Argyle cruise to convincing pre-season victory at Bath City

The Swiss striker was not in the Pilgrims’ squad at Twerton Park as his widely reported £4 million transfer to Bristol City neared completion.

Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley confirmed before the game that a transfer fee had been agreed with a Championship club for Tolaj, but stopped short of naming them ‘out of respect’.

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The Pilgrims used 22 players against Bath, with the starting line-up being replaced as a whole shortly after the hour mark.

They had already scored their three goals by then, with Owen Oseni and Michael Baidoo striking late in the first half and then Xavier Amaechi also getting on target in the 53rd minute.

Argyle’s starting line-up was captained by defender Mathias Ross as Joe Edwards continued his recovery from a close season knee procedure while Wes Harding was included among 11 substitutes for the away side.

Ross had not played in the first pre-season game, the Pilgrims’ 4-1 win at Plymouth Parkway last Saturday, for personal reasons so this was his first action since the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

There were also first Argyle appearances for two of the club’s summer signings - goalkeeper Murphy Cooper, who had a short loan spell at Bath earlier in his career, and defender Alex Hartridge.

Cooper completed a transfer from Queens Park Rangers for a reported £150,000 last Tuesday while Hartridge sat out the game against Parkway due to a slight groin issue.

With Tolaj on the way out of Home Park, Argyle’s attack was led by Oseni and Bim Pepple, with attacking width coming from Amaechi and Baidoo, who has changed his squad number to 20 for this season.

Malachi Boateng and Seb Campbell were the central midfield pairing, with a back four of Matty Sorinola, Hartridge, Ross and first-year apprentice Jared Rendle playing in front of Cooper.

The Twerton Park pitch was reasonably green considering the recent heatwave but it was clearly quite firm because the ball bounced up high a lot.

The opening stages of the game passed off without incident, apart from a cross from Sorinola which deceived a Bath defender but Bath ‘keeper Harvey Wiles-Richards caught the ball before Bim Pepple could get there.

Ross then had a header comfortably saved by Wiles-Richards following a long throw-in into the penalty area from Hartridge and that was soon followed by a ‘hydration break’ for both teams midway through the first half on what was another very hot July afternoon.

On the resumption of play, People headed wide after a cross from Amaechi before Sorinola got in a shot from inside the Bath box which was safely held onto by Wiles-Richards.

Oseni should have put Argyle ahead when he was picked out by a clipped cross by Ross but the striker, who was in a central position about eight yards out, headed wide.

However, Oseni did open the scoring in the 40th minute with a close range finish past Wiles-Richards after a cross from Baidoo was not dealt with by the home side.

It was then 2-0 to the Pilgrims in the 45th minute and it came from a well-created attack. Pepple, close to the centre spot, played the ball forward for Oseni to race clear as he beat the offside trap.

As Wiles-Richards came off his line, Oseni unselfishly touched the ball inside to Baidoo, who had a simple task to roll it into the net.

There were no half-time substitutions for Argyle, who extended their lead to 3-0 in the 53rd minute when Oseni played the ball outside to Baidoo and his low cross was finished off by the onrushing Amaechi.

People then had a right-foot shot parried away by Wiles-Richards before the whole of Argyle’s starting line-up was substituted in the 62nd minute.

First-year apprentice striker James Sharpe had Tegan Finn playing alongside him, ahead of a midfield quartet of Ronan Curtis, Bradley Ibrahim, Caleb Roberts and Freddie Issaka.

Joe Mwaro and Harding were the two full-backs with Julio Pleguezuelo and Sam Hayman in central defence, while James Storer took over between the posts.

Pleguezuelo soon had a good chance to get a fourth Argyle goal but, unmarked inside the Bath box, he headed wide of the far post following a free-kick from Curtis.

Issaka also forced a good low save out of Wiles-Richards in the 74th minute after a surging run through the centre of the pitch, and then Roberts had a shot deflected behind for a corner.

There was to be no further scoring as the game ended 3-0 to Argyle without Cooper or Storer being called into making any saves, even after Bath sent on 37-year-old former Pilgrims’ striker Reuben Reid as a substitute in the 63rd minute.

ARGYLE: Murphy Cooper; Matty Sorinola, Mathias Ross, Alex Hartridge, Jared Rendle; Xavier Amaechi, Malachi Boateng, Seb Campbell, Michael Baidoo; Owen Oseni, Bim Pepple.

ARGYLE (from 62 minutes onwards): James Storer; Joe Mwaro, Julio Pleguezuelo, Sam Hayman, Wes Harding; Ronan Curtis, Brdley Ibrahim, Caleb Roberts, Freddie Issaka; Tegan Finn, James Sharpe.

BATH: Harvey Wiles-Richards; Joe Raynes, Ollie Tomlinson, Jack Batten, Kieran Parselle; Trialist A; Enzo Boldewijn, Jordan Tillson, Trialist B, Scott Wilson; Donovan Wilson. Substitutes: Danny Greenslade, Owen Windsor, Dominic Cook, Alex Fisher, Trialist C, Reuben Reid, Harry Parsons, Matt Bowman, Owen Pritchard.

REFEREE: Will Briers

ATTENDANCE: 1,274

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