Earley's Oxford Reaction

When Saxon Earley saw Sam Cosgrove knock a low cross into the six-yard area, he knew exactly what to do.

The 20-year-old wing-back did enough to get to the ball before his marker and ensure it went over the line, from close range. His goal, in the 65th minute, had given Argyle a 2-1 lead away from home, at Oxford United.

Then, he did not know quite what to do.

Thinking through his celebration had not been on the list for Saxon, but he can be forgiven missing this item off his preparations for his first start in a Plymouth Argyle shirt. His Pilgrims career, to this point, had consisted of a small handful of minutes at Bolton Wanderers some six weeks prior to the Oxford game, and just a few days after he became a Green, as a January transfer from Norwich City, via a loan spell at Stevenage.

Suddenly, here he was, debuting and scoring. The next thing he knew his legs, which had shown impeccable timing in getting him into position to grab a goal, had taken him in the direction of almost 1,500 ecstatic members of the Green Army, who knew the importance of the goal.

Ryan Hardie added another, in injury time, to secure the victory, and keep Argyle on top of Sky Bet League One.

When Argyle TV caught up with Earley after the game, he was still on top of the world.

“I don't think there's words to describe the feeling,” he said. “Everyone dreams of scoring on their debut, so I'm really pleased.

“As soon as I put it in, I didn't really know what to do, so I just ran to the fans! Ever since I've been here, they've been brilliant.

“I know they've been brilliant throughout the season. Hopefully we can keep producing results, they can keep getting behind us and we can go far.

“[Oxford] didn't make it easy for us, that’s for sure. We came to half-time and we knew we were better. We knew we had at least two more gears to go up and I think we came out in the second half and we did that. I don't think they could live with us.

“We definitely had a few words at half-time and came out fighting.”

Saxon was one of five additions to the Argyle squad in the January window, and given the depth the Pilgrims possess in both size and quality, it was perhaps inevitable that Earley would need to show patience.

For much of the season, Bali Mumba and Joe Edwards have occupied the wing-back positions, with Mickel Miller, a summer signing who has suffered frustration injury setbacks, having returned to the line-up on Saturday.

This perhaps made Earley’s inclusion in the side at Oxford an even bigger surprise, but as well as scoring he impressed with his all-round performance, and justified manager Steven Schumacher’s plan.  

“The gaffer gave me a chance today and I hope I have repaid him,” said Saxon.

“The boys are brilliant; every single one of them, ever since I came in, they made me feel welcome. We do have a big squad, but I think that benefits us.

“We've got a lot of good players; it must be a nightmare for the gaffer to pick from. But he does, and results show that what he is doing is right.

“You’ve got Bali, who I've known for a while at Norwich. He's been on fire this season. Joe Edwards is an unbelievable skipper. He takes us through hard times. I knew it'd be tough coming in. I've had to bide my time, worked hard in training, just kept my head down, kept working.

“We have interviews about where our goals are going come from. We can't always just rely on the strikers. Bali’s chipped in a lot this season and I know Joe Edwards in previous seasons has chipped in.

“They joked that when I came in, I've got to chip in as well; I tried my best and luckily it's come off tonight.”