New boy Remi off to a flyer for Argyle

WIMBLEDON’S hopes of a nine-point week were ended by Plymouth, whose debutant goalkeeper kept a clean sheet in a narrow win.

And Derek Adams was full of praise for Remi Matthews, who trained once with the side after being signed on emergency loan from Norwich on Friday.:

“Remi was excellent, he’s got very good hands, he’s a good kicker, he talks and is composed,” said Adams.

“I’ve watched him before and was very impressed and delighted to get him on board.”

Neither keeper was tested in an even first half, with the blustery conditions favouring the away side. It was the second half that Neal Ardley blamed for the loss: “In the second half, we dropped our tempo too much and we couldn’t get out.

“We’ve had 18 attempts on goal, but we said they’ll try and catch us on the break and we’re frustrated because I wanted them to up the tempo and they slowed it.

“We’ve caused ourselves a problem in the 20 minutes after halftime. Other than that, I thought there were lots of positives.”

The only goal was Joel Grant’s first for the club. Graham Carey cut inside, slaloming through two Wimbledon players before sliding the ball in for Grant, who beat the advancing George Long and netted off the underside of the bar.

Adams was happy that his attacker’s work paid off saying: “I’ve been on at Joel that he needs to add goals to his game and he’s been in good areas.

“We’ve seen that he can score and it was outstanding from Graham Carey to pick him out.”

Wimbledon increased their urgency, with Cody McDonald going close with a header and Harry Forrester forcing an acrobatic tip over from Plymouth’s new goalkeeper who is likely to be with the side for a while.

Adams was pleased that his side’s performance generated a reward. He added: “I think our performance levels have been good without the results. We’ve set our stall out and the players showed some fantastic team spirit and quality. It’s given us a good victory.”

Ardley, meanwhile, was left wondering what might have been.

He said: “We have to go again. We wanted a nine-point week after two good performances, but we’ve been suckerpunched despite our performance.

“I still think we’re a decent enough team and we’re competitive in this league but we’re disappointed.

“They’ve done a great job on us.”