'What We're Capable Of'

WHAT was it Rudyard Kipling said about those two imposters, Triumph and Disaster?

Argyle’s 4-1 success at Barnet was satisfying for the manager who expertly plotted it, but he was not about to get overexcited.

“It’s getting there,” said Carl Fletcher after the match. “We are still looking to improve.

“Sometimes, when you put in a good performance and you don’t get the result you deserve, you take a bit of a bonus, but you really want the points.

“Today, it shows what we are capable of and I hope we can keep progressing.

“Apart from a 15-20 minute period towards the end of the first half, I felt we were fully in control of the game. It was great to score four goals away from home.”

By the time the Pilgrims allowed Barnet into the match, they were two goals to the good thanks to Rhys Griffiths’ second-minute penalty and a training-ground routine header by Max Blanchard from Alex MacDonald’s corner.

Ironically, the Bees were given their buzz when marquee signing Collins John limped off after 14 minutes of his debut and was replaced by Fletch’s former Welsh international team-mate, John Oster.

Oster was negated by in the second half after Fletch substituted  forward Guy Madjo with Argentinean midfielder Andres Gurrieri.

“We had to change it at half-time,” said Carl. “We brought Andres on just to sit on John Oster.

“I played with John and I know what qualities he’s got, and he started to show that. We just had to cancel that out, and we did.

“It wasn’t down to the way Guy played, just tactical. Andres is more comfortable there.”

That left Rhys up front as the sole forward, and Fletch was delighted with the Welshman’s contribution as goals from Paris Cowan-Hall and Luke Young completed Argyle’s first 4-1 away win since the clinched the 2001-02 Nationwide Third Division title.

“When you are playing one up, you want a focal point,” he said.

“We don’t want to use it all the time and punt it up to him. But, when you need to, you have got to cause them problems and not let them have free clearances and get the ball straight back into our box.

“Griff does that, and Conor [Hourihane], Andres and Youngy were picking up a lot of second balls.

“He worked his socks off. You could see he was a lot better for the game in midweek. He showed a good bit of quality.”