ARGYLE lost the tactical battle as they crashed to defeat against bottom-of-the-table Doncaster on Saturday.

The threat of Pilgrims' top scorer Paul Gallagher was completely nullified by the system the home side used.

Going into the game, Rovers had scored nine goals in the Championship all season.

That was only two more than Gallagher had netted on his own.

But Doncaster cut out the supply to Gallagher by packing the midfield in a 4-3-2-1 formation.

The loan signing from Blackburn Rovers did have one clearcut chance, which was superbly saved by Neil Sullivan.

But, otherwise, Gallagher was isolated from the action for long spells, much to his obvious frustration at times.

And when Argyle cannot get Gallagher into games, they usually struggle for a spark from elsewhere.

The team selection for the trip to the Keepmoat Stadium also has to be questioned.

Doncaster, although unbeaten in four games, had won only one of their previous 16 matches.

Yet, Argyle manager Paul Sturrock picked a side which suggested he would have settled for a point.

Striker Rory Fallon was only on the substitutes' bench, after failing to impress in the 2-1 home defeat by Blackpool the previous Saturday.

But he does provide a physical presence that was sorely lacking at the Keepmoat Stadium.

With Gallagher and Steve MacLean in attack, the onus was on the visitors to play the ball into their feet.

But the midfield was so congested they could not find a way through, and without Fallon they had no Plan B until he was sent on as a 61st-minute substitute.

Sturrock also opted to play Jim Paterson on the right-side of midfield, rather than a more attack-minded player.

In fairness, Paterson did well in that role on several occasions last season.

But, with Mathias Doumbe behind him at right-back, Argyle had two people playing out of position, and it showed.

The Pilgrims had no cohesion on that side of the pitch, although the same could be said everywhere else too.

The centre of midfield continues to be a major problem for Argyle now that captain Karl Duguid is out with a torn calf muscle.

The suspicion is that Yoann Folly and Luke Summerfield are too similar in style to play as a pair.

The time cannot be far away for Simon Walton to be given a second chance to show why he was brought to Home Park.

Walton struggled at the start of his Argyle career, after signing from Queens Park Rangers in August.

He was dropped after the 2-1 home defeat by Norwich City on September 13 and has made only one substitute appearance since.

Walton has not exactly impressed in the reserves, but Argyle are desperately short of options in central midfield.

He was signed as a ball-winning midfielder who could also set up attacks with a good range of passing.

That is precisely what the Pilgrims are crying out for at the moment.

When he gets his chance, as surely he will, Walton will then have to prove he has the ability and attitude to be a success at Home Park.

Otherwise, a player who has a contract with Argyle until the summer of 2012 will face a very uncertain future.

Doncaster are renowned as a fluent passing side, and there was plenty of evidence of that on Saturday.

But, it was equally easy to see why they have struggled for goals since making the step up from League One in May.

They tended to over-play in and around the Argyle penalty area and their final pass let them down repeatedly.

But the Pilgrims deserved credit, too, for a solid defensive display.

Centre-back Craig Cathcart, who was watched by Northern Ireland assistant manager Glynn Snodin, had another good game.

The Belfast-born defender has captained his country at under-21 level.

And Cathcart will not have done his chances of a call-up to the senior squad any harm after his performance in front of Snodin.

The first half-hour provided poor entertainment for both sets of supporters.

Apart from one dipping shot from Doncaster midfielder Martin Woods, which flew only narrowly over the crossbar, there was little to get excited about.

Referee Richard Beeby limped off with a calf strain and was replaced by David McCallum, one of his assistants, in the 32nd minute.

Doncaster's patient build-up finally resulted in a chance when striker Gareth Taylor almost got on the end of an inviting low cross from James Coppinger.

That lifted the home side, and they took the lead in the 37th minute.

An attempted cross by left-back James Chambers was partly blocked by Doumbe and the ball bounced to Woods.

He touched it back to skipper Brian Stock, who drilled an unstoppable 30-yard shot past Argyle's Romain Larrieu.

It was only Doncaster's fourth goal in 11 home league games this season, so it was no wonder it was greeted with such elation, on and off the pitch.

Rovers continued to dominate, without ever really threatening a second goal, until Fallon's introduction as a substitute.

Almost immediately, a flick-on from Fallon nearly led to an equaliser.

Gallagher lifted the ball over Doncaster centre-back Matthew Mills and unleashed a fierce volley which, at point blank range, was brilliantly pushed away by Sullivan.

The save was made even better by the fact the former Scotland international had been a virtual spectator until then.

Doncaster should have put the game beyond Argyle in the 69th minute.

Pilgrims' defender Marcel Seip slid in to make a goal-saving tackle on O'Connor when he broke into the penalty area.

But Mills had a clearcut chance from the resulting corner, taken by Stock.

The Rovers centre-back was completely unmarked, but his header bounced over the bar.

Craig Noone and Jamie Mackie were sent on as late substitutes as Argyle ended the game by playing 4-2-4.

Noone, who always seems to make an impact when he comes off the bench, had one goalbound shot bravely blocked by Mills in the 88th minute.

But Doncaster deserved all three points because they were the better side on the day.