Nancekivell is pleased with performance by Pilgrims
Coach Kevin Nancekivell thought there were a lot of positives for Plymouth Argyle from their 3-0 Central League victory over Bristol Rovers at Home Park yesterday.
Midfield duo Jamie Ness and Antoni Sarcevic, plus centre-back Niall Canavan, all had solid 70-minute run-outs. That leaves them in contention to feature for the first team in the League One encounter with Burton Albion on Saturday.
Winger Gregg Wylde scored two of the Argyle goals against Rovers, one each in half. Striker Alex Fletcher was also on target as the Pilgrims made it two wins out of two at the start of their 12-game Central League campaign.
Nancekivell told the Plymouth Herald: “I’m really pleased. I thought we dominated the first half from start to finish. I thought the application and the attitude of the boys was first class.
“We scored three good goals and kept a clean-sheet, so it has been a really positive afternoon,” he added.
“Gregg Wylde finished his goals really well and looked lively throughout,” said Nancekivell, who also was pleased with the contributions of Ness, Sarcevic and Canavan before their substitutions.
He explained: “We were delighted with their work-rate and saw no point in taking further chances with them at this stage in their comebacks.”
The one down-side to the afternoon for Argyle were late injuries to first-year professionals Harry Hodges and Cameron Sangster. Right-back Hodges appeared to suffer a hamstring injury while midfielder Sangster had to be helped off after he was caught by a late tackle.
Nancekivell said: “Both had to come off, so we will wait and see what the medical department say with regards to their injuries.”
Canavan, striker Calum Dyson and Hodges all had good chances for Argyle before Wylde opened the scoring in the 29th minute.
Playing on the right side, he cut onto his left foot and fired low into the net following a cross from left-back Ryan Law.
Rovers posed no threat at all in the first half but Argyle goalkeeper Michael Cooper made two excellent saves at the start of the second period. Both were from well-struck shots from midfielder Cameron Hargreaves – the son of Chris Hargreaves, the Pilgrims’ former midfielder, who was is the Pirates’ development coach.
Argyle went 2-0 up in the 55th minute with a fine header from Fletcher after a corner taken by midfielder Conor Grant.
Rovers striker Deon Moore saw a shot rebound off the crossbar before Wylde got his second goal of the game, and Argyle’s third. It came in the 66th minute with a well-placed strike past goalkeeper Adam Smith after he was set up by Sarcevic.
Argyle went on to keep a clean-sheet but it took a couple of superb saves from Cooper in stoppage time to do that. First, he denied Moore on a one-on-one situation and then swooped low to his right to push wide a powerful drive from Hargreaves.
Exeter City were also in Central League action yesterday, when they enjoyed a 7-1 win away to Cheltenham Town. Matt Jay scored four of the Grecians’ goals.