Third round replay in the FA Cup, can Plymouth Argyle make
an upset against League One opposition Port Vale at Home Park, surely not.
Is it really to early to start to believe?
Argyle will go into the fixture on Tuesday evening unbeaten
in six games in all competitions, two defeats in 17 for the team that sit
eleventh in League Two. The visitors to Home Park, Port Vale have not won in
their last three fixtures. The last
three points they gained was a 2-0 triumph at home to Rotherham United in the
last game of 2013.
To get this far in the cup, the clubs have to get pass the
test of the first and second rounds. The
Pilgrims travelled to Skrill Premier Side Lincoln whilst Port Vale made the
trip to Shortwood United in Gloucestershire, they were through to the next
round winning 4-0. Argyle were to have a
replay at Home Park as the full time result was 0-0. Reuben Reid helped the Devon side, winning
5-0, scoring a hat-trick in the process.
Through to the second round, both teams were at home Argyle to Welling
United and Vale to Salisbury City. Plymouth
came away 3-1 winners, Vale won also, 4-1 was the full time score.
Before the replay was confirmed that Vale were to make the
trip to Plymouth, players, management and supporters of Argyle were to make the
trip to Stoke on Trent on a Sunday, the date Sunday 5th January
2014. The day was confirmed of a flick
of a coin as Stoke City a Premier League Club was pulled out the hat first to
play Leicester City at the Britannia Stadium on the Saturday also. Just less than 600 members of the green army
made the near 500 mile round trip to Vale Park.
The fans were sure to see a very entertaining game. The home side were the first to make the
break through just over 15 minutes gone.
Gavin Tomlin headed home from a Jermaine Myrie-Williams free kick. Just before the half time whistle Port Vale
had doubled their lead, leading goal scorer Tom Pope also using his head scored
following a cross from Doug Croft. Much
of the visiting fans would have felt hard done by for falling behind as they
saw Argyle dominate much of the first half proceedings. Second half was underway and Plymouth had
started of the better to the two sides.
Their hard work was soon awarded when Reuben Reid slotted home from
close range from a Lewis Alessandra cross.
Game on. Argyle was pushing for
an equalizer. Under 20 minutes from full
time Ben Purrington scored his first professional and Argyles second goal of
the afternoon. The fans were really
starting to believe what could be… Plymouth were inches away from winning the tie
as Andres Gurrieri was unfortunate that his long range shot from outside the
area rebounded of the post.
Signed from Premier League club Crystal Palace on an 18 month
contract, Jason Banton will be unavailable for selection to John Sheridan on
the evening due to being cup-tied.
Opting to join MK Dons, a League One club, in the summer of the last
year instead of the Pilgrims, Palace gave permission for Jason Banton to
participate in the FA Cup. Due to the
rules a player can only play for one club in the FA Cup in that season. This rule will force manager John Sheridan
into a tactical change. The most likely
player to replace Banton is Nathan Thomas; the speedy winger came on in the 80th
minute for the player in the 1-1 draw home to Southend United on Saturday. Another change Sheridan may opt for in the
replay is to switch the goalkeepers.
Jake Cole has been the cup goalkeeper whilst McCormick has been the
league goalkeeper this season. Youth player Ryan Lane will be unavailable due
to undergoing a knee operation in the New Year. Lane has only appeared in one
game this season and that was a pre-season game at Home Park. As for Port Vale defender Jack Grimmer who is
on –loan from Fulham has not been given permission to play in the FA Cup by his
parent club. Chris Robinson and Carl
Dickinson both defenders are also expected to come back into the team for the
trip to Devon.
Available: Luke
McCormick, Jake Cole, Maxime Blanchard, Guy Branston, Paul Wotton, Durrell Berry, Curtis Nelson, Neal
Trotman, Andre Blackman, Ben Purrington, Jamie Richards, Andres Gurrieri, Luke
Young, Dominic Blizzard, Conor Hourihane, Nathan Thomas, Rommy Boco, Rueben
Reid, Lewis Alessandra, Isaac Vassell,
Unavailable:
Jason Banton (cup-tied), Ryan Lane (knee injury), Matt LeCointe (knee injury),
Tyler Harvey (cuptied)
No comments:
Post a Comment