A hard fought win for Plymouth Argyle saw the Greens defeat table toppers Forest Green Rovers and climb back into the top-half.

The game was not without an aspect of fortune: the hosts missing a guilt edged chance in the second after Antoni Sarcevic’s deflected opener. By and large though, it was a well managed counter attacking win and a good rearguard effort restricting the hosts to few chances

Alex Palmer, GK – 7

In truth, Palmer wasn’t tested many times in terms of shot stopping. It was an Argyle rear-guard display that led to only one clear shot at goal for the hosts.

Palmer was largely solid with cross collection and distribution albeit there were a couple of shots spilled that could have done with better handling

Scott Wootton, CB – 8, player of the match

A commanding performance from the centre back, who takes the award for his second week in a row. His heading, often a weak area, was dominant and his use of the ball was clever more often than not.

Niall Canavan, CB – 7

Not a flawless performance, with what looked like a couple of lapses in concentration but he did enough to make up for it. He showed his typical composure on the ball and won more headers than he lost.

Gary Sawyer, CB – 7

A testing afternoon for Sawyer as Forest Green looked to play it down their right side a lot, especially in the second half. He was turned on a couple of occasions but generally rose to the challenge well, letting little past him.

Josh Grant, DM – 7

A tale of two halves for Grant. His second half performance wasn’t bad by any means but there were occasions when he sat a bit too deep and invited the hosts onto the defence.

However, his first half performance was sublime. He picked up numerous loose balls and fed the ball through well to our attacking midfielders. He’s made the defensive midfield role his own for now.

Joe Edwards, RWB – 7

Another solid performance from Edwards in the wing-back role. He hardly let anything past his from a defensive standpoint.

He doesn’t offer as much as McFadzean going forward but he did well in a testing situation when he was moved to LWB after an injury to McFadzean

Antoni Sarcevic, CM – 7

Like Josh Grant, an excellent and industrious first half display from the Mancunian who topped it off with a fantastic goal as well as some good runs. He was much less involved in the second half and didn’t take care of the ball as well as he might have done.

Danny Mayor, CM – 6

Mayor started the game like a rocket, often showing for the ball. He was also involved in a good set piece routine with Sarcevic that led to the goal. He did quieten down though after that point and whilst not bad, was a little wasteful with the ball in places.

Callum McFadzean, LWB – 7

He was only on for a half due to an injury which will perhaps concern Argyle fans. His half was good though, make no mistake. He linked up well with Mayor and Moore as well as offering defensive solidity.

Byron Moore, ST – 7

A lot of what he does will resonate well with Argyle fans. He chases and harries defenders and can seemingly do so all day long. As well as his lungs appearing to be made of steel, he also showed good use of the ball in the game and interlinked nicely with Sarcevic,

Joel Grant, ST – 5

A somewhat disappointing display in which lots of effort and energy didn’t really translate to end product. He wasn’t all bad but a lot of passes went awry and he didn’t get in many good scoring positions either. He may be feeling slight pressure for his spot now Telford is fit.

Substitutes

Joe Riley, RWB – 6

He was only on for 23 minutes, replacing McFadzean before seemingly recurring his own injury. He didn’t really get forward much but did the job at the back.

Dominic Telford, ST – 7

Telford did a lot of good in the time he was on. We seem to say this every time he plays but he does a ridiculous amount in the air for someone as short as he is. Good energy and passing too.

Ryan Taylor, ST – NA

He did what we brought him in to do: hold up the ball and see the game out. Box ticked.