[BFC SITE] REDS WIN ON OPENING DAY

Fixtures

• Plymouth Argyle Vs. Barnsley - Sat, Aug 02 2025, 15:00

The Reds began the 2025/26 campaign with an impressive away victory against Plymouth Argyle, despite going down to ten-men in the second half.


The game began in a quick, relentless fashion, and on the fifth minute, the home side looked to take an early lead. An excellent switch of play found Xavier Amaechi in space before he cut the ball back to Caleb Watts, who looked to apply the finishing touch, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on Marc Roberts in the buildup.

The Reds began to grow into the game, and on the thirteenth minute, they had the advantage. A whipped, enticing Luca Connell free-kick delivery ended up in the back of the Plymouth net after the ball took a touch off the unfortunate Brendan Wiredu. Argyle looked to level the game, and on the twenty-first minute, Watts cut inside and let fly from twenty yards, but he was thwarted by an excellent Murphy Cooper save, which saw the Barnsley shot stopper at full stretch.

On the thirtieth minute the Reds doubled their lead, courtesy of a sublime Adam Phillips strike. A long ball into the Argyle box caused real confusion for the home side; they eventually managed to clear their lines, but only into the path of Adam Phillips, who delivered a stunning volley from twenty yards that arrowed into the bottom corner.

Murphy Cooper once again produced a stunning stop to maintain the Reds’ two-goal advantage. In the 40th minute, an Argyle header looked destined to loop into the top corner, but the Reds goalkeeper produced an acrobatic save to keep the effort out.

Half Time: Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Barnsley

On the fiftieth minute, Argyle halved the deficit. The Reds struggled to clear their lines off the back of a Plymouth free kick, and the ball eventually fell to Watts, who converted from close range.

The Reds looked to make a quick response, and on the fifty-fifth minute, some strong play by McGoldrick fashioned the forward man some space, and he took up the opportunity of taking on a strike from a distance, but his effort lacked the power required to trouble the Argyle goalkeeper.

The Reds were dealt a big blow on the sixty-fourth minute, as Jack Shepherd was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon, for what the referee deemed was a handball on the edge of the Reds box.

Argyle looked to capitalise on their man advantage, but the Reds continued to defend resolutely and limited the home side to very few clear-cut chances.

In the eighty-third minute, the Reds carved through the Argyle defence with a brilliant Phillips pass setting Bland in on goal, but the Plymouth 'keeper stood strong and made a solid save to keep the home side in the game.

The Reds looked to wrap up all three points on the eighty-sixth minute, when a mix-up in the Argyle backline set Davis Keillor-Dunn through on goal, and he made no mistake in coolly slotting the ball into the back of the net to extend the Reds’ lead to 3-1 and confirm a winning start to the new campaign for the Reds.

Full Time: Plymouth Argyle 1-3 Barnsley

Reds XI: Cooper (GK), Roberts (Bland 43’), Shepherd, De Gevigney, Vickers (Barratt 68’), Phillips, McGoldrick (Kelly 68’), Earl, Keillor-Dunn, Yoganathan (Russell 58’), Connell

Unused Substitutes: Flavell (GK), Cleary, Woodcock

BUY 25/26 SEASON TICKET HERE£15 BARNSLEY VS BURTON TICKETS

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I had high expectations of a top 6 finish for Plymouth.
On this showing today maybe we can do a lot better than expectations