The second half began in ominous fashion when a Simon Cox cross proved elusive to not only Stockdale but also the lurking Bednar, almost answered by a thumping shot from Mackie following Reda Johnson’s knockdown from a Kari Arnason throw in. An ill advised tackle by Joe Mattock on Damien Johnson threatened to sour things as a 20 man brawl slowly brewed, the Albion man perhaps lucky to escape with a yellow card. On the half hour Cooper was introduced for a debut and proceeded to test Scott Carson in the away goal with almost his first touch, a free kick that swerved from harm’s way, cruelly answered at the other end of the field with a Cox goal from a Thomas cross though Argyle were not yet down among the dead men and continued to fight on- Mackie, Arnason and Chris Clark all fashioning half chances though this was nearly undone when McNamee hauled down Luke Moore, referee Steve Tanner pointing to the spot and no doubt a few Greens hearts sinking before Graham Dorrans stepped up to the plate and promptly saw Stockdale best him before his team mates further up the field went in search of an equaliser, Reda Johnson surging forward only to be denied by a shocker of a challenge from Thomas, who threw a punch at Arnason as he left the field following a red card, and while this is normal in the boxing ring the men at the Football Association may well be wishing to speak to the player in the aftermath, the infighting spreading to the two benches as it became clear to some that Saturday afternoon is apparently alright for fighting, to paraphrase Elton John. Sadly although the Pilgrims had their opponent on the ropes for the vast majority of the game they could not find that knockout punch, and Roberto Di Matteo’s men left the field victorious as they push for promotion.
Teams-
Argyle- Stockdale (gk), Duguid (McNamee 45), Arnason, Reda Johnson, Sawyer, Judge (Noone 73), Fletcher, Damien Johnson, Clark, Mackie, Fallon (Cooper 59)
Subs not used- Larrieu (gk), Barker, Summerfield, Wright- Phillips
West Bromwich Albion- Carson (gk), Zuiverloon, Tamas. Meite, Mattock, Brunt, Cox ( Slory 87), Mulumbu ( Jara 75), Dorrans, Thomas, Bednar ( Moore 81)
Subs not used- Kiely (gk), Koren, Olsson, George Thomas
