Struggling Swindon suffer flattering 2-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle

League One strugglers Swindon Town offered little room for optimism in their fight against relegation as they fell to a 2-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at the County Ground.

Panutche Camara and Ryan Hardie found the net for the Pilgrims either side of half time but with better finishing the scoreline could have been a lot more comfortable against a Swindon side that failed to really make an impact on the game.

No League One side had picked up fewer points away from home than Argyle going into the game and so this is a game that John Sheridan’s side should have been targeting three points from, but the Robins barely got going and managed just one shot on target all game.

The visitors could have taken the lead with just six minutes on the clock when a corner found Jerome Opoku who headed towards the back post and would have scored had it not been for a clearance off the line from Matt Palmer.

Argyle, as they so often do, had a lot of joy down their left-hand side with Danny Mayor and Conor Grant causing problems for the home defence. Grant was causing problems with his crossing, while Mayor was more direct dribbling in from the wing before playing in someone in the middle.

The duo were utilised on many occasions during the game although the final ball often did not find an Argyle shirt. Hardie and Luke Jephcott were also combining well up front, causing a few problems for the hosts, but many of these were dealt with well.

Midway through the first half Argyle felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Jephcott went down in the box after a push in the back from Town captain Dion Conroy, nothing was given however.

Moments later Mayor won possession in the Swindon half and played through Hardie in the box. It was an excellent chance for the visitors to take the lead but the forward failed to get a shot away before Conroy got a tackle in.

Ryan Lowe’s side were frequently getting into good areas and it felt like a goal was coming, Swindon meanwhile were offering no real attacking threat and while the score was level the game was very much one sided.

With ten minutes to play in the first half Argyle finally took the lead. Grant crossed in from the left finding Camara in acres of space in the box, the midfielder’s touch was poor, but he had so much space that he had time to swivel and shoot into the corner of the net before anyone was able to close him down.

Camara has found something of a purple patch in front of goal in recent weeks, often scoring after a cross from the left-hand side finds him arriving around the far post, but despite him making a habit of it Swindon did little to stop Camara from scoring his fifth goal of the season.

After the break Jephcott and Joe Edwards both had early opportunities to double the lead though neither were able to find the net with their efforts.

Swindon looked to have created a good opportunity in the 52nd minute when awarded a free-kick just outside the box. Argyle set up a substantial wall which looked to deny Dominic Thompson, but the wall was not called into action with the free-kick instead finding the top of the stand behind the goal.

Argyle continued to push for a second goal but attack after attack and corner after corner all came without the Pilgrims managing to score.

Swindon came close to an equaliser with their only shot on target of the match. Diallang Jaiyesimi fired a fierce effort at goal which Michael Cooper did well to turn behind for a Swindon corner.

From that corner Argyle broke away on a counter with Camara. It looked like the chance had been wasted when he didn’t release Edwards down the left who would have been through on goal, but Hardie picked up the ball in the middle instead and surged through himself before sliding the ball past Mark Travers to make it 2-0.

The goal was nothing less than Argyle deserved having been in almost total control of the game despite not being at their best.

The scoreline could have increased in the latter stages too, with Hardie and Niall Ennis both coming close and Mayor having a goal ruled out for offside.

Centre-back Will Aimson nearly made it 3-0 with an effort from 35-yards that went just wide in the closing stages, and a third goal would not have been harsh on the hosts who struggled to make any impact on the game, and who need to play an awful lot better if they are to avoid an immediate return to League Two.

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