going to make it slippery, but at the same time, it could do the pitch a world of good in the long-term. I was at Glanford Park yesterday, and even one of the players (they'll remain nameless) commented on the state of the grass (or lack of it!) on the pitch.
14:40: I suppose it was to be expected, but there's a lot of Irish music playing via the PA system. Strangely enough, it sort of seems appropriate - it's lively, and with the sort of beat that will get people into a more bouncy mood ahead of this huge game.
14:35: Today it's Irish Iron day at a rather wet Glanford Park. That particular supporters club has been established over in Ireland for fifteen years, and the players are wearing Irish Iron shirts during their warm-up to celebrate the anniversary. After the game, the shirts will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to the Help for Heroes charity.
TEAM NEWS
There is to be no Hooper for Scunthorpe - that's the biggest piece of news. He's not even fit enough to make the bench, which is a real blow. I presume that instead, a player usually regarded as a midfielder, Garry Thompson, will support Paul Hayes in attack. If that plan doesn't come off, there is the option of either Jonathan Forte or potent poacher (at reserve team level) Matt Godden on the bench, however. In midfield, there's no place for Donal McDermott who played really well on Wednesday; instead, Martyn Woolford is chosen to play on the left. Furthermore, Rob Jones is relegated to the bench by the returning David Mirfin and also by Michael Raynes, who'll partner him at the back; resulting in Sam Togwell taking the skippers armband.
SCUN: Murphy, A. Wright, Williams, Togwell (c), Sparrow, McCann, Hayes, Thompson, Mirfin, Woolford, Raynes. SUBS: Lillis, Milne, Jones, Forte, O'Connor, McDermott, Godden.
PLYM: Stockdale, Duguid, Fletcher (c), Clark, Johnson, Mackie, Wright-Phillips, Arnason, Johnson, Eckersley, Bolasie. SUBS: Larrieu, Fallon, Barker, Summerfield, Judge, N'Gala, Mason.
PREAMBLE
This game doesn't need me to big it up; we all know it's huge. Even Nigel made an exception to his rule of downgrading the status of games to call this one "massive". Plymouth are here today, and despite the fact that they've started a mini-revival in recent weeks, they're still jammed in the relegation zone - one place and 4 points below Scunny. A United win this afternoon would surely hammer at least one nail into their relegation coffin?
