Keeper claims first shut-out
Scott Davies believes Town’s rock-solid defence ‘broke Plymouth fans hearts’ as he kept his first clean sheet of the season at Home Park.
The Fleetwood goalkeeper was barely tested in the 2-0 victory against Argyle as his back four held firm for the full 90 minutes - much to the frustration of the home support.
David Ball snatched the win inside 12 minutes with two superb strikes, and Davies was delighted to leave the West Country with all three points.
“It’s exactly what we wanted (three points and a clean sheet),” said Davies.
“The long trips are never nice, so to come away with three points is a reward for the hard work we’ve put in during training.
“I think we broke Plymouth fans’ hearts in the second half, and that’s all down to the professionalism we showed to get our first clean sheet this season.
“The lads applied themselves to their jobs, and every man was on the ball.”
Saturday’s shutout followed a 3-2 defeat in the Capital One Cup at Notts County last Wednesday, as Graham Alexander named the same back four that started at Meadow Lane.
The new-look defence is made up entirely of Alexander’s summer signings, but Davies insists they have settled quickly as the League Two season gets underway.
According to Davies: “The defensive players have worked a lot together on the training pitch and, from the first few games, it looks promising.
“We were disappointed not to get anything from the game on Wednesday night (against Notts County), but we’ve showed the character that we’ve got in the squad this year, bounced back and put in a really good team performance.
“We’ll continue to work hard, and it’s not just the players that are playing at the moment because there are very good players waiting in the wings as well.
“No matter who plays in that back four, we all work together as a squad on the training pitch and hopefully we’ll get the rewards on a Saturday.”
The only disappointing moment for the Cod Army in Plymouth was the unfortunate blowout of a tyre on the away supporters coach.
Many of the 90 travelling fans missed both of David Ball’s early strikes before arriving at the ground, and Davies has offered his sympathy following the occurrence.
“It’s sad for the fans after they make such an effort to come all this way, so our hearts go out to them,” added Davies.
“But they certainly did make themselves heard when they got there.”