McFadzean at the double for Plymouth

Posted Sunday, August 04, 2019 by PA

Plymouth lived up to their promotion billing as Callum McFadzean’s double and a Joel Grant strike eased them to a 3-0 win at Crewe.

Argyle started impressively and first-half efforts from McFadzean and Grant enabled them to establish a firm grip before the former added a third in stoppage time.

Crewe kept plugging away and went close to reducing the arrears on several occasions after the break.

But they were frequently at full stretch and fell behind in the fourth minute. After Ryan Wintle cleared a Joe Riley effort off the line the ball came back in and dropped for McFadzean who hooked a volley into the top corner.

Grant carried a threat against his former club and forced Will Jaaskelainen into a good save. The inexperienced keeper did even better keeping out Danny Mayor’s angled shot with a foot, but he was well beaten when Grant despatched a thumping drive from 25 yards into the bottom corner.

Crewe could have drawn level before that but Daniel Powell found Alex Palmer a notable obstacle, repelling the attacker’s fierce blast and a follow-up effort from Charlie Kirk.

The Railwaymen improved in the second half when Chris Porter glanced a header past the far post and Harry Pickering rippled the side netting with a free kick.

But Argyle broke to add a third with McFadzean netting his second when firing in from an angle in stoppage time.