Argyle 3 
Waine 62, Hardie 81, Bundu 84 

Cheltenham 0 

Three second-half goals took Argyle into the second round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, as the Pilgrims saw off Cheltenham Town at Home Park.  

Ben Waine, Ryan Hardie and substitute Mustapha Bundu put the game beyond the Robins, who kept Argyle at bay for some time, but could not withstand the Greens’ smart play after the interval.  

Argyle lined up with a slightly tweaked version of the formation they have been playing of late, with Callum Wright playing slightly deeper in a role off of frontman Ryan Hardie. Ben Waine played on the left flank, Freddie Issaka on the right, in a midfield that featured Adam Randell and Darko Gyabi at its heart.  

The back four featured Kornel Szucs making his Argyle debut, playing as a central defender alongside Julio Pleguezuelo. Joe Edwards captained the team from right-back, Bali Mumba was on the left side, all in front of Conor Hazard in the Greens’ goal.  

Both sides had half-chances in the opening ten minutes. Argyle had the first foray, Waine standing up a left-wing cross that Issaka headed inside, but Cheltenham cleared. The visitors were then presented with a sniff when Hazard’s pass out to Gyabi was incepted, but Hazard was equal to the effort that came back at him from striker Matty Taylor.  

Hardie was already showing signs of giving the Robins’ defence a tricky night, getting behind their line. On one such occasion, he forced keeper Joe Day into a pushed-out save, and then shortly afterwards the Scotman’s clever through ball found Wright sneaking in. Wright’s effort fell to Waine, who smuggled home, but the flag had gone up against Wright’s early movement.  

On twenty minutes, Wright was in the thick of it again, getting hold of Waine’s deft lay-off and driving a shot that was deflected wide. From the short corner, Mumba fed Hardie, who drove one on target but saw it blocked away.  

Cheltenham steadily grew into the game, and after Hazard made a really good save to his right from an admittedly offside Liam Dulson, Harrison Sohna curled not far wide from just outside the penalty area.  

Ethon Archer then, fittingly, was only narrowly off target, twanging one against the post. The ball bounced off the back of Hazard but stayed wide when crossing the line.  

Argyle finished the first half well, with first Issaka mazying into the area, and Wright being denied the chance to finish at close range. From the corner, Edwards fired in a deflected effort that fell just wide, and a similar description befitted a Wright shot from just inside the box.  

On the button of half-time, Mumba hit the side-netting; Argyle would have been happy to have kept on playing, having found their stride in the previous ten minutes.  

The first good chance of the second period fell to Cheltenham, with Jordan Thomas drilling a low effort from a very tight angle straight across the goal. Within a minute, Argyle were at the other end, with the growing connection between Wright, Issaka and Hardie evident again, as all were involved in a move from which Wright’s clever ball across the centre very nearly found Waine, poised for a tap-in. Even then, the block was not far away from rolling into the corner.  

Speaking of tap-ins, it is precisely how Waine opened the scoring, just after the hour mark, but although the execution of his goal was probably the easiest he is ever likely to have, it would be unfair to dismiss his contributions leading up to the goal.  

Firstly, Waine received the ball, back to goal, but on the half-turn, 25 yards out of so, and his touch and spin was so sharp that all his overly attentive marker could do was bring the New Zealander down.  

Randell took the resulting free-kick, and forced a tremendous, full-length save from Day, who pushed the ball against the bar. One felt a little bit sorry – only a little bit, mind – for Day, as he watched Waine winning the footrace to the descending ball, and prodding home from a matter of centimetres.  

When the goal went in, Argyle had two substitutes – Ibrahim Cissoko and Mustapha Bundu – poised to come on. They were stood down at the heralding of the opening goal, but only for a few minutes. When they came on, they were joined by Morgan Whittaker, with Waine, Wright and Issaka departing the scene.  

Cissoko was quickly in the action, tricking his way down the line to cross into the area, and after the chance had seemingly gone, Randell resurrected it and found Cissoko again. His cutback looked inviting for Bundu, but his radar was off, and he blasted wide.  

With Cheltenham pushing for the equaliser, the game became stretched. It took a very good sliding recovery tackle from Pleguezuelo to halt progress from one burst forward, but the Pilgrims were immediately on the front foot, and Cissoko’s flick into Hardie only just evaded the latter’s path. If he was six-foot-three and not six-foot-one, Argyle would have been two up.  

The fresh legs of the substitute trio, coupled with a bounce in Argyle’s step from being in the lead, led to a surge in chances. Whittaker blasted over from a cutback; Szucs headed on target but could not impart enough power; Hardie tried to turn in the box and got hustled out as he tried to shoot; and Cissoko was a general irritant to Cheltenham, seemingly just lacking the final pass.  

When he nailed one, it was at the end of a stunning move involving numerous members of the team. It started, essentially, with Szucs showing great calmness on the edge of area to keep the ball under pressure. As the move unfolded, Randell retained possession, getting clouted in the process, then Bundu checked back to Edwards. The captain’s early ball into Forshaw was touched back to Randell, and then into Whittaker – and at this stage of the recap, we are still in Argyle’s half.  

Whittaker crossed the line and swiftly released Cissoko on the left, and his early, sharp cross was diverted in by Hardie. Eight players had played their part in as good a team goal as you are likely to see.  

Another goal soon followed. By this point Matty Sorinola had replaced Hardie, and Mumba had adjusted to ostensibly a forward role. Thus, he was in the area foraging when a ball came in, and he had the presence of mind to play backwards to Bundu, who smashed in from the area’s edge.  

The goal essentially put to bed a game that had already brushed its teeth and had a story read to it. The whistle blowing on a 3-0 victory meant the Green Army could sleep pleasant dreams about a victory, and passage to round two of the cup.  

Not long after the full-time whistle, Argyle learned that their second-round opponents will be Watford, who beat Milton Keynes Dons 5-0 to progress.  

Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard, 2 Bali Mumba, 5 Julio Pleguezuelo, 6 Kornel Szucs, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 9 Ryan Hardie (29 Matty Sorinola, 82), 11 Callum Wright (15 Mustapha Bundu, 67), 18 Darko Gyabi (27 Adam Forshaw, 79), 20 Adam Randell, 23 Ben Waine (7 Ibrahim Cissoko, 67), 35 Freddie Issaka (10 Morgan Whittaker, 67). Substitutes: 49 Dan Holman (gk), 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 17 Lewis Gibson, 32 Will Jenkins Davies.  

Booked: Szucs 86. 

Cheltenham Town: 21 Joe Day, 3 Ryan Haynes (30 Freddie Wilcox, 71), 5 Levi Laing, 9 Matty Taylor (capt) (16 Joel Colwill, 59), 14 Liam Dulson, 15 Jordan Thomas (2 Arkell Jude-Boyd, 59), 18 Ibrahim Bakare, 19 Harrison Sohna (10 George Miller, 68), 22 Ethon Archer, 27 Lewis Payne, 34 Tom Pett (8 Luke Young, 59). Substitutes: 1 Owen Evans (gk), 4 Liam Kinsella, 6 Tom Bradbury, 17 Scot Bennett. 

Booked: Pett 19, Payne 62. 

Attendance: 12,058 (140 away)