City out of Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Plymouth Argyle 2 Exeter City 0 - Match report

Exeter City bowed out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy after goals from Hiram Boateng and Craig Tanner secured a deserved Devon derby win for Plymouth Argyle in their 5,000th competitive match.

For Plymouth Argyle's 5,000th match, Paul Tisdale made five changes to his weekend line-up, with Ryan Harley making his long-awaited return from injury and Danny Butterfield, Arron Davies, Tom McCready and Alex Nicholls all coming in.

The Grecians might have been one-up just seconds into the game, with David Wheeler heading Tom McCready's corner before Joel Grant shot over the bar. At the other end, Bobby Olejnik made two key stops in quick succession, first pulling off a wondersave from Reuben Reid's header and than tipping Jake Jervis's long-range effort over the bar.

Arron Davies almost caught Plymouth keeper Luke McCormick out on the quarter-hour, with the goalkeeper on the back foot before going full-stretch to tip the City man's effort over the bar. Reuben Reid shot narrowly wide in the best chance yet on the half-hour.

But Argyle would take the lead just minutes later, as Hiram Boateng headed in from a right-sided corner. Despite a few examples of neat build-up play from the Grecians, it was Argyle who ended the half in front.

HALF-TIME: PLYMOUTH ARGYLE 1-0 EXETER CITY