‘TYPICAL’ ARGYLE LEAVE IT LATE
DEREK Adams felt it was a typical Plymouth Argyle performance after his side left it very late to remain top of the League Two table thanks to a 2-1 win at Luton. The visitors had taken the lead after a quarter of an hour, through Carl McHugh, only for Josh McQuoid to level things up for the Hatters on 76 minutes.
But Pilgrims striker Ryan Brunt netted in stoppage time with his first league goal of the season after Luton had been reduced to ten men, when home sub Ryan Hall was shown a second yellow.
Adams said: “We did ever so well for long periods of the game, but to finish the way we did was typical Plymouth Argyle. We’ve shown a great determination to go and win a football match, and that’s what you get, you get the rewards.
“They were pressing and they were always going to that, they’re at home, with the fans behind them.
“They were going to put us under pressure, but I thought the first half we were excellent, caused Luton a lot of problems but in the second half they’re always going to do something different.
“We tried to get players forward and you’ve got to try and deal with that.We dealt with it, they conceded a goal and then after that we pushed forward to get the winner.”
Argyle went in front on 15 minutes when Craig Tanner’s delivery was flicked into the net by the head of McHugh.
Tanner’s long-range attempt was then fumbled away by Mark Tyler, while Luton’s best chance saw Jack Marriott’s close-range cross shot parried by the legs of Luke McCormick.
Hatters stopper Tyler blocked another Tanner attempt and Hiram Boateng lofted the rebound disappointingly over the top. Luke Guttridge’s swerving attempt was held by McCormick, before Tyler made a great save to deny Graham Carey on the stroke of half time.
In the second period, the hosts’ Cameron McGeehan headed narrowly wide from a deep cross, while Nathan Doyle’s long ranger was scrambled away by McCormick.
The Hatters were level on 76 minutes when McGeehan’s shot was well saved by McCormick only for McQuoid to nod the rebound over the line from a matter of yards.
Luton were reduced to ten men with five minutes to go when sub Ryan Hall was dismissed for his second booking in the space of 60 seconds, when kicking the ball away.
That saw Plymouth make the most of their numerical advantage, as Brunt, who had a short stay with Luton on loan earlier in his career, applied a close-range finish to win it.
Luton boss John Still said: “I thought first half they might have the slight edge but there was not a lot in it and the second half we were terrific.
“After the red card, we pushed the full backs on, we tried to win it, we were positive, did everything we could to try and win it and we got beat. And you know what, I don’t care, as we did everything right. We’ve played really well, the boys are very disappointed, but they’ve no need to be.”