Argyle stay alive in play-off race with AFC Wimbledon win

It was a result which moved the Pilgrims back up to seventh position, two points behind Stevenage, who are in the last of the four play-off places, and with both sides having three more matches remaining at the end of the season.

Argyle opened the scoring as early as the sixth minute with a goal from defender Alex Mitchell following a Ronan Curtis corner and they were well on top for the rest of the first half, without adding to their lead.

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That looked like it could be costly for the Pilgrims when Alistair Smith put Wimbledon on level terms early in the second half but Lorent Tolaj scored his 20th Argyle goal of the season in the 68th minute to put the visitors back in front.

Bim Pepple, on as a substitute as he returned from a calf injury, then made it 3-1 in the 76th minute with a close range finish after he was picked out by Owen Dale.

It was the 16th goal of a memorable first season at Argyle for Pepple and the Pilgrims were able to see out the rest of the match without many alarms after that.

They now face a difficult trip to fourth-placed Bradford City on Tuesday night while Stevenage will be at home to Barnsley on the same evening.

There were starts for Brendan Wiredu and Caleb Watts as Tom Cleverley made two changes to his Argyle team against AFC Wimbledon from the 2-2 draw with Exeter City in the Devon derby.

Wiredu, who had missed the previous four matches due to an abdominal issue, slotted into central midfield alongside Malachi Boateng instead of Jamie Paterson.

Watts took over as the strike partner to Tolaj from Owen Oseni, who was on the bench along with Paterson.

The Pilgrims, wearing their pink third kit, had an early chance when former Wimbledon player Curtis whipped in a cross from the right and a glancing header from Watts went not far wide of the far post.

Curtis then took back-to-back corners as Argyle made a positive start to the match and from the second of them the away side opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Mitchell got the decisive touch after the ball had been flicked on by Boateng.

Wimbledon hardly got over the halfway line in the opening stages of the game but they did go close to an equaliser in the 16th minute when Nathan Asiimwe put in an excellent cross from the left and a header from Alistair Smith was just the wrong side of the far post.

The home side were starting to come into the game, though, and striker Junior Nkeng had a strike which flew over the bar from a central position around 25 yards out.

Mitchell had another chance from an Argyle corner when he sent a header over the bar after the cross from Curtis before yellow cards were issued to Tolaj and Wimbledon defender Ryan Johnson in the same incident.

Tolaj received a throw-in from Wes Harding and spun away from Johnson, who committed a foul but was then caught by an arm of the Argyle striker.

The resulting free-kick was 25 yards out and although Curtis stood over the ball it was Tolaj who took it, and his strike hit the Wimbledon defensive wall and went out of play for a corner.

Wimbledon then went close to an equaliser from a corner of their own when Steve Seddon swung the ball into the box and Johnson powered a header over the bar.

Tolaj’s strong running was causing plenty of problems for the home team and when he went forward after a pass from Dale he had a shot blocked.

The ball rebounded to Argyle captain Joe Edwards who sent it flying too high into the stands behind the goal before, soon afterwards, Watts had a powerful drive parried away by goalkeeper Nathan Bishop.

The Pilgrims then had penalty appeals when Tolaj looked to get in behind Johnson and went down to the ground as he was challenged by the Wimbledon defender but referee Elliott Swallow took no action.

Argyle centre-back Mathias Ross was booked for a foul on Nkeng in added time as the first half ended with the away side 1-0 up.

Nkeng was proving to be a lively presence up front for Wimbledon and not long after play restarted for the second half he had a shot on goal which was blocked behind for a corner by Mitchell.

Argyle should have extended their lead in the 50th minute when Dale was played through and rather than shoot with his left foot he cut inside onto his right.

Dale passed inside to Watts, who opted against a first time finish as he tried to take the ball around Bishop instead and miscontrolled it in doing so. A glorious chance to go 2-0 up had gone.

Wimbledon then equalised from their next attack when a cross from James Tilley on the edge of the penalty area found Smith and he slid the ball into the net from close range.

Watts almost restored Argyle’s lead in the 54th minute with a fierce strike that beat Bishop but cannoned off the bar. The Wimbledon ‘keeper also saved a header from the same Pilgrims’ player a few moments later.

Play swung from one end of the pitch to the other as both teams chased the next goal, with Wimbledon’s Leyton Stewart having a header safely held onto by Hazard.

Cleverley made a double substitution just after the hour mark as Pepple and Matty Sorinola replaced Watts and Wiredu respectively.

Argyle then went 2-1 up in the 68th minute with a clinical first time finish from Tolaj for his 21st goal of the season after he was set up by left-back Wes Harding inside the box.

Before play restarted after that goal, Xavier Amaechi was sent on as a substitute for Curtis in a straight swap on the right side of midfield for the visitors.

Hazard saved a shot from distance from Callum Maycock as Wimbledon looked to respond to falling behind for the second time in the match, while at the other end of the pitch Tolaj had a close range shot deflected wide for a corner.

Argyle then went 3-1 up in the 76th minute when Tolaj played the ball forward for Dale, who could have taken a shot but unselfishly squared it inside to Pepple for a simple tap-in and his 16th goal of the season.

Julio Pleguezuelo was an 85th minute Argyle substitute for Tolaj as the Spanish defender made his comeback from a calf injury and Pepple was left up front on his own.

Pepple should have scored a fourth Argyle goal in the 90th minute when he was picked out by an excellent cross from Xavier Amaechi but he mistimed his header and the ball bounced wide of the far post.

Hazard made a fine diving save to keep out a free-kick from Steve Seddon in added time as the Pilgrims kept up their play-off push with their 11th away league win of the season.

ARGYLE: Conor Hazard; Joe Edwards, Mathias Ross, Alex Mitchell, Wes Harding; Ronan Curtis (Xavier Amaechi 68 mins), Malachi Boateng, Brendan Wiredu (Matty Sorinola 62 mins), Owen Dale; Caleb Watts (Bim Pepple 62 mins), Lorent Tolaj (Julio Pleguezuelo 85 mins).

Substitutes (not used): Luca Ashby-Hammond, Jamie Paterson, Owen Oseni.

AFC WIMBLEDON: Nathan Bishop; Isaac Ogundere, Ryan Johnson, Steve Seddon, Nathan Asiimwe (Aron Sasu 71 mins); James Tilley, Alistair Smith, Jake Reeves (Zack Nelson 71 mins), Callum Maycock (Osman Foyo 81 mins); Junior Nkeng, Leyton Stewart (Antwoine Hackford 64 mins).

Substitutes (not used): Joe McDonnell, Riley Horan, Kai Jennings.

REFEREE: Elliott Swallow

ATTENDANCE: 8,737 (939)

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