Barnstaple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Okehampton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
ARGYLE travelled to the bottom club Barnstaple on Saturday, looking to strengthen their position in the league.
The young Steve Williams returned in attack for Okehampton and his tireless running was evident through out a dour first period, in which neither side took full advantage of either sides' inability to keep possession.
Adam Mortimer and Lee Carey had long range shots which were well wide, and argyle's midfield struggled to keep pace with Barnstaple's young side, who were full of running.
After the break Barnstaple opened the scoring after only five minutes, when a long punt up field was allowed to sail across the box, for it to find a Barnstaple attacker unmarked at the far post, who coolly tapped the ball home.
Argyle did not respond to this, and slowly they began to be out run and out fought in a game they basically lost at this point.
The introduction of Danny Maddax wide on the left, provided some ammunition to Argyle's forwards, who were feeding off scraps for most of the match.
Ian King provided some fight in midfield late on and he combined well with Danny Maddax to set up Adam Mortimer, who in the last 10 minutes had several one on ones and failed to hit the target on each occasion.
In the dying moments of a very poor performance by Argyle, their fate was sealed when they conceded a late second goal which to Barnstaple's credit they fully deserved.
This Saturday Argyle are away again to Sidmouth in the league ko 3pm.
Okehampton Cup
Okehampton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Newton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
ARGYLE entertained lowly Newtown in their first outing in this year's Okehampton Cup, and they started where they left off against Barnstaple the previous day by giving another poor performance.
Nic Pollard opened the scoring early on after good work by Neil Agnew. Nic charged through their defence and hit a rasping left foot volley.
This did not settle Argyle, who had plenty of possession but failed to keep hold of the ball in defence.
Graham Soby marshalled the defence with authority, ablely assisted by Kevin Gill and Michael Vernon.
Danny Maddax, provided well on the left but again the final ball became Argyle's downfall, as they failed to capitalise on their poor opponents' recent league form.
Just before the break Danny Maddax and Neil Agnew combined well on the left with the latters cross shot finding the top corner of the net.
But again there was no urgency or passion in Argyle's play, and the rest of the half just dwindled away.
After the break Newtown looked the brighter of the two teams in the first period of the second half but they failed to breach a well drilled back three.
With the introduction of Neil Vernon and Stuart Cann, Argyle gained a little momentum, but woeful shooting again let Argyle down.
Adam Mortimer scored the third goal after he had rounded the keeper, but he failed to add to his tally despite some clear cut chances.
Tired legs were to blame for a dull final period in which neither team really tried, but the win gives Argyle another home tie against Witheridge 2nd eleven.