Plymouth Argyle 5 - 0 Hartlepool United FC: Plymouth build play-off momentum with crushing win

Posted Sunday, May 08, 2016 by PA

Plymouth warmed up for their Sky Bet League Two play-off semi-final against Portsmouth by hammering Hartlepool 5-0 at Home Park.

Argyle boss Derek Adams made seven changes to the side that drew 2-2 at Cambridge, omitting player of the year Graham Carey.

However, the new-look home side - featuring debutant goalkeeper Vincent Dorel and 19-year-old striker Louis Rooney - surged into a sixth-minute lead against the run of play after Argyle's Hiram Boateng had cleared an Adam Jackson header off the goal-line.

Argyle swept up the other end of the field and Plymouth-born attacking midfielder Tyler Harvey sent a first-time 25-yard angled drive from the right past diving Pools goalkeeper Trevor Carson and into the far corner.

Harvey doubled Plymouth's lead after 25 minutes, turning in Gregg Wylde's looping left-wing cross at the far post on the volley and under pressure from his marker.

Teenager Rooney marked his debut with a dream goal to make it 3-0 in the 58th minute, striking through the ball with his right foot as it sat up on the volley 20 yards out on the right angle of the box.

Two minutes later it was 4-0 as skipper Curtis Nelson powered home a header from a corner.

And Rooney doubled his tally and made it 5-0 with a close-range 82nd-minute header.