Things have been pretty good for Argyle of late, and when you’re flying high, it’s easy to forget that it only takes the next game to bring you back down to Earth.
Tom Cleverley’s side came into Saturday’s game on a run of four wins in a row in all competitions and four wins in their last five in the league — a run that had taken them to the giddy heights of third in League One.
With only four matches taking place due to international call-ups, Argyle knew that victory at home to Burton Albion — a team the Pilgrims had beaten 3-0 and 4-0 last season — would take them to the even giddier heights of the top of the table.
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
🏆 LEAGUE ONE (SAT 26 SEP 2026)
🟢 Plymouth Argyle 0
⚪ Burton Albion 1
Armer 70
The first half produced perhaps the most forgettable 45 minutes of the season from an Argyle perspective. The performance was flat and the atmosphere inside Home Park mirrored what was on the pitch.
There was not a single shot on target from either side, with Argyle’s best chances falling to frontmen Bim Pepple and Will Evans. Brewers gloveman Corey Addai failed to claim Ronan Curtis’ cross and Pepple nodded it over at the far post, while a short corner routine gave Evans a free header at goal, but he powered it into the smattering of Burton fans behind.
Between those two efforts was Argyle’s biggest scare at the other end. There was a whiff of a foul when Kain Adom shrugged off Julio Pleguezuelo in the Pilgrims’ penalty area, but Alex Mitchell rescued his defensive partner with a brilliant, potentially goal-saving, last-ditch block.
Hopes of a reaction at the start of the second half were quickly checked with skipper Wes Harding needing to produce another goal-saving challenge to deny Jack Armer within two minutes of the restart, with Charlie Webster shooting over from the resulting corner.
It didn’t get any better and Argyle’s inability to rouse themselves inevitably led to a Burton goal. Raphael Borges Rodrigues danced past Harding on the left side and laid the ball off to Caylan Vickers. His shot was well saved by Murphy Cooper but Armer followed up and his powerful strike proved too much for Mitchell on the line.
Argyle finally began to wake up from their seventy-minute slumber but the quality in the final third was still sorely lacking. Caleb Watts, introduced from the bench 15 minutes earlier, had a header saved before Pepple finally broke free of the defence and bore down on goal. With only Addai to beat, his shot wasn’t clean and the visiting keeper gathered the effort.
Then came the best chance of all. Two substitutes combined with Bradley Ibrahim threading a brilliant ball through to Xavier Amaechi who did the hard bit and beat the defender to the ball, but with the goal at his mercy, he contrived to drive the ball over the bar and into the Devonport End.
Argyle continued to push for an equaliser but it never felt like it was coming and Burton saw the game out. It probably turned out exactly how Gary Bowyer’s side had hoped it would. For the hosts, this was not in the script.
It could have been the day that Argyle climbed to the League One summit. Instead, it was a missed opportunity. But while the result was disappointing, this was also the worst performance of the season so far.
With a week to dwell on this defeat before we head to Leyton Orient, let’s hope this was just the off day to end all off days.
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Matt Friday
Founder, The Argyle Briefing