Carey Has Wylde At Heart

The two Home Park summer arrivals netted stunning strikes within ten minutes of each other either side of the interval at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

Gregg’s came in the 40th minute with a left-foot far-post volley after a cross by Jake Jervis, who had been set up by Graham. Just over three minutes after the break, Graham fired the second when Curtis Nelson rescued the ball at the far post and passed to Hiram Boateng to set up the Irishman.

Graham said: “Gregg got a lot of assists in pre-season and something he has wanted to do is to add goals to his game. 

“He had a chance before [he scored] and the second one came along and he took it. It was a great finish. With the pace he’s got, there’s no reason he can’t get a lot more.

 

“It was good to get the second goal and I think that was vitally important in the game, especially the way [Wimbledon] flung balls into the box in the final half-hour – it was important to get that two-goal lead.”

Graham is keen to hone a goalscoring knack which saw him net twice in pre-season.

“It’s something I want to add to my game,” he said. “I haven’t been scoring enough goals in previous seasons. I’ve been setting up a lot of goals and I’ll continue to do that, but if I can add goals to my game and link up well with Reuben [Reid] and the other strikers, it’ll be a bonus.”

Given his roving role in central midfield, where he was supported by Boateng and Carl McHugh against Wimbledon, there is every chance of cashing in that bonus.

He said: “They are two young great footballers who are not just defensive midfielders – they want to get on the ball and pass forward and that’s vital to the way we want to play.”

After a six-game unbeaten summer campaign, Argyle had to endure a bombardment from Wimbledon before they took control of the match and secured a first opening-day win for five seasons.

“We played a lot of teams that we should have been beating in pre-season, really, and we have been building up to this for a couple of weeks, playing gradually better opposition,” said Graham, “but you don’t really know what you are going to get when you come into the league.

“We battled. They are a big, physical, side and it was a hell of a storm that they brought on in the first 15 minutes but the boys at the back and in midfield, and even the strikers, defended great and was a great team performance from which we can kick on.”