Match preview: Plymouth Argyle (A)

17 February 2023

Fleetwood Town take on high-flying Plymouth Argyle at Home Park on Saturday afternoon, and we have all you need to know ahead of the 3pm kick-off in our match preview.

Fixture: Plymouth Argyle v Fleetwood Town

Competition: Sky Bet League One

Date: Saturday 18 February 2023

Kick-off: 15:00

Venue: Home Park

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FLEETWOOD TOWN

The Cod Army come into this game on the back three wins on the bounce in all competitions, starting off with a win in the Emirates FA Cup against fellow League One side, Sheffield Wednesday. Last Saturday, goals from Shaun Rooney and a first senior goal for Harrison Holgate saw the Cod Army beat Charlton Athletic 2-1 at The Valley.

In midweek, Town picked up all three points in their 1-0 victory over Peterborough United. Promise Omochere scored his fifth of the season after January signing Phoenix Patterson crossed the ball onto a sixth pence to the former Bohemian forward to nod home from 10 yards out.

Scott Brown's side have put some distance between themselves and the bottom four, but this weekend will be a test for the boys in red and white as they look to mix it with one of the league's favourites for promotion. After great performances against Posh, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich, there will be confidence within the camp.

Supporters who can't make it down to Devon on Saturday can watch it in full on the club's iFollow page!

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

Plymouth currently sit top of the league standings after 31 games played, picking up 67 points in the process. In their last game, Argyle beats Oxford United 3-1 away from home. Matt Butcher, Ryan Hardie and Saxon Earley were on the scoresheet at the Kassam Stadium to ensure they went top with Wednesday dropping points.

In the last match at Home Park, the Green Army picked up all three points in a 3-1 win over Portsmouth. Sam Cosgrove, Finn Azaz and Ryan Hardie were those who put the ball in the back of the net to extend their home run to six games - with Port Vale the last team to beat them on home soil.

They have won 24 matches in all competitions this season, and the atmosphere within the camp is strong and they will be looking to keep momentum after recent results. Will Town be the side to cause an upset on the road? We will find out come 5pm on Saturday afternoon.

WHAT SCOTT BROWN HAD TO SAY BEFORE THE MATCH

“We need to make sure we keep going as we’ve won two league games in a row and we want to push further up the league as we’re currently in 17^th place. It will be a hard task on Saturday because Steven [Schumacher] has got them playing well as there’s a reason why they are fighting for the automatic promotion spots this season.

“Their home form is extremely good and it always going to be a hard place to go, especially when you’ve got a long trip ahead of you. We got one over them very early on in the season and were even looking at some of the same players them in the window – we know that it’s a great stadium which will be full of a very supportive fan base, but we’re going to give everything down there.

“The lads want to dig deep and win games, as you saw in the Burton game, it was the worst I’ve seen us play since I got here, and the lads had to take responsibility of the performance. Small decisions make those games and we’ve made changes since then to amend those and those have led to good offensive and defensive performances both away and at home"

iFOLLOW DETAILS

Fleetwood Town take on Plymouth Argyle this Saturday at Home Park and you can keep up to date with all the action on the Club’s iFollow!

On the day of the game, there will be two matchday packages available for both overseas and, one for UK-based supporters - buy your iFollow pass here!

Video Match Pass - £10 (Overseas only)

Audio Match Pass - £2.50 (U.K and Overseas)

Those who choose the Audio Match Pass option will get access to just the commentary, which will be provided by our partners, BBC Radio Lancashire. Season passes are available with audio passes for only £45 for the season, for all UK-based members of the Cod Army!

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Town pick up a point and keep a clean sheet in Plymouth

18 February 2023

Fleetwood Town secured a good point on the road on Saturday afternoon as they kept a clean sheet against top of the league Plymouth Argyle at Home Park.

In a game that saw both sides create gilt-edged chances, it was destiny that it would end goalless. Substitute Niall Ennis will be ruing his missed opportunity in the second half, and the same goes for Jack Marriott as his effort on the hour mark flew past the near post.

It was a quick start to the game as the Cods had two attempts to break the deadlock within the first 10 minutes. The first game was from a Scott Robertson corner as he found Shaun Rooney, but had his shot blocked, and then Marriott worked a yard of space before firing into a crowd of defenders.

Soon after, the hosts had a chance of their own as Nigel Lonwijk played through Ryan Hardie and after he cut back on himself to work an angle on goal, he fired his shot just wide of Jay Lynch’s near post.

The Cods had unfortunate news after this as Robertson had to leave the field due to an injury and this seemed to spur the hosts on as Brendan Wiredu had to pull off a brilliant last-ditch challenge to stop their counter-attack through Callum Wright.

Before the break, Town did create a couple more opportunities as Josh Vela tried his luck with a 25-yard volley after Mendes Gomes’ corner was cleared 25 minutes in, but that went well over the bar. Marriott then looked to be in, but Callum Burton did well to come out and smother the ball and stop the forward from striking the ball towards his goal.

It was brilliant defending from Wiredu in added time ahead of the end of the half as Macauley Gillesphey found Tyreik Wright on the left, who played a low-cross in towards Finn Azaz, and it was Town’s number four who threw himself in the way to block his effort from close range.

Scott Brown would have been happy with how his side started the second half as they were on the front foot until the hour mark with Mendes Gomes firing on goal from range, then Wiredu heading a corner towards goal and another chance from Town’s number seven all coming in quick succession.

A gilt-edged showed itself 60 minutes in and fell for Marriott as a long ball over the top was brought down well by the Fleetwood forward and he then lined up a powerful effort looking to trouble Burton between the Plymouth sticks, but the chance went amiss as it flew past the near post.

It was a brilliant chance to take the lead for the Cods in the 79^th minute as substitute Cian Hayes brought the ball down the right and teed up captain Josh Vela on his return to the side, but it wasn’t the strike he would have dreamed of as the left-footed effort went wide of the mark.

Straight down the other end, the hosts thought they had done enough to beat Lynch and open the scoring as substitute Sam Cosgrove played a low cross into the feet of fellow sub-Ennis who strikes the ball just wide of the near post.

As it happened in the first half, the hosts piled the pressure on at the end of the game as Bali Mumba struck the ball towards goal and forced Lynch into a save at full-stretch before Matt Butcher curled a shot looking for the top-left, which went high and wide of the mark.

Argyle XI: Burton (GK), Gillesphey, Houghton (Butcher 80'), Wilson, Edwards (C) (Ennis 70’), Hardie (Mumba 70’), Azaz (Miller 58'), Lonwijk, C.Wright, Matete, T.Wright (Cosgrove 58').

Unused subs: Parkes (GK), Bolton.

Town XI: Lynch (GK), Wiredu, Mendes Gomes (Hayes 66’), Vela (C), Stockley, Robertson (Macadam 21’), Marriott (Stockley 66’), Warrington, Holgate, Nsiala, Rooney.

Unused subs: McMullan (GK), Johnson, Dolan, Patterson.

Match Reports

Ticket News

Book yourself onto the coach for the trip to Plymouth

16 February 2023

Fleetwood Town will make the trip to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday 18 February, and you can be there for as little as £29 if you are an adult with an Onward Card.

Following three wins in the space of seven days, there's a huge buzz around the club and we want to see as many of you as possible down at Plymouth for the Sky Bet League One clash at Home Park.

The Cod Army have been allocated seats in The Kawaski Barn Park End, with ticket prices as follows:

Adults: £24, Seniors (65+): £19, Under-23s: £14, Under-18s: £9, Under-12s: £6, Under-8s: £2

Coaches will be departing Highbury Stadium at 5:30am, costing only £5 for all Onward Card Holders and £15 for Non-Onward Card Holders.

If you need any more information regarding tickets, travel, or club merchandise, you can contact the ticket office by calling 01253 775080. Click HERE to buy your tickets online!