Manchester City 1 Plymouth Argyle 2
Highgate Stadium
27/04/2014
On an historic day, Plymouth Argyle London Branch were promoted to the first division after a 20 year absence following a hard fought 2-1 victory over Manchester City. It was an incredibly nervy and action packed game which saw the Pilgrims refuse to give up when they were staring down the barrel of a fourth consecutive defeat which would have agonisingly seen them miss out on promotion.
Both teams set out with an attacking line-up and this led to an open game with the Pilgrims carrying the greater goal threat throughout but being unable to convert their chances until late into the second half.
A deserved victory for the Greens capped a wonderful season for Argyle and the long suffering PASALB fans can finally look forward to top flight football after two decades in the wilderness.
The Pilgrims lined up in their attacking 3-5-2 formation knowing realistically that only victory would suffice as the 3 other teams competing for the last promotion spot were unlikely to slip up. The Pilgrims welcomed back their dependable custodian Trevor Langworth from international duty and started with a formidable back three of Dan Stopher, Dave Brown and Dave Ranki. Luke Hildyard, Jon Grail and George Burnard supplied the creativity and support in central midfield with Matt Prout (right) and Robin Preston(left) providing support on the flanks. The 2 Tom partnership of Christmas and Watkins were reunited in attack in what was a strong line-up for the Pilgrims.
Manchester City also knew that a victory could see them promoted if other results went their way and they also named an attacking line-up with 3 men up front. The attacking intent from both sides meant that there were numerous chances right from kick off as both defences struggled to cope with the extra man pouring forward.
City fashioned several half chances with Langworth saving well on two occasions as PASALB started in a nervy fashion with the weight of expectation weighing heavily on the shoulders of some of the players. The Pilgrims were having problems coping with the City's attacking line-up and decided to switch to a more conventional 4-4-2. This settled the Greens and they started to get a hold on the game with an increased amount of possession. Argyle looked much more comfortable in this formation and started to create chances of their own. Watkins was sent through twice in quick succession but could only fire wide on both occasions. Grail then fed Prout who set up Hildyard with a pinpoint cross from right to left but Luke's first time effort was volleyed wide. Preston, Hildyard and Burnard then combined to send Watkins scampering down the left, his cutback found Christmas in space but his first time effort was skewed wide. Watkins was then through again one on one but the keeper saved bravely at his feet.
Despite the number of chances at both ends it was still a nervy affair with several misplaced passes and poor touches from both sides. It was from one such mistake that led to the Pilgrims falling behind in controversial circumstances. The Pilgrims gave the ball away in midfield and as the ball was played through to the tall City striker, Dave Brown challenged for the ball in the area. As both players clashed and play continued the referee suddenly decided to award a spot kick after vociferous protests from the City players. The penalty was expertly dispatched in the bottom corner despite Trevor's best efforts.
With the Pilgrims 1-0 down at half time the PASALB boys used the break to good effect. Several players mentioned how PASALB's best chances had occurred when they brought the ball down and got their renowned passing game up and running. Far from being despondent it was evident to see how much this meant to the players and how they were now playing for the whole season in the next 45mins. There were several positive, rousing half-time speeches and it was clear that no-one wanted to leave anything out on the pitch at the end of the game.
Fired up, the Pilgrims were quickly out of the blocks and started to crank up their passing game to good effect. Dave Brown's long throws and Matt Prout's corners also started to cause havoc in the City defence but the ball would simply not drop to a green shirt in the area. Burnard had two half chances cleared from an City defence that was under an increasing amount of pressure but marshalled well by their keeper.
Finally it looked like the Pilgrims would score as Christmas was sent clear with just the keeper to beat, as he shaped to shoot he was crudely brought down by a wild challenge from behind by the last defender and the referee pointed immediately to the spot. Incredibly not even a yellow card was shown although to be fair to the referee he was very consistent throughout and let the game flow. With Argyle's regular penalty taker away on a management training camp with LA Galaxy the Pilgrims realised that no replacement spot kick specialist had been elected. As volunteers were requested Preston strode forward to take the penalty. His spot kick was saved by the City keeper but incredibly the referee asked for the kick to be retaken for obvious encroachment by the City players. Preston struck the penalty again in the same spot with the same result as the keeper pulled off another save and the ball was cleared. It really seemed at that point that it was not going to be the Pilgrims day. This was seemingly confirmed minutes later when an excellent cross from Prout saw Hildyard head wide with the goal at his mercy. Hildyard had another effort saved moments later as the keeper could only parry a fierce shot up into the air and the ball was cleared by a thankful City defence.
At this stage the Pilgrims went up another gear and refused to believe that defeat was their destiny. They poured forward in search of the equaliser and were soon awarded another spot kick with 25mins to go. This time another cross into the box was handled by the desperate City defender. Watkins assumed responsibility and subsequently slammed home the equaliser from a short run-up. This spurred the Greens on and now there only looked like one winner. However numerous half chances went begging for Argyle and City began to look dangerous on the counter attack. The PASALB defence held firm and restricted City to a handful of half-chances that were dealt with comfortably by Trevor.
It was left to Luke Hildyard to grab the glory for the Pilgrims and score the goal that sent the Greens back to the topflight. In another good move down the left flank involving Preston, Burnard, Christmas and Watkins, Hildyard burst through from midfield leaving the defenders furiously back pedalling. He sped into the area before curling home beyond the onrushing keeper to send the green hordes into raptures.
There was still 10mins to go and City now pressed forward in a do or die effort, a series of free-kicks just outside the Pilgrims area led to some nervy moments with one free-kick in particular from the City burly number nine taking a dangerous deflection and looping just over the Argyle crossbar. As City started to knock long balls forward the PASALB defence held firm as it had done so many times before this season. Brown, Ranki, Stopher and Preston headed and cleared away attack after attack with admirable support from the midfield. One final City free-kick saw Langworth fly across his goal to push the ball away. It was one of the few shots on goal for City in the second half and would have been a cruel end to a magnificent season for the Pilgrims. The referee's whistle finally blew and Argyle celebrated a famous victory. Despite subsequently beating the recent champions, Bristol City were unable to overcome Argyle's superior goal difference and promotion was assured. Luke Hildyard deservedly won the man of the match award for his attacking performance and crucial goal. There were also deserved nominations George Burnard who was the source of many of Pilgrims most creative moments and Dan Stopher who marshalled the defence to great effect and stood firm throughout. However it was a great performance by all and resulted in a well deserved victory.
It has been a long season and after an inauspicious start to the campaign (1 point and -8 goal difference after 3 games) The Pilgrims then went on a long unbeaten run including important victories over their promotion rivals (Bristol City 5-1, Blackburn 4-0 and 2-0, Man City 3-1). It should also not be forgotten that the Pilgrims were promoted on goal difference and it was these games as well as against Shamrock (6-1) and Exeter (6-0 and 4-0) that helped push the Pilgrims over the line. It really was a squad achievement this year and anyone that has proudly pulled on the green shirt of PASALB deserves special thanks for making this season such a special one.
It would be churlish to highlight one moment that secured promotion for PASALB as each point won this season was equally crucial. We can also highlight the two victories against first division clubs in the cups that should stand PASALB in good stead for next season.
However one can't help but look back to the match against the eventual champions Middlesbrough. The Pilgrims were trailing the best team in the division 2-1 with 5 minutes to go before dramatically turning the game around and running out 3-2 winners. Their never say die attitude provided a neat parallel experience with the final game with Man City, it was perhaps the Middlesbrough victory that helped spur them on in Highgate. Each and every one of the Plymouth Argyle players looked and played as if they were going to win despite being behind in the game for so long.
'We are Plymouth Argyle, we are back from the dead'
