Scarr's Wycombe Reaction

Dan Scarr’s first goal of the season was a while in coming, but when it did arrive, it was a very precious one.

Scarr scored just after half an hour into Argyle’s game against Wycombe Wanderers at Home Park, with what proved to be the only goal of the game. The big defender was on hand to nudge home with his left foot from close range following Adam Randell’s superb left-wing corner.

Not only was it Scarr’s first of the season, but the first from an Argyle central defender, and the first time the Greens have scored from a set play.

“It’s about time!” Scarr told Argyle TV. “I was running around like a headless chicken then got to the goal! It was a good ball in by Rands which is sometimes all you need. I managed to lose my marker and gamble on the keeper missing it. It was a tap-in really.

“I think if you keep putting the ball in the right areas; we do get a lot of corners, especially at home. Teams are going to make mistakes at some point, and hopefully one of our players is there to tap it in.”

The win means league leaders Argyle have now won both games against Wycombe this season, following an identical scoreline when the teams met at Adams Park in October.

Manager Steven Schumacher changed Argyle’s usual shape, employing Scarr in the centre of a back four. Although Wycombe put Argyle under severe late pressure, the Pilgrims earned their third clean sheet in four matches, and stretched their lead at the top to four points.

“They’re the toughest games of the season,” said Scarr, of Wycombe. “We’ve had to prepare in different ways. We’ve had to go out of our usual styles both home and away when we’ve played them. It’s credit to us and the staff that we have adapted and we’ve picked up two wins [against Wycombe] which not a lot of teams will do.

“For a lot of the first half at the start, we had good spells on the ball. The back four was working and we had a lot of passes out, and we sustained pressure. That is what we needed to do, what we worked on, and did well.

“It’s tough, especially against Wycombe. You feel like you are sinking deeper into your own box. It’s like the whole pitch has suddenly gone and you are playing uphill.

“To defend the box as well as we did, we had players like Danny [Mayor] putting tackles in, as well as Rands [Adam Randell], Jordy [Houghton] and all the defenders. It means a lot. We pride ourselves on keeping clean sheets, that is the foundation to press on.

“The ball can fall anywhere. It can fall to one of their players at any time, but we defended well, and I think we deserved it.

“We need to not get ahead of ourselves, realise we are a good team and top for a reason. We need to press on, not sit on our laurels, keep working hard, keep pressing and see where we end up.”

Celebrations after the game were somewhat muted as Wycombe’s Tjay de Barr had to be treated for a medical incident. Wycombe have since reported that he is awake, talking and in good condition. Dan echoed the thought of everyone at Argyle in wishing Tjay well.

“You fear for the worst, but we just hope he’s alright, and our best wishes to Wycombe. Hopefully he’s got to hospital and he is sorted. We didn’t really celebrate because of [Tjay]. We all hope he’s ok.”