Plymouth Argyle 1 Exeter C  0.

by Ed Hogg at Home Park. 

Monday 28 December 1998

Referee: Paul Danson

Att: 11936

ON-LOAN Plymouth Argyle striker Howard Forinton carved himself a place in Devon football folklore as Exeter City's away curse remained unshaken. The borrowed Birmingham City marksman poached the goal that condemned the Grecians to a 1-0 Home Park reverse.

Forinton's 73rd minute strike stretched the visitors' club-record winless away streak to a staggering 32 league and cup contests. Peter Fox's men have trekked around 15,000 miles in search of that elusive victory. City are in the midst of the club's worst spell since 1995-seven Division 3 contests without a win. The derby defeat sent them. into the bottom six, leapfrogged by Torquay following the Gulls' 2-0 success against Southend. It provided Argyle with the perfect fillip for next weekend's FA Cup third round date with Premiership Derby County. And ensured Exeter completed an entire calendar year without celebrating victory on their travels. Fox's immediate concern was the loss of the 49th Football League scrap between the bitterest ene- mies among Devon's trio of professional clubs. Forinton's winner - the ex-Yeovil frontrunner's second strike in just two starts for the Pilgrims - gave Argyle their 18th triumph since serious derby hostilities began in 1920. 

"There were a lot of pleasing aspects in our performance," insisted Fox. "If it had been against anybody but Plymouth I would have got over defeat reasonably quickly. "But I'm upset because it was Argyle who beat us. Losing to Plymouth Argyle hurts that bit more!" But City must find a rapid solution to the slide of the past two months, a fact acknowledged by the St James's Park boss. Fox spent much of the warm-up- extended through a 15-minute delay to kick-off necessitated by the short- sighted Argyle administration failing to anticipate a near 12,000 gate and a rush for FA Cup tickets organising shooting practice. However, Exeter ultimately paid the penalty for failing to capitalise on first-half superiority, drawing a blank for the fourth time in six league outings. City - who required Steve Flack's late equaliser to avoid derby defeat at the hands of visit- ing Torquay 48 hours earlier - had begun firmly in command. They out-tackled and out-smarted Kevin Hodges' charges from the start. Jimmy Gardner's wicked second minute cross needed only a touch as it flashed across the face of the Plymouth goal before Jon Sheffield was forced into the first save-smothering Shaun Gale's long-range drive. Counterpart Ashley Bayes thwarted Forinton with a typical instinctive block to halt an isolated Argyle raid. But Plymouth then escaped twice. Sheffield scrambled Chris Fry's 10th minute drive around his right-hand post after intelligent prompting from Chris Holloway and Gardner. From the resulting Gardner corner, Guy Branston was forced to hack clear when his goalkeeper could only parry the firm volley of ex-Pilgrims favourite Chris Curran. Grecians loanee Brian Quailey, preferred to Darran Rowbotham in attack, was unlucky with the ricochet after racing to charge down a 27th minute Sheffield clearance. And, after Gale had been cautioned for a challenge on Earl Jean, the customary derby ill-temper appeared. Plymouth pair  Paul Wotton and Jon Beswetherick were booked in tandem -for an ugly lunge at Holloway and hoofing the loose ball at the prostrate mid- fielder respectively. But the interval interrupted Exeter's momentum. After the restart Bayes fingertipped Jean's point- blank effort to safety and Flack, appearing suspiciously offside as he gathered Holloway's header, shot straight at Sheffield. That escape stung Plymouth - and more specifically, Forinton - into action. His 71st minute cross invited Jean to apply the far-post touch but Graeme Power cleared. Immediately, more Forinton spadework gave Jean a shooting chance and Bayes saved with his legs. But when Barlow deliv- ered the corner and Branston headed down, the 23-year-old Blue reacted quickest to flick home from close range. It might have been 2-0 but Bayes redeemed himself for failing to control Power's backpass by denying McCarthy. And City wast- ed two genuine opportunities to level in the clos- ing stages. Holloway sliced over after a smashing cut-back from sub Geoff Breslan. Then, two minutes into stop- page-time and with Bayes providing extra manpower in the Plymouth penalty area, Fry volleyed too high.