Back to basics, back in business

Photo: Alan Howarth

let’s dig it in the dug-out . . . Oumare Tounkara gets a hug from manager Paul Dickov and Lee Duxbury after scoring Athletic’s second goal against Plymouth.

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Plymouth 0, Athletic 2
TODAY is ‘Blue Monday’, the most depressing day of the year.

So says Cliff Arnall, one-time tutor at Cardiff University.

The formula he concocted uses weather, debt, time since Christmas, time since failing New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and the feeling of a need to take action and calculates that the third Monday in January is officially the dreariest of the dreary.

There is no place in the boffin’s equation for joyous events which could happen today — like receiving a newborn child, or getting a ‘shiny’ in a packet of football stickers.

But few Athletic fans would be arguing with Arnall’s time-well-spent research had their side lost to Plymouth Argyle at the weekend.

A dicey start to the year featured a home defeat against local rivals Rochdale and a 4-2 loss at Hartlepool, redeemed partly by a win over Swindon.

Then came the six-goal hammering at home against rampant Southampton.

The danger for the young Athletic side was that this result could have dented confidence and held a lasting negative impact.

To combat that possibility, manager Paul Dickov clearly set his side out to go back to basics at Home Park.

And, thanks in no small part to the solid set-up and a piece of magic from Chris Taylor, the visitors managed to get back on the play-off-chasing horse by picking up a comfortable victory over a poor Plymouth outfit.

Taylor tricked his way to the byline on the left wing before cutting a ball back which was dispatched, side-footed and with minimum fuss, by increasingly goal-hungry midfielder Dale Stephens. It was his eighth of the season and arrived two minutes after half-time.

A confusing goalmouth scramble ended in perfect clarity thanks to Oumare Tounkara lashing a volley into the roof of the net for Athletic’s second goal of a happy afternoon — leaving frowns well and truly turned upside down.

Dickov made two changes to Athletic’s starting line-up from the side which succumbed to the Southampton defeat and both worked a treat.

Wide midfielders Filipe Morais and Cedric Evina made way for the returning Ritchie Jones and Warren Feeney, the latter partnering Tounkara up front with Taylor moving out to a marauding role on the left of midfield.

The changes gave Athletic more physical strength and allowed for better protection of the two full-backs.

Feeney has hardly had the most enjoyable of starts in an Athletic shirt.

But one thing the Northern Ireland international is rarely found wanting for is a strong work ethic, and his chasing down and careful shielding of balls played into the channels aided the visitors’ retention of possession in good areas of the field.

Jones was unspectacular on the right of midfield, but worked hard up and down the line for the cause of his team and overall, Athletic had a more stable feel than in some recent games.

All that said, Dickov could and possibly should have found his team a goal behind.

After only 14 minutes, Yannick Bolasie — playing in a central striking role in the absence of Bradley Wright-Phillips, who was deemed “mentally” unready for the game — chased down a long punt which sailed over a high Athletic back line.

Bearing down on Ben Amos’s goal, the 21-year-old wastefully blasted a half-volley miles over the crossbar when a more controlled finish was appropriate.

It was a major scare, but one of few in the game for Athletic.

Taylor lashed a 25-yard volley into the arms of Argyle ’keeper David Button, who was also forced to scoop up a dribbling Feeney effort as Athletic started the game positively.

Reuben Hazell had to be alert to toe-poke the ball away from striker Joe Mason as he readied to shoot midway through the first half, but the home side were mainly looking to the long throw of Kari Arnason as they tried to unlock a defence very well marshalled by Neal Trotman in particular.

Bolasie flashed a header a few feet over and Tounkara could not wrap his foot sufficiently round an effort from the right side of the penalty area as the opening period limped to a halt.

After Taylor’s nifty footwork in getting around full-back Karl Duguid and setting up Stephens, Plymouth had a half-chance to level the game three minutes later when Arnason’s glancing header from a Bhasera corner flashed only a couple of yards wide of the far post.

Athletic were nonetheless buoyed by their goal and sniffed a second. Tounkara had a couple of efforts which he did not quite get right after cutting in from the left wing.

Home fans wanted a penalty when Bolasie ran across Trotman and fell in the penalty area, but on-hand referee Pat Miller decided there was nothing in the incident to warrant a spot-kick.

The first real spell of concerted pressure followed from Plymouth, but few cracks were appearing defensively for Athletic.

And after Argyle captain Karl Fletcher had inexplicably headed Stephens’ free-kick back beyond his own ’keeper Button — Taylor appealed that the ball had crossed the line before being half-cleared — Tounkara emphatically fired home.

Paul Black had to be brave in heading a ball off the foot of Mason as Plymouth tried in vain to get a goal back, but Athletic were good value for an impressive win on a pleasingly low-key afternoon’s action.