Plymouth Argyle 3 - 0 Norwich City

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Saturday Nov 10 2007 03:00

Norwich City stay firmly rooted to the bottom of the Championship after taking a comprehensive beating by a rampant Plymouth Argyle side.

The Pilgrims caused huge problems for Glenn Roeder's men all afternoon and could easily have won by a larger margin against abject defending by the visitors.

The icing on the cake was a first-ever goal for Argyle right-back Paul Connolly, making his 149th start for his only professional club.

Connolly, 24, netted the Pilgrims' crucial second goal less than two minutes after half-time after linking up with right-winger Lee Martin on the flank and continuing his run into the box.

Martin, on loan to Argyle from Manchester United, had opened the scoring midway through the first half with an impudent overhead kick, after Norwich's poor defenders had failed to clear Connolly's long throw-in.

It did not take Argyle too long after their second goal to set the seal on a fine win, with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake setting up midfielder David Norris for a first-time volley that gave Norwich goalkeeper David Marshall no chance.

It should have been four immediately afterwards as the Pilgrims continued to rip Norwich's back-line apart, but Ebanks-Blake blasted over from three yards after being played in by Barry Hayles.

After that, Argyle stepped off the gas and Norwich had a few bright moments to lighten their gloom. Late on, both Darel Russell and Jamie Cureton hit the post.

However, any consolation would have been scarcely deserved as the Pilgrims dominated the entire proceedings, giving Roeder a clear indication of the hard work that lies ahead of the new City boss.

It is his defence which should give him most concern, a situation not helped by an injury to on-loan Birmingham centre-back Martin Taylor which saw him subbed off before half-time.

  • 90
    The ref has blown his whistle for full time.
  • 86
    Lee Hodges is replaced by Dan Gosling.
  • 83
    Lilian Nalis is being taken off, Nadjim Abdou has come on in his place.
  • 79
    Lee Croft is replaced by David Strihavka.
  • 78
    Julien Brellier goes into the referees book for unsporting behaviour.
  • 67
    Plymouth are replacing Barry Hayles with Jermaine Easter.
  • 54
    Jason Shackell is booked for unsporting behaviour.
  • 50
    Goal!! David Norris scores for Plymouth.
  • 47
    Goal!! Paul Connolly scores for Plymouth.
  • 46
    The second half is under way with the score currently at 1 v 0.
  • 46
    Chris Martin is replaced by Chris Brown.
  • 45
    The ref has blown his whistle for half time.
  • 34
    Norwich are replacing Martin Taylor with Julien Brellier.
  • 30
    The referee has booked Darel Russell.
  • 26
    Goal!! Plymouth have scored with Lee Martin putting it in the back of the net.
  • 5
    Krisztian Timar is booked for unsporting behaviour.
  • 0
    The ref has blown his whistle and the match has started.

Statistics

Plymouth Argyle
Shots on target 9
Shots off target 7
Shots off bar/post 0
Fouls 9
Offsides 5
Corners 8

Norwich City
Shots on target 2
Shots off target 4
Shots off bar/post 2
Fouls 15
Offsides 0
Corners 8

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