Rotherham United 0

Argyle 1 

Mumba 32

At the end of a turbulent week for Argyle, Bali Mumba scored the goal to earn a crucial three points in the fight for survival in the Sky Bet Championship.

Four days earlier, the 1-0 loss to Bristol City had prompted the departure of Ian Foster as Head Coach, as the Pilgrims turned to Director of Football Neil Dewsnip and First-Team Coach Kevin Nancekivell to lead them through six massive games in the relegation scrap.

Stage one of that mission was achieved by Mumba’s well-taken goal on the half-hour and a solid all-round display, as the defeat for Rotherham confirmed their relegation to Sky Bet League One.

Argyle made four changes from the Easter Monday defeat, with Dan Scarr, Joe Edwards, Callum Wright and Adam Randell replacing Lino Sousa, Adam Forshaw, Matthew Sorinola and the suspended Alife Devine.

A sweeping early cross from Ryan Hardie prompted a scruffy clearance / interception by Seb Revan, with Mumba arriving from the left flank. A corner from Randell produced the next moment of interest, an almost comical goalmouth scramble with the ball ricocheting around a sea of players in green and red before the Millers cleared.

In a muted and tense atmosphere at the New York Stadium, Hardie found a spark of quality with a lovely pass to Wright, who saw his left-foot drive blocked by the recovering Hakeem Odoffin. The same Pilgrim combo then saw Hardie drift a deep curling cross and Wright’s steered header was only a fraction off target.

Rotherham’s attacking threat in the opening quarter was limited to harmless crosses and fairly tepid long-range strikes, all easily gathered by Michael Cooper. While there was marginally more potency in Argyle’s attacking play, Cooper’s opposite number, Viktor Johansson, also remained untested.

The game was crying out for some quality and Mumba delivered with a delightful opening goal. Morgan Whittaker pinged a superb cross-field pass into the path of Mumba in the left channel and he took a forward touch before slamming the ball past Johansson at the near post.

The goal was like a massive injection of belief in Pilgrim ranks and they finished the half zipping the ball around the pitch, with Whittaker an ever growing influence on proceedings, as another whipped delivery picked out the head of Wright but his nod back across goal was just about collected by Johansson.

Whittaker was swiftly back to the fore after the restart, picking up on a loose clearance to lash a fizzing 25-yard strike with that lethal left boot and Johannson, diving low to his left, did well to tip it wide.

Whittaker’s next attempt, from the edge of the box after a smart square pass from Wright, was curled into the arms of Johannson, as the Millers opted for a triple change in their last push for survival.

Jordan Houghton guided a low shot goalwards, which proved comfortable for Johansson, before the Greens introduced Forshaw for Wright, who had enjoyed a lively game on his return to the starting line-up.

The Millers then spurned their best chance of the evening, Cohen Bramall jabbing a deep corner harmlessly wide when he probably had the time and space to cause more of a problem for Cooper.

As the game approached a tense final 20 minutes, the Green Army led a chorus of encouragement for their troops but that turned to howls of relief when Revan dipped inside Mumba for a fierce drive that was superbly parried away by Cooper.

Argyle replied with a scuttling cross from Randell that took a touch off the boot of Cameron Humphreys, forcing Johansson into a fine reaction save. Forshaw then whipped a 25-yard curler narrowly past the top corner.

Ben Waine for Hardie was the next Argyle change, as Odoffin powered an ambitious long-ranger wide for the Millers. Rotherham had no choice but to throw men in forward, while Argyle looked to navigate a nervy final ten minutes.

Waine attempted to relieve the worry with a terrific weaving run that took him 40 yards up the pitch before a skidding drive that was gobbled up by Johansson. The Greens turned to Brendan Galloway and Mustapha Bundu for Mumba and Whittaker for the closing moments.

A corner very nearly settled the contest, Galloway’s header forcing the best from Johansson and Ashley Phillips was just unable to convert the rebound. The impressive Johansson then thwarted Waine but the Greens had done enough on a nervous night.

Rotherham: 1 Viktor Johansson; 3 Cohen Bramall (17 Shane Ferguson 78), 8 Sam Clucas, 12 Andy Rinomhota (16 Jamie Lindsay 56), 14 Charlie Wyke (9 Tom Eaves 56), 18 Ollie Rathbone (capt) (7 Cafu 56), 21 Lee Peltier (30 Arvin Appiah 83), 22 Hakeem Odoffin, 24 Cameron Humphreys, 28 Seb Revan, 29 Sam Nombe. Substitutes (not used): 26 Dillon Phillips (gk), 38 Femi Seriki, 42 Ben Hatton.

Booked:

Argyle: 1 Michael Cooper: 2 Bali Mumba (22 Brendan Galloway 87), 4 Jordan Houghton, 6 Dan Scarr, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Ryan Hardie (23 Ben Waine 75), 10 Morgan Whittaker (15 Mustapha Bundu 87), 11 Callum Wright (27 Adam Forshaw 62), 17 Lewis Gibson, 20 Adam Randell, 26 Ashley Phillips. Substitutes (not used): 21 Conor Hazard (gk), 3 Lino Sousa, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 14 Mickel Miller, 29 Matthew Sorinola.

Booked:

Referee: Oliver Langford

Attendance: 9,863 (1,005 Argyle)