Argyle’s fourth away win in seven fixtures on the road this season may have been the sweetest so far.
The Greens headed to Cambridge United to conclude a week that began with a 2-0 home defeat against Huddersfield Town and was followed by a lamentable loss at Stevenage, where Tom Cleverley’s side were beaten 3-0.
Asked for a reaction at Cambridge, the team provided one. The result was obviously the main thing, with the Greens winning 3-2, but the hardworking, industrious performance was probably the key.
In awful weather conditions, Argyle went 2-0 up thanks to an own goal and a goal credited to Xavier Amaechi, having nicked off the number 10 from a shot by Harvey White, before Cambridge got one back. Bim Pepple’s penalty increased the gap to 3-1, but United scored again with five minutes of the 90 to go, and lay siege to Argyle’s goal in the remainder of the game. The Pilgrims stood firm, though, and emerged with three points, and the satisfaction of a job well done.
“It's another great away win. Not many teams will come here and win, that's for sure,” said Cleverley, after the game.
“[Cambridge] have already displayed that from the start of the season to now. You can see why they've got such a good comeback record. They threw the kitchen sink at us from the start.
“The first goal we concede is really disappointing. We showed good character to get control again and win the penalty, then the second goal is equally as disappointing. But the character of the players today; our application in the duels could maybe have been questioned on Tuesday, but [today] they worked their socks off. They fought for every ball, dominated in that part of the game for until the last 20 minutes, I thought, and that was a good platform to show our quality and get the three goals to win the game.”
A talking point before the game was Cleverley’s decision to deviate from the 4-4-2 system that Argyle have played all season. Instead, the Greens lined up in a 3-4-3, which did the trick in terms of producing the desired result.
“I thought we were not in our greatest moment when it comes to defending our box,” said Tom. “I just thought with that, we weren't scoring goals at the other end as freely, the balance of the team felt a little bit out to me.
“I sacrificed an attacking player for another centre-back today. Anyone can come here and concede two goals - the pressure they put you under, field territory, set pieces, the conditions, the crowd - but our attacking play didn't sacrifice for playing the extra defender today. I thought we always looked a threat.
“We wanted a pretty boring first 20 minutes, for want of a better word. I looked at the clock and thought ‘OK, they've had a couple of box entries but no real chance on our goal’ - and that was where we needed to improve. Credit to the players for doing that.
“I thought we looked solid for large parts. Disappointed with the goals, like I said before, and we'll work on that. We need to defend our box better in open play.
“But when you've got nine in the box towards the end there. It's a huge, huge challenge. The wind's blowing into the goal and the lads stood up to that. I'm really proud of the players today.
“If we can replicate that application - how many times is it, 33 times? - then we have got a chance. If it was easy, everyone could do it. The war of attrition that you have to do when you travel to Stevenage, you're back early hours of the morning, you have one or two days to prepare, you're on the road, seven hours yesterday, it's not easy.
“But the players today stood up, they puffed their chests out and they were there. They were fighting for every ball, fighting for the badge. And if we do that, I feel like we've got a chance of creating something this season, but not getting carried away with ourselves.
“Those basics need to be applied this time next week against Reading because again we play another team from the top six. The challenges don't get any easier, but that was a nice way to end a tough week.”
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You can watch Tom Cleverley's Cambridge United reaction on Argyle TV, in full, here.
