Plymouth Argyle were crowned Champions of the Division 2 following a battling win over Rangers at Home Park. In a game played in searing spring sunshine Rangers never seemed to get to grips with The Pilgrims and the result was a fair one and Plymouth are worthy winners of a poor division.

Following the disappointing 1-1 draw with Stockport many were wondering exactly what Holloway would do to liven things up? Camp remained in goal but there were changes to the back four. Back came Carlisle and Padula in place of the suspended Bignot and the ageing Palmer. Edghill switched to right back with Rose playing centre half with Clarke. Richard Johnson was back in central midfield alongside Bircham with Rowlands and Ainsworth filling the wide positions. Gallen and Furlong continued their partnership in attack.

All the early running was being made by Plymouth and they looked as though they were going to steamroller the R's. Mickey Evans was already knocking seven bells out of Carlisle and Rose and he was targeting the smaller Rose in particular. It was Evans that almost opened the scoring just before the quarter hour when he rose unchecked at the back post only to see the outstanding Lee Camp fly to his right to palm the ball to safety.

Marino Keith was next to try his luck with an overhead kick that seemed to have beaten Camp but then trickled wide of the upright. Rangers were creating nothing going the other way and were reliant on set pieces to create any chances; it was a pity that the delivery from Gallen and Padula was so poor on the day. Carlisle did manage to get a head to a Gino corner but could only head high into the stand at the back post.

Camp found himself well beaten by a volley from Lee Hodges that had Rangers hearts in mouths. He lashed a beautifully struck shot from twenty five yards that shaved the right hand post; if he had scuffed it a little it would more than likely have gone in. If it had done it would have been a deserved lead. Rangers had yet to trouble Luke McCormick in the Plymouth goal, that was until Marc Bircham flicked up a ball and volleyed it straight down his throat.

The half time break was welcomed as much by the fans as the players as it gave everybody a chance to get out of the blistering sunshine and gather their thoughts. When the second half kicked off Rangers seemed rejuvenated and had by far the better of the early exchanges. Martin Rowlands had the first real chance when he chested a ball down on the edge of the box but shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

But in the style to which the division has become accustomed Plymouth roared back to the other end of the field and coughed up two gilt edged chances of their own. First Camp denied Keith in a one on one situation before Hodges somehow managed to head straight at Camp when he was left criminally unmarked at the far post. He will be wondering himself how he managed to pick the only spot in the goal that gave Camp a chance of making the stop.

Rangers responded to this though and came within a coat of paint of taking the lead themselves. Ainsworth, largely anonymous to this point, barrelled his way down the right and got himself into a crossing position. His ball into the box seemed destined to find the feet of Paul Furlong before Paul Connolly intervened to slice the ball against the post with McCormick a helpless bystander. You had to wonder whether it was going to be our day at this point and this feeling was compounded when Rangers came painfully close yet again.

Marc Bircham was hammered on the edge of the area and found himself sidelined for treatment to a head injury. Whilst this was going on Rangers shifted the freekick to Rowlands and he blasted the ball goalward. McCormick seemed to read the initial shot and was horrified to see the ball take a huge deflection and leave him powerless to react. It seemed to take an age for the ball to trundle wide of the post and this seemed to be the kick up the backside that Argyle needed and they launched a period of all out attack on the R's rearguard.

Bircham was forced out of the game with twenty minutes to play and Palmer took his place. There were plenty of grumbles around me at this decision but I saw Bircham go off down the tunnel so I wouldn't be surprised of he had to have some stitches put in his head wound. The last thing you need on such a hot day is a player running around concussed, it could be lethal.

Camp produced another staggering one on one save when he sprinted from his line to deny Frenchman David Friio, it was all for nothing though as Plymouth took the lead with only ten minutes left to play. David Norris worked some space on the right and spun to deliver a left footed cross into the path of Evans. For once Evans decided to attack the ball rather than his marker and powered a superb header past Camp to send Home Park into a frenzy. The noise was deafening and you had a feeling that Rangers simply wouldn't have enough about them to respond given what we had seen already.

Five minutes later it was all over when Friio did manage to beat Camp. A defensive lapse allowed the Gallic midfielder to run unopposed into the area and as Camp again faced up to him he produced a sublime finish to send the ball into the net and start the promotion celebrations in earnest. Rangers had nothing left to give and at the final whistle the difference in the two sets of supporters was there for all to see. One lot were leaping around like madmen celebrating a deserved promotion, the others dejected and desperately waiting to hear how Bristol City had faired against Brighton. As it was, a poor home draw had given us the slightest bit of breathing space.

If we are going to be truthful this was not a good showing from Rangers and I don't think the players themselves will be particularly proud of their efforts. We were out battled and outplayed by the best side in the division by a country mile but the main worry is how they were allowed to dominate so much possession in all areas of the field. I think we missed Bean badly today and I would certainly think about replacing Johnson or Bircham with him for the Swindon game. We need somebody to get to the ball quickly in there and break up the play as that didn't really happen today.

Due to the lack of decent possession we had today all of our attacking talent was almost devoid of any opportunities to show what they are capable of. I think it will be a different story next week as Swindon are going to have to come and play and at home that quite often plays into our hands as we do have the ability to cut any team to ribbons on our day. I still think we can do it but it will be tight, I just hope we don't end up having to go to Sheffield Wednesday and get something to seal the deal.

simon@qprnet.com