Argyle move out of drop zone with timely victory
The Pilgrims followed up their 1-0 away defeat of Middlesbrough with a 2-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers at Home Park on Saturday.
It has eased the pressure on manager Paul Sturrock, and restored confidence levels among the players.
While it is still too early to say the Pilgrims have turned the corner, they are certainly in a much better position than they were.
When they lost 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest in late September it was their seventh successive defeat – only two short of a club record.
Argyle were bottom of the table after starting the season by picking up a paltry two points out of a possible 27.
Now, six weeks later, they are up to 21st in the table, and spirits have risen considerably.
No-one should doubt that the Pilgrims still face a long, tough, arduous season, but there are encouraging signs for their future prospects.
Since losing to Forest, Argyle have won four and drawn one of their last seven matches.
Although they are 21st in the table, they are now only two points behind Sheffield Wednesday, who are 14th.
There was a very real possibility only a month ago that Argyle could be cut adrift even at that early stage of the season.
Now they have put themselves into a position where they can focus on overtaking several clubs.
Argyle are unbeaten in their last three matches, and that has coincided with the appointment of Paul Mariner as head coach.
It is difficult to say how much of an impact Mariner has had on the recent results, but he has clearly had a positive influence.
Mariner, the former Argyle, Ipswich Town, Arsenal and England international striker, has spent a lot of time working with Pilgrims' top scorer Jamie Mackie.
He has encouraged Mackie to play on the shoulder of opposing defenders and to use his pace to dart in behind them.
That has become a feature of Argyle's play, with Mackie and Rory Fallon carrying a genuine attacking threat about them.
That is a far cry from earlier in the season, when the Pilgrims lacked any cutting edge.
Argyle took on Doncaster without captain Carl Fletcher, who was serving a one-match suspension.
The team were led out by midfielder Karl Duguid, while Fallon was recalled to the starting line-up.
Unusually, Fallon played out wide on the left in an unbalanced 4-3-1-2 formation.
That was done to stop Doncaster from exploiting the pace and trickery on the ball of James Chambers and John Oster.
Mackie took up a central attacking role, with Alan Gow behind him.
Argyle lost both of their games against Doncaster last season, including a 3-0 home defeat by the South Yorkshire side at Home Park in April.
And it was Rovers who made the better start on Saturday, with early chances for skipper Martin Woods, Oster and striker Billy Sharp.
Argyle did not threaten until the 20th minute when Mackie weaved his way into the Doncaster penalty area.
Mackie seemed certain to score but Rovers' goalkeeper Neil Sullivan blocked his close range shot.
That was the start of a good spell for Argyle, with right-back David Gray firing into the side netting, before the hosts took the lead in the 26th minute. Gow put in an excellent left-wing cross and midfielder Alan Judge applied the finishing touch from inside the six-yard area.
Doncaster were back on level terms only three minutes later, however, after Argyle failed to defend a set piece properly.
A free-kick into the Pilgrims' penalty area was not cleared by Duguid.
The ball broke to Rovers' midfielder Dean Shiels, whose first shot was blocked by the chest of Fallon.
The ball rebounded to Shiels, who this time drove the ball low into the net.
It remained 1-1 until half-time, although in stoppage time Judge's goalbound shot was blocked by Doncaster centre-back Sam Hird.
Woods had been booked for a foul on Judge shortly before the interval.
And the Rovers' skipper was dismissed in the 50th minute for a second bookable offence after a tackle from behind on Argyle defender Kari Arnason.
Initially, experienced referee Paul Taylor did not seem to realise he had already cautioned Woods.
But the Argyle players were quick to point that out to him and eventually Woods had to trudge off the pitch.
He clearly felt Arnason had made more of the challenge than he needed to have done, remonstrating with the Pilgrims' centre-back while he lay on the pitch.
However, it was a foul by Woods and, having already been booked, it was a rash challenge for him to make.
To their credit, Doncaster continued with their passing style of play after the dismissal of Woods.
Larrieu had to make an excellent save in the 53rd minute to push away a fierce shot from Rovers' striker James Coppinger.
Gow then had a chance to put Argyle 2-1 up when he broke into the Rovers penalty area but was thwarted by a superb tackle from Hird.
Winger Craig Noone, on his return from a loan spell a Exeter City, was used as a 69th minute substitute by Argyle.
The aim was to try to stretch the Doncaster defence, and it soon paid off.
Noone set off on one attack, and although his initial progress was slowed, he played the ball back to left-back Gary Sawyer. Sawyer's deep cross into the penalty area was headed away by Hird, under pressure from Fallon.
The ball broke to Duguid, whose shot from 20 yards was blocked by Doncaster centre-back James O'Connor.
A scramble ensued, with Mackie denied by Sullivan, but Fallon then slotted home to put the Pilgrims 2-1 up with his second goal of the season.
Sawyer should have then made the match safe for Argyle in the 73rd minute, but inexplicably sent a header wide of the far post from only a couple of yards out.
Doncaster threw caution to the wind by adopting a 3-4-2 formation for the closing stages, and they had a couple of chances to equalise.
Chambers' long-range strike in the 79th minute was parried by Larrieu, who then kicked away the loose ball as an opponent raced in.
Then, in the fifth and final minute of stoppage time, the Pilgrims' keeper made another good, low save, this time to deny Rovers' substitute Paul Heffernan.
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