No joy for Parkinson’s men after Plymouth win relegation battle

Parkinson admitted: “We deserved something from the game. We did more than enough in terms of chances – and the number of goalmouth scrambles – but it just didn’t happen for us.

“We were just waiting for someone to put their foot through the ball and it to end up in the back of the net. It just didn’t happen for us.

“In the first half, we had control of the game and in the second half, obviously, we went for it as the half wore on to get the goal back.

“We did everything bar put the ball in the back of the net.

“We had some good strong headers of the ball in the box and we had all our goal scorers on the pitch yet we couldn’t get that all-important goal.

“The effort and commitment to get back into the game was first class, but we just could not get that goal.”

On-loan Preston striker Juvhel Tsoumou got Plymouth off to a flying start, heading home Paul Wotton’s fourth-minute free-kick at the far post.

Plymouth full-back Robbie Williams then smashed a free-kick off the foot of Matt Duke’s post from 20 yards but after that City – with six changes to the starting line-up – grew in confidence and took the game to their hosts.

Ricky Ravenhill shaved the upright during the first of many goalmouth scrambles and David Syers and substitute James Hanson both had efforts cleared off the line by Durrell Berry and Simon Walton, respectively.

Plymouth joined Bradford on 40 points, four points clear of next-to-bottom Macclesfield and five ahead of Hereford. Third-bottom Barnet have a game in hand.

Plymouth Argyle: Cole; Berry, Purse, Blanchard, Williams; MacDonald, Wotton, Walton, Hemmings (Bhasera 79); Chadwick (S Fletcher 66), Tsoumou. Unused substitutes: Larrieu, Feeney, Hourihane.

Bradford City: Duke; Ramsden (Hanson 57), Branston, Bullock, Kozluk (Wells78); Syers, Ravenhill (Reid 46), Jones, Flynn; Fagan, Dagnall. Unused substitutes: Smalley, Annerson.

Referee: A D’Urso (Essex).

Man of the match: Jake Cole.