--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-09-23T09:37:00.061Z last_updated: 2026-09-14T08:48:11+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/cardiff-city/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucGx5bW91dGhoZXJhbGQuY28udWsvc3BvcnQvZm9vdGJhbGwvcGx5bW91dGgtYXJneWxlLXB1bmlzaGVkLWJhcm5zbGV5LWRldm9ucG9ydC0xMTE1NDczMQ --- # Argyle punished Barnsley for their Devonport End tactical ploy - **Source:** - **Published:** 14 Sept - **Club:** Cardiff City - **Original URL:** https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/plymouth-argyle-punished-barnsley-devonport-11154731 It is tradition for the Pilgrims to attack the Devonport End in the second half of matches, and that has become a considerable home advantage for them with then getting a number of important late goals. Occasionally, away teams who are aware of that make the choice if they win the coin toss to turn Argyle around as a tactical ploy and they defend the Devonport End first. However, that approach runs the risk of Argyle make a fast start to a game, and it does not get much faster than Oli Irow scoring after only 21 seconds against Barnsley, and by half-time the Pilgrims were 2-0 up and in complete control. Irow's spectacular right-foot strike came after Argyle went direct from the kick-off, which Tom Cleverley confirmed they would have done whether they were playing towards the Devonport End or, as more usually, the Barn Park End in the first half. "Absolutely, yeah, that's a technical point and nothing to do with which end it was," he said. "It's always in the back of your mind when a team is going to come here and start turning us. "I thought that was the perfect response to getting a little bit peeved off by getting turned around - we will put it in the back of your net after 20 seconds. "We want to make it whichever way we are going to we start games well, that we are effective going both ways, but ultimately if the opposition want to try and control the situation then we want to make it a scenario of pick your poison. "Really pleased. We got our work done early in both halves and we managed the game in the second part of both halves well. Efficient is the word." Argyle have won three of their four games at Home Park this season, including the 2-0 Devon derby victory over Exeter City in the Carabao Cup first round, with the one blip being the 3-1 defeat by Stockport County in their first League One fixture. Cleverley said: "We want to make it as uncomfortable for the opposition as possible, that's every game. We play a style that you should feel pressure as the opposition. "That looks like a good performance for us if in territory, in chances, in crosses, in set plays you should have come under pressure against one of our teams, and here at home even more because then the crowd get up and we get the connection. "It seems like since the turn of the year we have got a good record here that we want to keep building on." Oli Irow has already scored twice in five appearances for Argyle and with the quality of the finishing he has demonstrated there is every reason to believe he can get plenty more goals while on loan from Tottenham Hotspur this season. The 20-year-old winger also netted four times in seven starts and 11 substitute appearances on loan to Mansfield Town last term. Tom Cleverley said: "Oli is someone who I see that record being sustainable, how clean of a finisher he is, how calm he is, how determined he is to score goals. "Without putting too much pressure on him, I was a young loanee myself coming in off that left hand side, I can see that he has got a lot of goals in his game. "We will work with him to develop him, and help him out of possession and improve him there, but he's bringing X factor to the team which is a big plus." While Tom Cleverley was 'really pleased' with Argyle's clean sheet against Barnsley, which was their second in six League One games this season, he is hoping to see a further defensive improvement from his team. The Pilgrims' boss had particular praise for centre-back Julio Pleguezuelo for his contribution to Barnsley not having one shot on target against the Pilgrims. Cleverley said: "Eight goals (conceded) in six games probably doesn't see you achieving what you want to do. "We want to try to get that to a goal per game, between 40 and 46 come the end of the season. Before today we had conceded eight in five, now we are eight and six, so it's a step closer to being neutral on that. "Alex Mitchell, we are just managing him a little bit, his load. Wes Harding was really solid but I thought Julio (Pleguezuelo) was outstanding. I don't think Pleggy put one foot wrong." Argyle's two full-backs both had strong games against Barnsley, with Wes Harding nullifying the threat of highly-rated 20-year-old attacker Reyes Cleary to such an extent he was taken off at half-time as part of a triple substitution. Matty Sorinola also played well at left-back, although he was taken off in the 74th minute and replaced by Joe Edwards. Tom Cleverley said about Sorinola: "He's fine, he has not played too many 90 minutes. He's adapting to that, I thought Matty had a good game. "They (Barnsley) have got danger in their wide areas, especially on Wes's side with Cleary first half and anyone who can get Cleary subbed off at half-time has done a great job. "Matty is fine, a little bit of fatigue towards the end of the game but it looks like everyone has come through today perfectly well." There was a roar of approval from the Green Army when club captain Joe Edwards was sent on for Matty Sorinola towards the end of the game. It was a first league appearance of the season for the 35-year-old after he underwent a summer knee procedure and that only adds to the competition for places in the team now. Tom Cleverley said about Edwards: "First action landing on a second ball, forwards momentum, showing good quality and anticipation. We know what he will bring to the team. "He's a big part of why we managed that game so well. They didn't have one shot on our goal today. They put us under a little bit of pressure in terms of where the game was but I never really felt our goal was threatened too much. "Joe manages those moments for the team and it's good to see him back in the league." You can read more of our Argyle stories from Plymouth Live by clicking HERE PlymouthLive has launched a Plymouth Argyle transfer news and top stories group on WhatsApp and we want you to join us. Once you sign up for our updates, we'll send all the latest straight to your phone. To join our community, you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select 'Join Community'. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the PlymouthLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Click here to join our WhatsApp community.