Pope strike adds to Pilgrims' woes

Tom Pope came off the bench to score his first goal in 16 games and earn Port Vale a deserved 1-0 victory over relegation battlers Plymouth.

The 26-year-old life-long Vale fan arrowed a superb 16-yard finish from Marc Richards' lay-off to finally break Argyle's spirited and stubborn resistance. Vale edged a hard-fought opening spell and Ben Williamson should have scored in the 20th minute when his close-range shot from Doug Loft's cross was saved by Jake Cole. But the Plymouth defence, well marshalled by the experienced Darren Purse, proved a tough nut to crack and Cole otherwise only had to field long-range efforts during an uneventful first half. The visitors pushed Nick Chadwick further forward in an attempt to show more ambition after the break, but Vale continued to force the pace and went close twice in the space of a minute. Richards could only head straight at Cole from Rob Taylor's perfect cross, then Sean Rigg's deflected effort flashed just wide. But Vale boss Micky Adams brought on Pope 16 minutes from time and he delivered the goods with a right-footed shot which found the inside of Cole's left-hand post.