Plymouth Argyle beat Bantams at a windy Home Park

Plymouth Argyle secured their first League One victory of the season after Tom Cleverley’s side produced a determined performance to beat Bradford City 2-0 at a windswept Home Park.

Goals from recalled defender Julio Pleguezuelo and midfielder Harvey White gave Argyle a deserved victory and ended Bradford’s winning start to the campaign.

Argyle began brightly despite difficult conditions and spent much of the first half applying pressure to the visitors.

They came close to breaking the deadlock in the 27th minute when Alex Mitchell’s volley was blocked by a Bradford defender, with the loose ball falling invitingly to Will Evans. The Argyle forward, however, could only fire over from 10 yards.

The home side continued to threaten and eventually got their reward shortly before half-time.

In the 44th minute, Oli Irow sent a dangerous cross into a crowded penalty area. Bradford failed to clear effectively and the ball fell kindly for Pleguezuelo, with the Spanish central defender finding the corner of the net to send Argyle into the interval with a deserved lead.

Bradford had opportunities of their own, with City striker Will Swan finding himself through on goal following a defensive mix-up 10 minutes after Evans’ chance.

Swan attempted to take advantage but was closed down by Argyle goalkeeper Murphy Cooper and fired wide.

Plymouth, though, continued to look the more dangerous side after the restart and doubled their advantage just five minutes into the second half.

Tyreeq Bakinson teed up Harvey White approximately 25 yards from goal and the midfielder unleashed a superb strike.

The effort took a slight deflection on its way towards the corner, leaving Bradford goalkeeper Jon McCracken helpless as he dived in vain to keep it out.

Argyle almost added a third shortly afterwards when Ronan Curtis raced forward and unleashed a goalbound effort in the 55th minute.

This time McCracken was equal to it, producing a brilliant diving save to deny the Argyle attacker and keep Bradford within touching distance.

The Bantams were unable to make their opportunities count, however, while Argyle showed enough defensive resilience to protect their two-goal advantage.

For Cleverley and his players, the final whistle brought a welcome sense of relief as well as three valuable points.