Plymouth Argyle exploit rivals' struggles to boost League Two survival hopes

ARGYLE were the only one of the bottom six teams in League Two to win on Saturday as the fight to stay in the Football League became even tighter.

Victory over relegation rivals Barnet was vital to their prospects of escaping the dreaded drop come the end of April.

Only three points cover the bottom six clubs after the results at the weekend.

All the signs are the final outcome will not be decided until the closing weeks of the campaign, possibly even on the last day.

Argyle clambered off the bottom of the table by beating Barnet, who stayed in 21st spot.

However, the Pilgrims cut the deficit on their opponents from north London to a single point.

AFC Wimbledon are propping up the rest of the division after losing 2-1 at Cheltenham Town.

In another bottom-of-the-table tussle, Accrington Stanley drew 0-0 at home to Torquay United.

And Aldershot Town could not hold onto a surprise lead as they scrapped out a 1-1 stalemate against visiting table-toppers Gillingham.

Only six points separate Dagenham and Redbridge in 15th and Wimbledon in the basement of League Two, so no-one in that group can be considered to be safe.

York City are falling fast, and sacked manager Gary Mills after losing 2-0 at home to Bradford City.

It was another day of twists and turns in the battle for survival, and there are bound to be plenty more.

How it will all end, no-one knows. But Argyle should be buoyed by their triumph against Barnet.

Manager John Sheridan wanted to see his side play with more poise when they were in possession and press the opposition higher up the pitch when they did not have the ball.

To achieve those twin aims, Sheridan opted to try a new 4-3-3 formation.

Argyle had not scored in any of their previous three home games, drawing two of them and losing the other one, so something had to be done.

Reuben Reid spearheaded the attack, with Jason Banton and Ronan Murray either side of him.

The central midfield trio were Andres Gurrieri, on his return to the team, as well as Lee Cox and Argyle captain Conor Hourihane.

Cox played the deepest of the three, allowing Gurrieri and, in particular, Hourihane to push on.

It meant Argyle had a lot of creative, attacking players on the pitch, and Sheridan's change of tactics probably caught Barnet by surprise as well.

It looked that way in the first half when, apart from a breakaway Barnet goal, the Pilgrims were much the better side.

However, there was an onus on everyone in an Argyle shirt to shut down the opposition as soon as possible.

Barnet are under the guidance of 39-year-old former Netherlands international Edgar Davids.

Not surprisingly, given his credentials as a world class player in the past for clubs such as Ajax, Inter Milan and Barcelona, he wants to see his side adopt a passing style.

Argyle's intention was to stop the Bees from doing that and, by and large, they did that.

Legs started to tire in the closing stages, and Sheridan responded by sending on three substitutes to counteract that.

By full-time, there was the sense the Pilgrims were running on empty but they saw it through.

A win was all important, and the fact it came after a considerably improved – although far from perfect – performance was a bonus for Sheridan.

Gurrieri was recalled at the expense of on-loan Reading striker Gozie Ugwu.

The Argentine has been in and out of the team this season, and made his first start on Saturday since the 1-1 draw at Exeter City on December 15.

Argyle always seem to get the best out of him when he is in a central role, rather than out wide.

Gurrieri is comfortable on the ball and can twist and turn past opposing players without seemingly too much effort.

Sometimes, games can pass him by, and that is probably why he has been a substitute for large periods of the season.

But Gurrieri came into the side on Saturday and did the job asked of him by Sheridan by getting on the ball and moving it to his team-mates.

Reid squandered a couple of good early chances for Argyle before Barnet opened the scoring.

The goal came in the 21st minute from their first attack of the game and the Pilgrims were guilty of some shocking defending.

First, right-back Maxime Blanchard could not stop a low cross from Elliot Johnson being sent into Argyle's penalty area.

Anthony Charles had a chance to clear the danger, but did not, and then Barnet's Jake Hyde darted in front of Guy Branston.

Hyde took the ball away from the stumbling Branston and stabbed it low into the net.

Former Barnet keeper Jake Cole was rooted to the spot and could do nothing to prevent Hyde from getting his 11th goal of the season.

Argyle struggled to regain their composure afterwards and were in desperate need of inspiration.

It came in the 36th minute, courtesy of Hourihane, who scored with a 20-yard shot after receiving a pass from Reid.

Hourihane cleverly dragged the ball away from Barnet midfielder Mark Byrne before setting his sights on goal.

Argyle played some good football before half-time and were rewarded for that with a second goal soon after the interval.

Hourihane raced onto a long pass from Branston and slid the ball inside to onrushing left-back Onismor Bhasera.

He cut the ball back from the by-line to Reid, whose shot was blocked by former Pilgrims defender Bondz N'Gala.

It rebounded to Gurrieri, who made a complete mess of his attempt on goal.

However, fortune was with Argyle, as the ball broke to Murray and he took one touch before drilling it low into the net from close range.

Cole made comfortable saves from Barnet's Curtis Weston and Dani Lopez as time ticked by.

However, the Argyle keeper was really put to the test in the 79th minute when the Bees came close to equalising.

Lopez played a deep ball to the far post and Barnet substitute Iffy Allen got in behind Bhasera.

Allen only had a tight angle to shoot from, but he got good power on his strike and it needed a superb reflex save from Cole to keep the ball out of the net.

Ugwu and Paris Cowan-Hall, on as substitutes for the Pilgrims, had late chances to make sure of maximum points for the home side but could not take them.

However, Barnet could not come up with an equaliser and Argyle held onto their slender lead until full-time.

Cue relief all round inside Home Park. The battle, though, is still far from over.