Accrington Stanley vs Plymouth Argyle. Sky Bet League Two.
Wham StadiumAttendance2,186.
Saturday 18 February 2012 19:33, UK
New Accrington boss Paul Cook endured an opening game to forget as struggling Plymouth inflicted a 4-0 home defeat on Stanley.
Burnley frontman Alex MacDonald - who is on loan at Argyle - pounced in the third minute, taking the ball off Stanley defender Toto Nsiala on the edge of the area, before passing to strike partner Nick Chadwick who returned the favour for MacDonald to finish from eight yards out. MacDonald then doubled his side's lead in the 24th minute when a long-range shot from Chadwick was only parried by goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin and the forward pounced to fire home his third in three games. Cook, appointed this week, would have been shell-shocked as Stanley offered little up front in the first half. Pilgrims winger Ashley Hemmings hit the crossbar with a cross shortly after the restart before Stanley's new loan signing Jamie Devitt had a 20-yard effort tipped over by 'keeper Romain Larrieu. But centre-back Darren Purse added to Cook's misery with a third after 72 minutes when he headed home Paul Wotton's free-kick. Devitt hit the bar with a blistering free-kick for Accrington, yet substitute Luke Daley finished it off for the visitors in injury time after cutting inside and firing home from 12 yards to boost their fight against the drop.
