Bristol Rovers 2 - 1 Argyle - Hardie 85’
Argyle suffered their first defeat of the pre-season campaign, losing by the odd goal in three at Bristol Rovers.
The Gas led by two goals at the break, scoring through Promise Omochere and Jack Hunt, although Argyle had numerous efforts, mostly prevented by on-song Rovers goalkeeper Josh Griffiths.
In a second period that took a while to crank up, Ryan Hardie got the Greens back in it with time ticking away, but despite their best efforts, Argyle could not find an equaliser.
There were two notable firsts in the Argyle starting line-up. One was a name: Victor Palsson. The Iceland international was in at right-back, starting for the first time in Argyle colours.
Specifically, those Argyle colours were white and black, for the game marked the debut of the new away shirt for 2024/25, launched in the hours leading up to the game. A good job too, as Rovers took to the field wearing their green-and-black away kit which, at a glance, made them look like Argyle circa 1998/99. One half-expected to see Jon Ashton and Chris Hargreaves lining up for the Gas.
Palsson was joined in a back four by Dan Scarr, Brendan Galloway and Nathanael Ogbeta, in front of goalkeeper Michael Cooper; Morgan Whittaker and Ibrahim Cissoko played on the right and left wings respectively, either side of midfield duo Jordan Houghton and Adam Forshaw; Muhamed Tijani was joined up front by Mustapha Bundu.
It was Cooper who had the most notable opening 10 minutes. It began with him rescuing a situation when Obgeta’s overhit backpass looked for a moment like it may go straight in the goal; Cooper was swift enough to react and clear.
Within a minute, the ball was back at the Argyle goalkeeper’s feet, and his pass to find Morgan Whittaker, running in on goal, was immaculate. Whittaker’s effort ended up being deflected wide, and from the subsequent corner Argyle threatened via a Tijani header and a follow-up Whittaker cross that narrowly evaded everyone.
Cooper’s next pair of involvements, though, led to Rovers opening the scoring. Cooper cleared following another backpass to him, and served only to pick out Luke Thomas, in space. To be fair to Cooper, his reaction save from Thomas was superb, but the ball fell to Omochere, who rolled into the unguarded net.
A second goal of the game nearly followed, and it could easily have come at either end. Firstly, Argyle worked a position for Whittaker, who struck his low effort so truly he would likely have expected to see the net bulging by the time he glanced up. Instead, he saw the ball trickle wide, having been superbly saved by Josh Griffiths in the Rovers goal.
Moments later, Rovers midfielder Luke McCormick picked Ogbeta’s pocket and looked to bear down on goal, but Palsson made an astounding recovery run to get round and block the effort.
In their quest for parity, Argyle struck the bar when Cissoko hit a pearler of a curler that beat Griffiths but not the crossbar, and Bundu had a header on target saved, before Rovers made the Pilgrims pay with a second goal.
McCormick’s run down the left side looked to be under control, but he wrapped a foot around the ball and crossed, to where Hunt had anticipated the flight ahead of all else. The wing-back turned the ball home smartly, and suddenly Argyle were two down.
Bundu thought he may have partially rectified that when he was set away by Cissoko’s canny pass round the corner, beyond Rovers’ high line. Bundu bore down on Griffiths, and tried a dinked finish, but Griffiths did just enough to raise an arm and divert the ball to safety.
Argyle brought on Bali Mumba for Forshaw at the break, and followed with four more players coming on – Ryan Hardie, Callum Wright, Julio Pleguezuelo and Lewis Gibson – on the hour.
The game, though, had rather petered out, even before the typically disruptive changes. A Jamie Lindsay foray into Argyle territory that Galloway snuffed out with a beautifully timed sliding intervention was probably the only chance approaching significance between the interval and the 75th minute, when Whittaker burst infield and forced Griffiths into a low save to his left. A minute later, Callum Wright, from a bit closer in, made Griffiths work too, but he was up to it, and got down to it.
A personal battle then ensued between Hardie and Griffiths, with honours probably being roughly even. Griffiths made the latest in a string of very fine saves when he leapt to his right to turn away a deliberate Hardie glance which was destined for the near post. Within a minute, Hardie broke beyond the Rovers defence and this time shot past Griffiths, only to see the ball roll wide.
Soon after, Hardie got his goal. Griffiths had still saved Hardie’s first effort, but when the ball rebounded to the Scotsman, he characteristically took his time, picked his moment, and blasted in at the near post.
Argyle sensed a chance to level, and went close again with Hardie, before Ogbeta’s shot from a good position sailed too high. With the game now open, Rovers missed a good chance of their own, with substitute Bryant Bilongo profligate from a good position.
No more goals came, though, and the Greens will now head to Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday to complete the build-up to the season, which begins on Sunday, 11 August, at Sheffield Wednesday.
Argyle: 1 Michael Cooper, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 4 Jordan Houghton (capt) (32 Will Jenkins Davies, 80), 6 Dan Scarr (17 Lewis Gibson, 60), 7 Ibrahim Cissoko, 10 Morgan Whittaker, 15 Mustapha Bundu (9 Ryan Hardie, 60), 22 Brendan Galloway (29 Matty Sorinola, 78) 26 Muhamed Tijani (11 Callum Wright, 60), 27 Adam Forshaw (2 Bali Mumba, half-time), 44 Victor Palsson (5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 60).
