Plymouth 1 - Coventry City 0

On-loan midfielder Lee Martin capped a virtuoso performance on his home debut by scoring the only goal of the game as Plymouth beat Coventry to climb into the top six in the Coca-Cola Championship.

The Manchester United starlet, who made his first appearance for Argyle as a substitute in the goalless draw at Blackpool prior to the international break, struck the decisive blow after 16 minutes on his first start for the club.

Top scorer Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was the architect with a low cross from the right wing and Martin swept the ball past Andy Marshall from six yards out.

Martin would have opened the scoring moments earlier had Marshall not produced a superb save to keep out the 20-year-old's shot from the edge of the area.

Plymouth boss Ian Holloway opted to start with Martin at the expense of Akos Buzsaky, who was rested after returning from international duty with Hungary in midweek.

Holloway made one other change from the side that started against Blackpool two weeks ago, with Nick Chadwick making way for Barry Hayles.

Coventry manager Iain Dowie also made two changes. Michael Hughes made his first appearance for the Sky Blues for two months after recovering from a troublesome thigh problem as Jay Tabb dropped to the bench and Julian Gray returned from a seven-week absence with a knee injury to replace Dele Adebola.

Plymouth dominated the early stages and they created the first opening of the game after eight minutes when Hayles headed Lee Hodges' cross over the crossbar from 10 yards.

Martin's goal was reward for the home side's dominance and David Norris went close to doubling the lead midway through the first half when his rising shot narrowly cleared the crossbar.

Martin proved to be a constant menace and he was thwarted by Marshall once again just before the break, when his 12-yard shot was tipped over the crossbar by the City goalkeeper.

Coventry offered little in the way of an attacking threat in the first half, but they mustered their first effort on goal immediately after the restart. However, Robbie Simpson's header lacked conviction and was easily fielded by Luke McCormick.

The same could not be said of Krisztian Timar's headed effort eight minutes later when he got on the end of Peter Halmosi's far-post corner. But the Hungarian directed the ball into the side-netting.

Plymouth remained the more ambitious side and only another fine save from Marshall, this time at point-blank range to thwart Ebanks-Blake, prevented the hosts from extending their lead.

Martin continued to torment Coventry and when he won a corner midway through the second half, Argyle should really have put the game beyond the visitors, but Marcel Seip headed Halmosi's cross wide from close range.

In the end Plymouth had to settle for just one goal, but it was enough to give them only their second win of the season at Home Park, where they still remain unbeaten.

Source : Soccernet