Match Preview | Plymouth Argyle (H)

Port Vale host Plymouth Argyle on Sunday afternoon as the 2022/23 campaign comes to its conclusion.

The Pilgrims are leading the charge for the League One title, and after securing promotion last weekend, they will be looking to grab three points to secure the title.

Vale sit 18th on 49 points going into the final day, and we will be looking to finish our campaign on a high.

The view from Andy Crosby:

“Personally, I think it is a fantastic game to finish the season, at home with a large away following,” said Crosby

“They are chasing the title and we have to be just at the same level as them in terms of our preparation and application for the game, the basics of the game.

"We have one final game to finish this season, in front of our home supporters, and to go and beat a team in the top echelons of the league - which we haven’t done yet this season at Vale Park – though we have run one or two really close, is a definite goal for us.”

Opposition Boss’ thoughts

Steven Schumacher said: “To say you’re champions of League One would be an unbelievable achievement.

“We said to the players at the end of the game [last week], let’s go win the league now and top it off.

“The job is done in regards to getting automatic promotion, but the job isn’t done in regard to winning the league and being considered one of the best teams to ever play in League One.”

Fixture Flashback:

FA Cup third round, Home Park, Tuesday 14th January 2014: Plymouth Argyle 2-3 Port Vale

Nine years ago, Vale travelled down to Devon for FA cup third round action, and they gave the travelling Valiants an unforgettable experience.

Second-half goals from Ben Williamson, and Jennison Myrie-Williams, pulled Vale back from 2-1 down before Chris Neal saved a late Reuben Reid spot kick to guarantee the Valiants' passage through to the fourth round.

The Pilgrims took the lead just 90 seconds into the match through Andres Gurrieri after he headed a cross that was not dealt with by the Vale defence.

A young Jordan Hugill brought the visitors level on the half-hour mark through a brilliant strike from the edge of the area after a brilliant one-two with Louis Dodds.

However, only six minutes later, Plymouth were back in front, and this time it was former Premier League midfielder, Conor Hourihane, who now plays for Derby County, who netted for Argyle.

18 minutes after the interval, Vale were level again, and it was the substitute Williamson, who came on for Hugill, that fired into the back of the net with a brilliant header from a Myrie-Williams cross.

Vale’s winger then turned from provider to scorer to net the winning goal, smashing home a Tom Pope pass to send the away end crazy.

The action was not done there though, and the Valiants’ faithful had to hold their breath after Chris Lines was sent off for hacking down Hourihane in the area.

Luckily for us, Neal produced a fabulous stop from Reid’s penalty to send Vale through, and unfortunately, the next round is where our journey in the cup would end in that season as we fell to a 3-1 defeat at Vale Park to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Reverse Fixture:

Sky Bet League One, Home Park, Friday 2nd December 2022: Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Port Vale

Back in December, a James Wilson second-half brace ended Plymouth Argyle’s nine-match league win streak at Home Park and secured a fantastic three points for the Valiants.

The league leaders had not dropped a point at home all season before Vale came to town, but our number nine ensured that run ended on Friday night.

Wilson opened the scoring and sent the Vale away end crazy with 25 minutes left in the match when Nathan Smith’s header from a David Worrall corner bounced off our striker into the back of the net.

The 27-year-old grabbed his second of the night six minutes later after Vale worked the ball brilliantly over to substitute Dennis Politic on the left-hand side.

Our number 33 then beat his man and drove into the box before firing a pass across the box for Wilson to slot home his second.

Vale’s first chance of the game came after a Dan Jones long throw was cleared into the path of Dan Butterworth who fired a powerful strike toward goal from the edge of the area, but Michael Cooper managed to turn it around the post.

Butterworth forced Cooper into another save in the 12th minute after he cut inside from the left flank and saw a curling effort from close range held by the Pilgrims' number one.

Plymouth’s first big opportunity of the match came just before the 30-minute mark when Morgan Whittaker managed to intercept a Vale pass and prod an effort toward goal, which Jack Stevens saved well with his legs.

The hosts nearly took the lead through Bali Mumba just before half time, however, after playing a one-two, the forward’s strike whistled inches past the right-hand post.

Tom Conlon had the first opportunity after the interval for the Valiants when he latched onto a Mal Benning corner, however, his looping header fell wide of the post.

Niall Ennis then spurned two chances to grab a goal back for the hosts in the 73rd minute, the first of those hitting the post from the edge of the area.

After Ennis’ initial effort, he then blazed over from close range after Joe Edwards produced a low cross into the area.

Nathan Smith was forced to clear the ball off the line with under five minutes left after the ball rolled agonisingly toward goal as the result of a goalmouth scramble.

Form: WWWWW

15/04/23: Exeter City 0-1 Plymouth Argyle, Sky Bet League One

18/04/23: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Plymouth Argyle, Sky Bet League One

22/04/23: Plymouth Argyle 3-1 Cambridge United, Sky Bet League One

25/04/23: Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Bristol Rovers, Sky Bet League One

29/04/23: Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Burton Albion, Sky Bet League One