Plymouth Argyle 3-4-2-1
Cooper
Longwijk
Scarr
Gillesphie
Mumba
Randall
Butcher
Edwards
Azaz
Mayor
Hardie
Oxford United 3-5-2
Eastwood
Long
Findlay
Brown
Henry
Bate
McGuane
Brannagan
Seddon
Joseph
Bodin
A spine tingling minutes silence and rendition of the National Anthem was followed by a disappointing first half.
Argyle started brightly with Ryan Hardie misdirecting a header high and wide from inside the six yard box within the first two minutes.
The game had to wait until the 22nd minute until it’s next meaningful action where Finn Azaz worked Eastwood in the Oxford goal following a well worked corner which led to Edwards flashing the rebound across the box where Longwijk couldn’t quite stretch his long frame quite enough to slide the ball in at the far post.
Azaz had another couple of efforts later on in the half but his finishing on both occasions was rash.
At the other end of the pitch Oxford’s attack was impotent and they failed to notch a shot on target during the first half where the majority of efforts from both sides were from range and lacking in quality.
Half Time
Plymouth Argyle 0
Oxford Utd 0
The second half started in a similar fashion and on the hour mark Hardie & Mayor were replaced by Whittaker and Ennis in a double substitution which Argyle hoped would ignite a flame in their performance.
A similar corner to the one in the first half saw Butcher sky and effort high when he should’ve hit the target as Argyle started to look more threatening.
The breakthrough come in the 69th minute when substitute Morgan Whittaker’s left foot drive from the edge of the box found its way into the corner of the goal.
Just five minutes later and Oxford nearly levelled with with Joseph sliding in at the back post but with the goal gaping his effort strikes the post.
That was the closest they came to levelling the match and, if anything, Argyle looked more likely to increase the lead to two.
Full Time
Plymouth Argyle 1
Oxford Utd 0
Not a vintage performance from Argyle but three points in the bank and a job well done. As for Oxford, they were severely lacking at the top end of the pitch and desperately need some of their injured players back.
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