Fleetwood Town 5 Plymouth Argyle 1: Rampant Town put the Pilgrims to the sword

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Five-star Fleetwood Town crushed Plymouth Argyle with a stellar performance at Highbury.

Joey Barton’s on-song side ran riot to stun the Pilgrims and take a deserved step closer to the play-off places.

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It was the club's biggest home win of the season and the first time they had scored five goals in the league since a 5-0 win over Scunthorpe United in August 2018.

Goals from Sam Finley, Callum Camps and Wes Burns had seen the Cod Army run away with the first half.

Fleetwood Town were comprehensive winners against Plymouth Argyle   Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images LimitedFleetwood Town were comprehensive winners against Plymouth Argyle   Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited
Fleetwood Town were comprehensive winners against Plymouth Argyle Picture: Stephen Buckley/PRiME Media Images Limited

Charlie Mulgrew then scored his first goal for the club with a bullet header ten minutes after the break and Camps bagged a second with a screamer, having earlier struck the post.

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It was one-way traffic from the start as Finley went close to putting the home side ahead in the third minute but he dragged a shot just wide.

It wasn’t long before Barton’s charges took the lead – less than a minute later in fact.

Finley was on the scoresheet as poor defending from Panutche Camara saw him carelessly lose possession.

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After finding space, Finley rifled a drive beyond Pilgrims keeper Mike Cooper for his first Fleetwood goal.

Then it got even better for the Cod Army when Camps doubled their advantage with a clinical finish.

Again, poor defending saw Camps pinch the ball and edge past Cooper with an outstretched toe before firing home.

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Camara tried his luck from distance and saw his shot charged down, but just a minute later, he was hauled off by perplexed Pilgrims boss Ryan Lowe.

Josh Morris came within a whisker of putting Fleetwood three goals ahead but his low drive was superbly smothered by Cooper at his near post.

Morris hit the target again, this time from the edge of the box, two minutes later but Cooper saved well to his right.

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Fleetwood were rampant and their continued pressure told as Plymouth conceded a third goal seven minutes before the break.

Trickery from Camps allowed Finley to thread a delightful pass to Burns who, with a delicate chip, clipped the ball beyond Cooper into the bottom corner

Paddy Madden nearly made it 4-0 two minutes before half-time but Cooper saved well to give the Pilgrims an ambitious glimmer of hope.

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However, any hopes of a remarkable comeback were quickly extinguished following the resumption as the hosts stamped their authority on this one-sided contest.

Amazingly, Barton’s opposite number Lowe made three more changes at the start of the second half in line with the new guidelines.

The wholesale changes did little to quell the storm as Mulgrew’s header 10 minutes following the resumption killed off the contest.

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Camps then picked out the top left corner with a thunderbolt to complete a stunning afternoon at the office.

There was even time for substitute Barrie McKay to nearly make it six but the Swansea City loanee saw his goalbound strike superbly palmed away by Cooper.

Luke Jephcott pulled one back for the visitors, whose miserable afternoon was compounded when Niall Canavan was sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card after a reckless challenge on Ched Evans.

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Fleetwood Town: Leutwiler, Edwards, Andrew, Connolly, Burns (Duffy 69), Camps, Morris (McKay 70), Mulgrew, Rossiter (Whelan 57), Madden (Evans 58), Finley (Coutts 68). Subs not used: Cairns, Hill.

Plymouth Argyle: Cooper, Watt, Aimson (Wootton 37), Nouble, Edwards, Major, Telford (Hardie 45), Grant (Jephcott 45), Moore, Opoku (Canavan 45), Camara (Fornah 11). Subs not used: McCormick, Cooper.

Referee: Samuel Barrott.

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