Reid inspires Plymouth victory

First-half goals from Reuben Reid and Lewis Alessandra put Plymouth on their way with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Northampton.

Top scorer Reid gave Argyle the perfect start with his 14th goal of the season in the fifth minute. Jason Banton did well to set up Reid and his shot on the turn squirmed under goalkeeper Matt Duke. Argyle continued to make the better openings despite the swirling conditions. Banton was denied by Duke who then kept out an effort from Neal Trotman while Reid was twice off target with decent efforts, and Dominic Blizzard also fired wide. In between, on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion winger Brennan Dickenson headed wide on his debut as Cobblers looked to get back on level terms and Emile Sinclair also went close for the strugglers when he fired over. But Argyle coped much better with the difficult conditions than Cobblers and deservedly doubled their advantage in the 39th minute. Banton was again involved in the build-up and when Alessandra cut inside his cross-shot eluded Duke and nestled in the far corner. The Cobblers enjoyed their best spell of the match after the restart and finally created some chances. Chris Hackett shot wide, Sinclair headed over and Alan Connell at last tested goalkeeper Jake Cole, making first start between the posts since August in place of the injured Luke McCormick. Connell forced Cole into another save with a shot from the edge of the box late on and substitute Antonio German should have done better from Dickenson's low cross. But Cobblers didn't make the most of their limited openings and never really looked like getting back into the contest. Reid missed a great chance late on to grab his 15th of the campaign when he headed wide but the two first-half goals were enough to send Cobblers to their fourth straight home defeat.