Luke Jephcott and Ben Reeves fire Plymouth to FA Cup victory over Lincoln

Posted Sunday, November 29, 2020 by PA

Plymouth bounced back from successive league defeats to beat Lincoln 2-0 in the FA Cup second round at Home Park.

In-form striker Luke Jephcott took his season tally to eight goals and six in six games with Argyle’s opener in the sixth minute.

Midfielder Ben Reeves then settled the tie between the League One rivals with a stunning 55th-minute volley from the edge of the box after Lincoln failed to clear a free-kick.

Frank Nouble looped the ball up for Reeves, making the most of his call-up in the absence of playmaker Danny Mayor.

Plymouth came into the match having suffered away defeats to Fleetwood and Peterborough in the last eight days but they were quickly on the front foot against Lincoln thanks to Jephcott.

The Wales Under-21 forward swept in to steer his header past City’s on-loan West Brom keeper Alex Palmer from George Cooper’s corner.

Palmer is no stranger to Plymouth having spent last season at Home Park helping Ryan Lowe’s side to win automatic promotion from League Two.

His understudy last term was Michael Cooper, now Argyle’s number one.

Cooper made two superb first-half saves to keep out shots from Lincoln skipper Harry Anderson – after 10 minutes – and Robbie Gotts, just before the break.

Cooper also made a string of brilliant second-half stops to maintain a clean sheet, with Reeves’ fine strike at the other end ensuring it would be Plymouth progressing to the third round.