Plymouth Argyle 1-4 Lincoln City: FLW reports as Imps run riot over hapless Pilgrims | OneFootball

FLW reports from Home Park as Plymouth Argyle took on promotion-hopefuls Lincoln City in League One.

Lincoln City came from behind to beat Plymouth Argyle 4-1 at Home Park, thanks to a brace from Reeco Hackett, and goals from Freddie Draper and Ryan One.

Argyle took the lead just after 10 minutes when Bim Pepple got the better of Sonny Bradley, picked up the loose ball, and smashed a shot from outside the box off both posts before crossing the line.

It took Lincoln until 10 minutes before half-time to draw themselves level. A Reeco Hackett corner was headed in by an unmarked Freddie Draper from just a few yards out to send the teams in at the break all square.

The provider of the Imps' first turned scorer for their second, stroking home from close range, before rounding off his stunning afternoon with a goal directly from a corner.

Ryan One wrapped up the win by adding a fourth goal in stoppage time, which saw the Imps preserve their five-point gap to Bolton Wanderers in style.

Plymouth Argyle 1-4 Lincoln City

The first real chance of the afternoon came Lincoln's way. Tom Hamer's lofted ball found Moylan out wide, who cut the ball back across goal to Draper, who smashed his effort wide.

Argyle then took the lead just after the 10-minute mark, and it was a wonderful solo goal from Pepple. A long ball forward saw the Canadian get the better of Bradley, before striking from distance. His effort came off both posts and settled in the back of the net.

Pepple was playing with the confidence of a thousand men, and tried another speculative effort after winning yet another aerial duel. This time, George Wickens was equal to the powerful drive, getting his body behind the ball.

Some neat football from Lincoln then allowed Reeco Hackett to have a crack from the edge of the box. His effort had Ashby-Hammond concerned, but it sailed harmlessly past his near post.

With just under 10 minutes of the half left, the Imps grabbed an equaliser from a well-worked corner. Hackett's delivery found Draper unmarked in the centre of the box, and the striker headed home from mere yards out.

A clash between goalscorer Pepple and Ivan Varfolomeev saw a lengthy stop in play just before the break. The latter was able to continue, but the former was forced off, compounding more injury woes for Tom Cleverley's side.

After five minutes of stoppage time, referee Stephen Martin brought the contest to a halt. It had been a bitty, physical game with both sides having opportunites, and a goal a piece was a more than fair reflection of the contest as a whole thus far.

Michael Skubala was forced to make a switch ahead of the second half, as Varfolomeev, who picked up a knock in a challenge with Pepple just before the break, had to be withdrawn. Tom Bayliss took his place in the Imps' engine room.

The loss of the Ukrainian wasn't felt too badly by the visitors, who made the perfect start to the second half. Confusion at the back from Argyle teed up the ball perfectly for Hackett, who stroked it home to put his side ahead.

Lincoln had been causing Plymouth all kinds of problems from set-pieces all afternoon, and it was another corner which led to the third goal. Hackett again with a pinpoint delivery which evaded Luca Ashby-Hammond and nestled in the top corner.

The Pilgrims had the chance to set up a grandstand finish when Ronan Curtis' venomous shot from distance took a deflection off Tom Hamer, but Wickens reacted brilliantly to tip it over the bar.

Ben House almost made it four with five minutes left to play. Ashby-Hammond with a slow-motion save to claw the substitute's first-time effort behind for a corner.

With almost the last kick of the game, it was four. Plymouth, who had committed men forward in the dying embers, were undone by a long ball, which One rushed onto and slotted past Ashby-Hammond to compound a fabulous afternoon in Devon for them.

After seven minutes of stoppage time, the referee drew the contest to a close, with Lincoln running out comfortable winners, despite Argyle drawing first blood.

The Imps survived an early scare and put in a professional performance worthy of a promotion contender to turn the game on its head. They remain five points clear of third-place Bolton Wanderers in the automatic promotion places, with a game in hand.

As for Plymouth, the stark reality of looking nervously over their shoulder was felt around Home Park again. Cleverley's side slipped to 16th in League One, leaving them five points above the bottom four, with 16 games to play.

Plymouth Argyle player ratings

L. Ashby-Hammond - 3

W. Harding - 4

M. Ross - 5

A. Mitchell - 6

J. Edwards - 5 (K. Szucs 66'(5))

O. Dale - 5 (X. Amaechi 6'(5))

B. Wiredu - 4 (H. Kane 79'(5))

M. Boateng - 6

R. Curtis - 6

B. Pepple - 8 (O. Oseni 45'(3))

C. Watts - 6 (J. Paterson 79'(5))

Unused substitutes: Z. Baker, J. MacKenzie

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Lincoln City player ratings

G. Wickens - 7

T. Darikwa - 7

T. Hamer - 7

S. Bradley - 7

A. Reach - 7

I. Varfolomieiev - 6 (T. Bayliss 46'(6))

C. McGrandles - 7

R. Hackett - 9 (R. Towler 90+2'(5))

J. Moylan - 7 (A. Lloyd 73'(5))

R. Street - 6 (B. House 73'(6))

F. Draper - 7 (R. One 84'(6))

Unused substitutes: Z. Jeacock, D. Jefferies

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Match attendance

There were 15,547 fans present at Home Park on Saturday afternoon, with a respectable following of 605 travelling down from Lincoln.

Tom Cleverley reacts as Plymouth Argyle fall to heavy defeat

Speaking to the press post-match, Argyle head coach Cleverley said: "I thought it was a strong performance in the first-half, which has been quite consistent with us getting on the front foot.

"We knew the threat that they have from set-plays, and we didn't deal with it anywhere near well enough today in both halves, but the disappointing thing for me [in the] second half is we came completely away from what's made us successful recently.

"That is to be a little bit more vertical, a little bit more forward-thinking, maybe a little bit more direct at times, and the structure that we do that from is really key to it. We completely came away from that.

"We were playing in such an open shape, and then playing purposeless passes along the back line, creating turnover moments like their second goal, and it not only makes the opposition much more effective, it makes us much less effective.

"My job now is I've got a week to make sure everyone is educated and everyone is on the same page as to why we've been so successful for ten games, and today why we were back to what it was at the start of the season in the second half."

Michael Skubala delighted as Lincoln City overcome early setback to romp to victory

Speaking to the press post-match, a delighted Lincoln boss Skubala said: "Every game that we're playing at the minute, if you get a result, it's a big result.

"The game was tough, I thought they started the better of the game, and it just shows you the crowd here can get on top of you, but I thought we weathered it really well.

"We came out in the second half with a few tweaks and tactical changes where I thought we just needed a bit more positional discipline, and I thought we got on top of them in the second half for sure.

"This is a team that's playing very well. They're fifth in the form table, you can see why they're picking up points and turning teams over, because they're a handful.