Good afternoon, and welcome back to The Argyle Briefing.
There’s nothing quite like a derby-day win to start off the season. Today, we’ll pick the bones out of last night’s Carabao Cup first round victory over Exeter City, what it tells us about this Argyle side and where they stand after the first taste of competitive action.
Football is back, and life is good.
🏆 CARABAO CUP (MON 10 AUG 2026)
🟢 Plymouth Argyle 2
Hartridge 90+2
Pepple 90+4
🔴 Exeter City 0
Home Park was packed on opening night and the reward for those in attendance was a fairly uninspiring first half, with clear-cut chances few and far between. Ronan Curtis should have converted Bim Pepple’s low cross but his tame shot was saved by Jack Bycroft. Pepple did manage to find the net when he headed in from Xavier Amaechi’s angled cross, but used his hand to control the ball in doing so.
Argyle’s best spell of game came in the second half when Pepple nodded over from Malachi Boateng’s cross, with new signing Will Evans missing the chance to bag a debut goal soon after when he latched onto Harry Kite’s weak backpass and blazed it over Bycroft’s bar.
As time ticked down, the feeling that this one was going to be settled by penalties began to grow. But then, a twist. Ethan Sutherland signed for Exeter on loan from Wolves earlier in the day and he entered the pitch in the 65th minute, and walked off it again in the 88th after receiving a second yellow card for pulling back Matty Sorinola.
The ten men of Exeter had two minutes plus an additional four of stoppage time to dig deep and take Argyle to penalties — but then came the breakthrough. Just after the fourth official’s board went up, Argyle won a corner. From it, Harvey White’s delivery found the head of Alex Hartridge, who found the net from three yards. Cue bedlam in the Devonport End.
And just like that, it was 2-0. Argyle sub Freddie Issaka chased down a lofted pass and beat the onrushing Bycroft to it. He laid the ball off to Pepple, who rolled it in to seal the win, and set up a second round tie at home to Coventry City.
👥 Argyle line-up
M Cooper, W Harding (F Issaka 90), M Ross (J Pleguezuelo 77), A Mitchell, A Hartridge, R Curtis, M Boateng, H White, X Amaechi (M Sorinola 67), A Pepple, W Evans.
Subs (unused): J Storer, J Edwards, B Wiredu, B Ibrahim, C Roberts, J Sharpe.
Hartridge is an Argyle hero already
I was going to use this section to talk about Argyle’s defence as a whole, but decided to focus on Hartridge instead because he ended up having a rather busy night — match-winner and Sky Sports’ player of the match on his competitive Argyle debut in the derby against his former side.
A native Devonian, Hartridge came through the Exeter youth system and made more than 170 appearances for the Grecians between 2016 and 2025. If you’re a City fan, he’s clearly been a big player for you in the past. Naturally, when you then see him line up against you for your biggest rivals, you’re going to find that a little tough to take.
However, the abuse Hartridge received from elements of the Exeter support crossed the line. He even said so himself after the game. Fans sang derogatory chants about his family, and one threw a lighter in his direction when he prepared to take a throw-in during the first half.
💬 Alex Hartridge to BBC Sport:
“I think it’s pretty clear that [the abuse] went too far.
“The rivalry and the game that this is is great because of the animosity between the fanbases and that’s why it’s so good, but it’s not nice to see it spill over and to be a part of that.
“It definitely gave me a bit more and it made that sweeter, the way it ended.”
But Hartridge certainly had the last laugh. With barely two minutes left to find a goal and avoid a penalty shootout that no member of the Green Army wanted, it was Hartridge who rose highest to nod White’s corner in at the back post.
Even besides the goal, it had been a very assured competitive debut for Argyle’s new man. Playing in arguably his secondary position of left-back in the continued absence of Jack MacKenzie, he gave plenty of glimpses of how solid an operator he can be in that role.
Argyle fans that saw the goalless draw with Bristol City in pre-season would have seen his mighty long throw, which got several outings on Monday night. Tom Cleverley and his staff still need to work out how to make proper use of that weapon, but it’s a weapon for sure.
He also demonstrated his crossing ability with three or four excellent deliveries that could have resulted in a goal or two on another night, and showed a turn of pace to keep up with City winger Andrew Oluwabori during a quick counter from the visitors.
And then there’s the goal. You don’t need to score the winner in the derby to endear yourself to your new fans, but it certainly helps.
🌟 Player in Focus: Will Evans
The new signing from Mansfield was perhaps the only surprise in the starting line-up when he came in for the injured Owen Oseni. In all, it was a decent debut for the Welshman.
He’s certainly a hard worker, and his touch map on Sky Sports’ coverage showed that he popped up in pretty much every position on the pitch.
He probably should have had at least one goal — the shot he blazed over when he was gifted the ball from Exeter’s Kite should have hit the target at the very least — but overall it was a positive showing from Argyle’s new number nine.
Attacking options take another hit
Defensively, there is plenty to like about this Argyle squad, but issues remain in the attack. Cleverley talked about the lack of attacking options after the Bristol City game, and Evans has been brought in to help that. However, a fresh injury to Oseni — a thigh injury is set to keep him out for four weeks — means Argyle are back to square one.
Currently, there are four senior players to fill the four attacking positions: Curtis and Amaechi on the flanks, and Pepple and Evans up top. What that means is you get an issue like on Monday night — the game is goalless so you look to the bench for options, and there are none.
Oseni is out for the best part of a month and Michael Baidoo is out for roughly three months. Tegan Finn isn’t really a wide midfielder or a centre-forward but he’s still on the sidelines anyway, and the same goes for Caleb Watts, who has operated as the second striker in the past. Freddie Issaka looked lively in his cameo last night, but is he up to League One football?
There appears to be space left in the squad for one further addition, owing to the belief that Argyle are quite close to the Salary Cost Management Protocol limit for wages, which is 50 per cent of turnover for League One clubs.
Cleverley is targeting either a centre-forward or a wide player for that position, likely as a loan. What would make the most sense is someone who can cover both positions, so you would expect this to be the most likely outcome between now and the end of the transfer window.
🔍 Go Deeper
📝 Hartridge told BBC Sport that the abuse from Exeter fans ‘went too far’. Read the BBC story here.
🔉 The Green and White Podcast released its season preview at the weekend. Have a watch on YouTube or listen to it here.
🎥 You can watch the post-match press conference with Hartridge and Cleverley via the video below.
The perfect way to start a season?
Ultimately, victory in the first round of the Carabao Cup is going to have zero impact on how Argyle fans look back on the season in nine months’ time. But, it can have a big impact on the mood around the club and the fanbase at a crucial time of the year.
Had Argyle lost on Monday night, plenty would have shrugged and written it off as an irrelevant cup tie. But, plenty wouldn’t have done. Had Hartridge and Pepple not scored in stoppage time, and had Argyle lost the resulting shootout, talk would have turned to how they didn’t take their chances and how the inability to replace Lorent Tolaj’s goals is going to undermine Argyle’s promotion ambitions.
Or, the talk would have been about Cleverley’s failure to win a derby at the third time of asking. Is there something wrong with his management of these games? Is there a mentality problem within the squad?
Instead, Argyle’s win removes most of that noise. Sure, questions remain around the attack — I’ve already asked it myself — but it’s a good result that instantly lifts the mood and gives the club some momentum straight away. It was a very different story this time last year. Remember those four league defeats on the bounce?
The start of August is a time when all football fans should be optimistic, and starting the season with a Devon derby win, regardless of what competition it’s in, is about as good as it gets.
🆚️ EFL Cup results
Bristol City 0-1 Walsall
Wolves 3-0 Port Vale
Wycombe 1-2 Stevenage
Middlesbrough 1-0 Wrexham
Cambridge 2-1 Barnet
QPR 1-1 Millwall (Millwall win 2-0 on pens)
AFC Wimbledon 1-1 Newport (AFC Wimbledon win 5-4 on pens)
Barnsley 1-1 Wigan (Barnsley win 6-5 on pens)
Bradford 2-0 Rochdale
Bristol Rovers 0-1 Peterborough
Bromley 1-1 Reading (Reading win 5-4 on pens)
Burnley 1-1 Notts Co (Burnley win 4-3 on pens)
Burton 1-2 Blackburn
Cardiff 3-2 Swindon
Crewe 2-1 Accrington
Derby 1-2 Lincoln
Fleetwood 1-0 Chesterfield
Gillingham 0-3 Luton
Grimsby 1-3 Blackpool
Leicester 1-0 Northampton
Leyton Orient 2-0 Oxford
Norwich 4-1 MK Dons
Preston 1-1 Huddersfield (Preston win 4-3 on pens)
Salford 1-1 Shrewsbury (Shrewsbury win 4-3 on pens)
Sheff Wed 1-0 Bolton
Stockport 1-1 Doncaster (Doncaster win 5-4 on pens)
Stoke 2-0 Oldham
Swansea 0-1 Birmingham
Watford 1-0 Crawley
West Ham 3-1 Portsmouth
Cheltenham 1-3 Charlton
Colchester 0-2 Southampton
Rotherham 1-4 West Brom
Mansfield 0-3 Sheff Utd
Argyle 2-0 Exeter
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Next edition: Friday’s Weekend Preview.
Until then, thanks for reading.
Matt Friday
Founder, The Argyle Briefing