Source: Daily_Mail
Plymouth 4 Reading 1: New Argyle boss Mariner enjoys a Royals flush
Plymouth head coach Paul Mariner celebrated back-to-back Christmas wins with acomprehensive victory over fellow strugglers Reading.[LNB]Following Argyle's 1-0 triumph at Cardiff, Alan Judge opened the scoring from the penalty spot and netted his second between efforts from Kari Arnason and Ashley Barnes.[LNB]Reading caretaker boss Brian McDermott is still looking for his first win in the Royals hotseat and he oversaw a desolate display, brightened only by Gylfi Sigurdsson's sixth goal of the season.[LNB] In a spin: Plymouth boss Paul Mariner has guided his side to consecutive wins[LNB]In the 11th minute Reading's Ivar Ingimarsson failed to completely clear a long pass forward, with Plymouth's Jamie Mackie reacting to collect the loose ball.[LNB]The Pilgrims' top scorer showed an effective turn of pace and was brought down by Ingimarsson in the penalty area, leaving Judge to convert from 12 yards.[LNB] Hoddle in the frame for Reading job as ex-England boss emerges as top targetCLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE AND STATISTICSAll the Boxing Day fizz of the Coca-Cola League Reading probed to find a way back into a scrappy game but Mackie remained a threat and he should have doubled the advantage when he headed Chris Clark's cross narrowly wide in the 24th minute.[LNB]Judge then collected Gary Sawyer's pass before releasing Karl Duguid, whose dangerous ball across the Reading six-yard box was almost turned into his own net by Brynjar Gunnarson.[LNB]Five minutes before the interval, a last ditch tackle from Ryan Bertrand was required to thwart Mackie as the goal beckoned.[LNB]On the stroke of half-time Plymouth goalkeeper Romain Larrieu pushed a shot from Jobi McAnuff behind, following good link-up play involving Gunnarsson and Marek Matejovsky.[LNB]On target: Sigurdsson bagged his sixth of the season[LNB]Argyle's Rory Fallon was able to break away from Reading's shaky backline 10 minutes into the second period.[LNB]The New Zealand international cut back to Clark whose shot grazed the outside of the upright.[LNB]Plymouth doubled their lead in the 59th minute when Arnason rose unmarked to thump a header past Federici from Judge's corner.[LNB]But Reading hit back immediately.[LNB]Substitute Grzegorz Rasiak was instantly involved when his goalbound shot was scrambled out of the Plymouth box.[LNB]McAnuff pumped the ball back into the danger area for Sigurdsson to head home.[LNB]The Royals' hopes was short lived, however, as Clark found space down the left wing and crossed for Judge to head his second after 64 minutes.[LNB]The visitors remained vulnerable at the back and Federici was alert to parry a rasping shot from Pilgrims substitute Ashley Barnes.[LNB] From the resulting corner it was Clark's turn to enjoy a free header, but he could not keep his effort down.[LNB]The misery was complete for McDermott's side when Mackie collected a quick free-kick to draw a sharp save from Federici, but Barnes was on hand to turn home the loose ball.[LNB] Hoddle in the frame for Reading job as ex-England boss emerges as top targetCLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE AND STATISTICSAll the Boxing Day fizz of the Coca-Cola League [LNB]
