Plymouth Argyle 0 Bradford City 0
The Bantams began their Devon double header with a goalless draw at Home Park against relegation threatened Plymouth Argyle.
Both sides had their chances to win the game with both City and Argyle hitting the woodwork. Phil Parkinson's men should've perhaps turned late dominance into a game winning goal but the point sets up a massive six pointer against Exeter City on Saturday.
The first chance of the game fell to the hosts; Reuben Reid ran at Andrew Davies before producing an accurate low cross which was just behind Andres Gurrieri and scooped comfortably over Matt Duke's bar.
Garry Thompson almost certainly should've fired The Bantams ahead merely a minute later; a long ball over the top found him in acres of space after beating the offside trap when he appeared to be yards offside, he continued to bear down on goal but was denied by Jake Cole in a one on one situation.
Paul Wotton's hopeful pass forward fell kindly to Argyle skipper Conor Hourihane who moved into space before firing a rising shot well over the bar from 20 yards out.
The hosts were enjoying a bright start to the game going forward and Jason Banton was proving a real threat on the left hand side of midfield. The former Blackburn and Liverpool youngster ran at Stephen Darby before pulling the ball back towards Andres Gurrieri. His effort however was hacked to safety by Carl McHugh.
Andy Gray wasted a glorious opportunity to test Jake Cole in the Plymouth goal when he failed to direct Zavon Hines' accurate cross effectively and his headed effort eventually proved no trouble for Cole.
Kyel Reid tried to beat Jake Cole from distance with a freekick attempt. His 25 yard strike beat the wall but Cole was alert enough to hold onto the ball is it looked for a moment that it might've been nestling into the bottom corner of the goal.
Conor Hourihane was presented with another decent opportunity after Lee Cox had turned away from Andy Gray neatly and found him with a neat through ball; Hourihane's goal bound angled strike, however, was excellently blocked by Stephen Darby.
Carl McHugh should've hit the target on the stroke of half time when he rose unchallenged at the far post to head Kyel Reid's wide of the target.
Plymouth were enjoying a bright start to the second half and Jason Banton was proving difficult to deal with, after getting into the area and gliding past Nathan Doyle, he found half a yard on Stephen Darby before rattling Matt Duke's near post with a thunderous strike.
Banton was presented with another goal scoring opportunity shortly after hitting the woodwork when Conor Hourihane picked him out with an incisive pass into the area but his low drive was comfortably dealt with by Matt Duke.
Carl McHugh had an opportunity to make up for his earlier headed miss when Nathan Doyle picked him out with his deep corner kick delivery but the Irishman again failed to hit the target and Plymouth were once more let off the hook for slack marking.
Joe Bryan lined up a freekick but caught City temporarily off guard by playing the ball short to Jason Banton and he strolled forward before hitting a vicious swerving shot towards goal that Matt Duke did really with to parry to safety.
Argyle centre half Paul Wotton was the next to try his luck from long range when he was teed up from a freekick to launch a powerful, rising shot a yard or so over the bar.
The Bantams were denied by the woodwork with ten minutes remaining; Lee Cox's mis kick inside the area allowed James Hanson to tee Garry Thompson up for a firm shot that beat Jake Cole all ends up but cannoned back of the crossbar.
Alan Connell's introduction helped City to pile on the pressure late on as they searched for a winning goal and after playing a neat one-two with James Hanson he laid the ball into the path of Kyel Reid inside the area, Reid's first time strike was blocked as far as Hanson whose deflected shot crept narrowly wide of the bottom corner.
Plymouth almost won the game in the dying seconds of injury time in hugely unjust fashion. Rory McArdle scoped the ball into the air under pressure and Matt Duke looked to be gathering the ball comfortably but he was barged out of the equation by a green shirt leaving the goal barely guarded. Two Argyle players attempted to scramble the ball home but Stephen Darby defended superbly to clear the ball to safety.