Match report of this afternoon's home defeat in the clash against West Bromwich Albion
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West Bromwich Albion continued their march back to the Premier League with a tidy, but hard-fought 1-0 victory at Plymouth Argyle.
Recalled striker Simon Cox rounded off a fine team move in the 66th minute to claim the only goal of a match played on a boggy surface that made good football impossible.
Graham Dorrans wasted the chance of rubber-stamping the three points late on, when his penalty - given for a foul on Luke Moore by David McNamee - was well saved by David Stockdale.
West Brom started the game at a great lick, with Chris Brunt firing a shot into the sidenetting inside the first minute, but the home side rode the blows and responded well.
Republic of Ireland Under-21 international captain Alan Judge was particularly in the thick of things and should have scored after being played in by Rory Fallon but failed to hit the target.
The quick-breaking Baggies looked to their five-man midfield to find lone striker Roman Bednar, and the tactic nearly paid dividends towards the interval.
The big Czech showed good skills for a man of his size after receiving Brunt's pass wide on the left. Cutting in, he easily had the beating of Argyle defenders Kari Arnason and Reda Johnson, but was thwarted by Stockdale.
The Pilgrims came close to taking the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, when Jamie Mackie fired over following Arnason's long throw.
Albion's frustration boiled over soon after and Joe Mattock was lucky to stay on the field after a horrible challenge on Argyle debutant Damien Johnson.
The Pilgrims brought on another debutant, USA international striker Kenny Cooper, who sent a dipping free-kick close before Cox broke the deadlock, firing home from close range after Bednar had played him in from Jerome Thomas' cross.
The goal knocked the wind out of the home side and Albion were relatively untroubled as they closed out the game, even allowing themselves the luxury of missing a penalty by Dorrans, who had previously netted four spot-kicks in four games. |
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