Report | Cheltenham Town 1-5 Argyle
Cheltenham Town 1 - 5 Argyle – Cissoko 27, Whittaker 29, Tijani 36 & 59, Hardie 66
Argyle returned to England following their Spanish sojourn, and promptly notched a five-to-one Cheltenham winner.
Near the home of the famous racecourse, Argyle were made to chase, overcoming a hurdle set by Liam Dulson’s opener for Cheltenham midway through the first half, but came off the bridle to grab three goals before half-time, via Ibrahim Cissoko, Morgan Whittaker and Muhamed Tijani.
Tijani scored his second, Argyle’s fourth, near the hour mark, and this was followed by substitute Ryan Hardie putting the Greens out of sight.
In his first friendly in charge of Argyle on domestic soil, Wayne Rooney sent the Greens out in a 4-4-2 formation. Dan Scarr and Brendan Galloway formed a central defensive duo in front of Michael Cooper, with Joe Edwards and Nathanael Ogbeta to the right and left respectively.
Ibrahim Cissoko and Morgan Whittaker flanked Adam Randell and Darko Gyabi in midfield, with Muhamed Tijani and Mustapha Bundu up front.
Whittaker had an early sighter, sneaking a low, left-footed free-kick effort under a wall which suspected otherwise. Home goalkeeper Owen Evans had a concerned moment before landing on the shot, which would have snuck inside the near post had he not intervened.
Cheltenham answered with a slick, right-flank corner routine that allowed left-back Ryan Haynes the angle to shoot. His strike was true, his radar slightly askew; the ball cannoned into the side-netting and stanchion, just wide of the target.
Argyle were looking smart in attack, especially eye-catchingly moving the ball from one wing to another. On one such occasion, Ogbeta whistled a low cross between goalkeeper and defenders but, crucially, also in front of any oncoming attackers.
In the engine room, Gyabi was looking particularly at home. Able to contribute defensively and spring attacks too, he was at the heart of much of Argyle’s good work. On one occasion, he started an attack that rolled through Bundu and Whittaker before arriving back at Gyabi, whose shot deflected wide.
It was Town, however, relegated to Sky Bet League Two last season, that took the lead, on 19 minutes. A free kick for the Robins appeared to have gone nowhere but they persevered, with Haynes getting down the right flank and clipping in an inviting cross that Dulson smartly steered home.
Within a minute, a buoyant Cheltenham nearly doubled their lead. Matty Taylor, who for much of his career has plied his trade between Bristol and Oxford, has now pitched up on the west edge of the Cotswolds. He has always known the geography of the penalty area, and his shot on the run was destined for the bottom corner, before Cooper extended an orange-stockinged right leg to repel the effort.
Argyle were behind for eight minutes, and then within a three-minute window found themselves ahead. The equaliser was a classic goal, linking two wide players. Whittaker beat his man on the outside, on the right, and stood up a cross for Cissoko to nod in.
Cheltenham scarcely had time to draw breath – and then Morgan Whittaker scored a breathtaking goal to put the Greens in front. Gyabi was again at the heart of it, protecting the ball fiercely near the area’s edge, then teeing up Whittaker for the kind of goal that Morgan must be close to trademarking. Left foot, right of centre, 20+ yards out, a whipped effort, the net rippling.
For a side that could have been 2-0 up ten minutes prior, Cheltenham could be forgiven for being a bit stung, but they rallied, and a Harry Pell header was not terribly far away from a leveller.
Argyle, though, were looking increasingly confident when on the front foot, and Cissoko really ought to have had a second goal when he was picked out from the left following another Gyabi surge. Cissoko took time to weigh up his options, but Evans guessed correctly, and saved well, low to his left.
Evans could rightly feel proud of that save, but moments later he had a moment that goalkeepers dread. He received the ball to his feet but, very shortly after taking control of it, he looked up to see the imposing figure of Tijani arrowing towards him. The next thing Evans knew, his effort to clear the ball had simply cannoned against Tijani’s leg, and now the ball was nestling in the net behind him.
After the break, Argyle’s fourth came again from the boot of Tijani, and was once more the product of the Nigerian forward leaping on a mistake, but this time he had far more to do. Tijani looked second favourite to a loose ball in the Cheltenham half, but on beating red shirts to the race to it, he then set off for the penalty area. One side-step onto his left foot later, Tijani blasted home his second of the game, and heralded not only a three-goal cushion for Argyle, but a phalanx of substitutions.
Lewis Gibson had already replaced Brendan Galloway at half-time, and he was now followed by ten more replacements. One of those men coming on was Ryan Hardie, and he quickly got in on the scoring action, running onto a ball over the top and lashing goalwards. His initial effort was well saved by Town substitute goalkeeper Joe Day, but Hardie was first to the rebound, and slotted in to make it five.
A sixth nearly followed directly, as a quick Argyle throw-in was anticipated by Callum Wright and Callum Wright only, but Day reacted and somehow diverted the ball into the ground and over the bar.
Hardie nearly scored another, fed by an intricate Caleb Roberts needle-threader of a pass, but hit the side-netting, from a widening angle, and then flashed one across the face of goal as the game’s conclusion approached.
By the time the winning post appeared, Argyle had eased down. With three more friendlies until the tape goes up, the Greens look nicely on track.
Argyle starting line-up: 1 Michael Cooper, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 6 Dan Scarr, 7 Ibrahim Cissoko, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 10 Morgan Whittaker, 15 Mustapha Bundu, 18 Darko Gyabi, 20 Adam Randell, 22 Brendan Galloway, 26 Muhamed Tijani.
Line-up from 60 minutes: 21 Conor Hazard, 2 Bali Mumba, 4 Jordan Houghton, 9 Ryan Hardie, 11 Callum Wright, 17 Lewis Gibson, 24 Saxon Earley, 29 Matty Sorinola, 34 Caleb Roberts, 35 Freddie Issaka, 37 Jack Matthews.
Attendance: 2,339 (785 away)
Referee: Sam Allison.
