Notts County 0 Argyle 2: Match report

IF Reuben Reid's two goals against Notts County were given pet names, they might be christened Smash and Grab.

Grab would be the opener that Reid scored in the first half, turning smartly from his marker and firing into the corner, whereas his brother Smash would be named aptly as it smashed the hopes of a County side that controlled large swathes of the game without being able to score.

image: http://www.pafc.co.uk/cms_images/jake-jervis-county-4x386-2738979.png
Jake Jervis County 4x3

The pre-match focus was on how many of the three players that missed out on Argyle's 2-0 midweek Johnstone's Paint Trophy win over Exeter would make the starting 11 at Meadow Lane. The answer, we soon found out, was one; Gary Sawyer was recalled in favour of Ben Purrington at left-back. Sawyer had missed the Grecians tie because of suspension, along with Carl McHugh, but the latter had to settle for a place on the bench on his return.

Graham Carey, the Sky Bet League 2 PFA Fans' Player of the Month for September, was also back in contention following an injury that put him out of the Devon Derby, and came back via the subs bench.

County's line-up, similar to Exeter on Tuesday, employed a holding midfielder - Stanley Aborah - with the express purpose of covering Argyle's 'floating' forward. Both County and City may have expected it to be Carey, but Craig Tanner remained there after a superb shift on Tuesday night.

This meant the sides were fairly matched up, and so the first 18 minutes went by with very little incident. County midfielder Graham Burke managed on a couple of occasions to find space just outside the area, but hit one shot straight at Luke McCormick and the second onto the roof of the net. At the other end, Argyle's best moment saw Gregg Wylde commit defenders and cut inside, but his right-footed shot was well wide.

On 18 minutes, this all changed. A long punt downfield was brought down well by Reid, and what followed was out of the textbook entitled 'Being a Number Nine'. He controlled the ball, took advantage of how tight his marker was, and spun away from him. Reaching the edge of the box, Reid shot low to Scott Loach's right, and into the corner of the net.

image: http://www.pafc.co.uk/cms_images/reuben-reid-county-goal-2-16x986-273898...
Reuben Reid County goal 2 16x9

Conceding a goal rather woke County up, and they rattled a post when full-back Elliott Hewitt got to the bye-line and cut back for Burke, whose reactionary effort rattled an upright. Peter Hartley hooked away before any danger could immediately follow.

More pressure certainly followed, though. Few of County's attacks led to distinct chances, until on the half hour former Manchester United and England man Alan Smith had a deflected long-range effort superbly tipped over by McCormick.

County's newly-found dominance did not go unnoticed on the Argyle bench, and Derek Adams made an early change to attempt to combat it. Wylde was replaced by McHugh, and Argyle's midfield inverted to essentially match County's 4-1-4-1 shape.

The home continued to have the upper hand in all matters bar the most important - the score - until the half-time whistle blew, and they had chances to equalise that were squandered. Chief culprit was Liam Noble, who was well placed to head at goal when picked out by Adam Campbell following a mistake by Hiram Boateng, but barely got any contact at all on the cross.