Deane Smalley

Deane Smalley who i totally forgot was still here is back and scored a goal against Penryn.

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If you can score against Penryn, which let's face it is probably the finest town in the whole of the UK if not the known universe, you can score against anyone.

Some very fine people hail from that part of God's own county!

Cornish Chris wrote:

If you can score against Penryn, which let's face it is probably the finest town in the whole of the UK if not the known universe, you can score against anyone.

Absolutely right. I couldn't keep up with the wealthy neighbours and posh cars so moved to Mawnan Smythe.

What with all the students in town, I would have thought that Jo Merrick could score in Penryn.

tigertony wrote:

Cornish Chris wrote:

If you can score against Penryn, which let's face it is probably the finest town in the whole of the UK if not the known universe, you can score against anyone.

Absolutely right. I couldn't keep up with the wealthy neighbours and posh cars so moved to Mawnan Smythe.

All the butlers in town were fully booked up for months so I'm having to slum it up in Monaco for the time being.

Smalley Turns the Tables

ARGYLE were forced to battle through horrible conditions, the dismissal of their goalkeeper, and falling behind with only 20 minutes remaining before earning a dramatic win at gritty Porthleven.

Neither side could find a breakthrough in the first period and the second half was heading in the same direction until Argyle ‘keeper Jordan Stidson raced off his line to close down Freddie Williams, but the timing of his challenge was all wrong and the referee issued a straight red card.

Porthleven doubled the Green misery from the resultant free-kick, as a well-hit strike by Nathan Taylor took a wicked deflection off the wall to find the corner of the net.

Argyle were staring at a surprise defeat but with 15 minutes left on the clock, a foul by Richard Kellow gave experienced striker Deane Smalley a chance to equalise from the spot and the same Pilgrim then showed his Football League quality to convert a dramatic late winner

Plymouth Argyle striker Deane Smalley nearly at the end of long road to recovery

STRIKER Deane Smalley is nearing a return to action for Plymouth Argyle – a year after his last first team appearance.

Smalley has spent the past 12 months recovering from a serious knee injury.

And one of the final steps in his comeback came on Tuesday night when the 27-year-old was included in the Pilgrims' squad for the 1-1 draw with Leyton Orient at Home Park.

He did not get onto the pitch, and his inclusion came partly because of a spate of recent injuries, but manager Derek Adams hoped it had boosted the morale of the former Oxford United forward.

Smalley's last appearance came as a substitute in a 1-1 draw against York City at Home Park on November 29, 2014.

He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in training the following week and had to travel a long road to recovery.

Smalley has been playing for Argyle's team in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League over recent weeks to get valuable game-time, but not at professional level.

His near return to action is a timely one with the important Christmas and New Year period coming up.

Adams told Herald Sport: "He has been out for a long time and I just wanted to try and give him a lift from that point of view.

"He has still got a number of reserve games to go, and we have obviously been short on bodies, so it gave him that opportunity."

Meanwhile, loan signing Luke Croll has spoken of the 'massive' influence that captain Curtis Nelson has among the Argyle squad.

Croll, 20, completed a move from Premier League club Crystal Palace on a deal until January 2 and has started the last two matches with 22-year-old Nelson as his centre-back partner.

He said: "Nelse is a massive figure in the changing room. He's quite a character and he does get the boys going.

"He's very mature for his age, I would say. Nelse is a great player."

Expectation levels for Argyle have been rising among the Green Army after the excellent results at the start of this season and Adams has welcomed that.

He said: "I think that you want an expectation to do well.

"The reason they (the supporters) have got that expectation is because the players have performed so well on the pitch. There is nothing else for it than that.

"We have been able to win a lot of games this season and play the style of football the fans like to see."

Small Wonder

CRAIG Tanner says that the Argyle squad are 'over the moon' for the returning Deane Smalley.
Deane suffered a cruciate ligament injury last November, and just four days short of a year since he last featured in a match-day squad, he was on the bench for Argyle's home match with Leyton Orient.

Smalley did not get any game time in that match, but just his presence in the squad after such a long lay-off is a boost in Tanner's eyes.

“Everyone’s over the moon for him, he’s worked harder than anyone else," said Craig.

“He’s in the gym twice a day and then training, so it shows a real credit to him, and the type of person he is, to keep going after such a long injury which can be mentally very tough.

“You never know: maybe on Saturday he might travel, get the last two minutes and get the winner."

November has been a tough month for Argyle, with injuries to at least eight of the first-team squad depleting the side at various times. Tanner believes, though, that there is plenty of depth in the squad though in order to deal with such problems: “I think we've coped really well," he said.

“I think that just shows the depth; credit to the lads who haven’t played as many games that they would have liked, but they’ve come in and everyone’s done a job.

“It just shows that we’ve got cover in every position. Maybe, in another team, if any of the key players get injured it might be a different story, but I think we’ve shown the calibre that we have here.

“We’re still top of the league by two points and still full of confidence. We just go into every game with the same attitude that we want three points.”

but is he going to make much of an impact to get into the squad in a month or two? he wasnt banging on the door that hard before his injury so its going to be interesting to see how del bhey uses him if at all.