Plymouth bottle Wembley final

Manager apologises to fans

Plymouth Argyle were thrashed four- nil at Wembley stadium against Bolton Wanderers in the Papa John’s Trophy final. The atmosphere from the Devon fans before kick-off was immense.

But it didn’t take long for the greater Manchester side to somewhat silence Argyle as In the fourth minute, Bolton opened the scoring with a precise header following a corner courtesy of winger Kyle Dempsey. Bolton had most the ball during the early stages and the goal drifted over the Plymouth keeper. 

To the disliking of the Argyle fans, from open play this time, Bolton Wanderers tapped the ball in and doubled their lead within 10 minutes; this made the Pilgrims’ comeback chances much harder.  It seemed like Argyle were about to go three goals down, but an excellent goal line stops from goalkeeper Callum Burton thwarted this.

A penalty appeal when Bali Mumba went down in the Bolton box was turned down, and Bolton then looked on for a third.  

The game then fizzled out into a period of dullness, with much of it being played in the Bolton half, and Plymouth couldn’t create any meaningful packages of play. Although a chance came from a late Argyle corner, nothing came from it. It was like Boloton had an answer for everything.

So as the first half finished, it was Bolton two, Plymouth nil.

Plymouth’s hope of a comeback faded away as the second half got off to the same start as the first, with Bolton scoring with four minutes, and bringing the score to three-nil, which really ruined the mood of the Pilgrims’ supporters.

As if it couldn’t get any worse for Plymouth Argyle, a relatively simple Bolton goal from a corner finished this game off and with nearly 30 minutes left to go, a handful of Plymouth fans departed from the ground. 

The party atmosphere and hope that surrounded the ground before kick-off collapsed; it was the Bolton fans who were in full voice. 

A disappointing end to the Papa Johns trophy final, Plymouth manager Steven Schumacher said he wanted it all to end as the fourth goal went in. The final score: Plymouth nil, Bolton four; with eight fixtures left in the league Argyle turn their focus on automatic promotion. 

Attendance: 79,389