THE RECURRENCE of an ankle injury to defender Bondz N'Gala proved the turning point in Plymouth Argyle's 3-3 draw against SC Cambuur last night.

The Pilgrims were leading by three goals when N'Gala was taken off in the 67th minute.

Midfielder Chris Clark and left-back Jim Paterson filled in as Argyle's makeshift central defensive pairing.

And Cambuur capitalised on that as they netted three times in only 11 minutes.

Nonetheless, Argyle manager Peter Reid took a lot of positives out of the final match of the pre-season tour to the Netherlands.

Joe Mason, for example, netted twice, to follow his goal in the 1-0 win against NAC Breda on Saturday.

Young trio Liam Head, Sean Kinsella and Jordan Trott were all given run-outs, while Luke Summerfield stood out, in the centre of midfield.

Reid said: "I think if the centre-half (N'Gala) stays on we win the game.

"But he has had to come off because he has got a knock on his ankle again. It was a precaution.

"It's disappointing to concede three, but there are a lot of things I was delighted about. All in all, it has been a really good trip.

"I think Bondz got a whack on his ankle early and it just got progressively worse.

"We got him off to make sure he's right for next week."

Reid added: "Mason has done well and Liam Head, a centre-forward, did fantastic at right-back.

"It was a fairly young side out there and they have done great."

The scheduled 7pm kick-off was delayed by more than 20 minutes as Argyle did not get to the ground until 6.40pm.

Reid admitted that had not been ideal preparation for his players.

He said: "We got here a bit late. The bus didn't come on time, but the lads have acquitted themselves really well.

"We shut them (Cambuur) down a lot earlier tonight, which I wanted us to do."

Mason has taken the chance to show his goalscoring potential to new Pilgrims' boss Reid during the trip to the Netherlands.

"He's a good young player, and he's an intelligent player," said Reid.

"From that right-side of midfield, he gets in dangerous areas where he's difficult to pick up.

"The boy has done well, but there were a lot of plusses out there tonight. I thought Summerfield played ever so well."

Trialist Freddy Hall was Argyle's goalkeeper against Cambuur and put in a decent display.

Reid said: "He has done smashing. He came out for crosses, and hand on heart I don't think he had a chance with any of the goals."

Meanwhile, the shin injury suffered by right-back Karl Duguid in the 1-0 defeat by AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night is not a serious one.

Duguid was stretchered off in the first half of the game in Anna Paulowna, and he left the ground on crutches.

But he did not need them last night as he watched from the sidelines.

Reid said: "He's still a bit sore but we don't think there is any real damage in there. It's just soft-tissue damage, which is good."

The Argyle squad were returning to Plymouth today and will resume training on Monday.