Argyle on the march

ARGYLE recorded their fourth win from five away games this season - and exorcised a significant demon - with a battling win against a very good Wycombe side.

Some 121 days since a losing effort at Adams Park in the play-off semi final put an end to Argyle's 2014-15 season, the Pilgrims returned to win a fiercely contested game by the odd goal, in a match that was a credit to the division.

Reuben Reid's early goal and Jake Jervis' somewhat fortunate effort sandwiched an inevitable Jason Banton strike, to give Argyle a 2-1 lead to which held on to for a nerve-wracking hour-and-a-bit. Both sides had chances galore in the game, and Wycombe played plenty of eye-catching football - in fact, Argyle should take great heart from playing a very good outfit and beating them in this manner - the first side to do so this season.

For a brief period in the afternoon, Argyle led the division, when Leyton Orient were losing at Cambridge, and although the O's recovery for a point means Argyle are not at the summit quite yet, a fifth victory from seven games is certainly the most important matter right now.

There were plenty of notable inclusions and exclusions when the teamsheets were presented an hour before kick-off, not least when bringing into account historical precedent. For Argyle, Reuben Reid was returning to the starting line-up having limped off early in the game at Northampton three weeks ago, and been absent since. Reid, of course, was selected to play despite being less than 100% fit when Wycombe beat Argyle over two emotional legs of the Sky Bet League 2 play-offs last season, so this was a fitting venue for him to return to action.

As for the home team, they were missing a number of key players from that brace of play-off encounters; mainly down to those players no longer being asscoiated with the Chairboys, but there was one notable exception to this. Paul Hayes, a former Argyle loanee, was a menace to the Pilgrims last season, scoring three almost identical goals in separate games, and being a general nuisance to his old side. This time round, though, he missed out because of injury.