All seemed to be going serenely for Plymouth Argyle, sitting proudly at the top of League One with 41 points from just 17 games, four clear of second-placed Ipswich Town, as they went into a much quieter November for them after a very hectic period of matches.
The Pilgrims played just four times during the month but it still proved to be eventful, not least with their FA Cup first round tie away to Grimsby Town.
Given the distance from Plymouth to far away north Lincolnshire, and after their superb recent results, the Pilgrims’ squad were treated to a private plane flight the day before the match.
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Argyle, the top-ranked club in the competition at that stage given their league position, were expected to beat their League Two hosts with some ease.
They seemed to be on the way to doing that when midfielder Adam Randell gave them the lead with a fine fifth minute strike at Blundell Park.
However, by half-time, the shellshocked Pilgrims were trailing 4-1 after a shocking defensive display at set pieces and had lost wing-back Conor Grant and Dan Scarr to injuries which would keep them out of action for some time.
When Brendan Kiernan made it 5-1 in the 58th minute it looked like the Pilgrims would end up conceding a few more but that was the way the scoreline stayed until the final whistle.
Grimsby used that remarkable win as a springboard to incredible success in the FA Cup, beating higher division opposition all the way through to the quarter-finals, where they were eventually beaten 5-0 away to Premier League club Brighton and Hove Albion.
Argyle were back in Lincolnshire the next Saturday, too, but fared better as they battled it out for a 1-1 league draw with Lincoln City.
Randell scored with another fine shot from distance to put the Pilgrims ahead but Max Sanders equalised in added time at the end of the first half.
Argyle were grateful for a tremendous double save from goalkeeper Mike Cooper in the second period as they picked up a point from their visit to Sincil Bank.
The Pilgrims then had a 2-2 draw in their third successive away game of the month against Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium.
After trailing at half-time, Argyle stormed into a 2-1 lead with goals from Ryan Hardie – with a penalty – and Bali Mumba – and they seemed destined to run out as winners.
That was until the eighth minute of added time when Burton’s Adrian Mariappa headed home from close range after an uncontested drop ball was hit into their visitors’ penalty area.
Steven Schumacher was left fuming and his comments to fourth official Carl Boyeson led to him getting a one-match touchline ban.
Argyle’s fourth and final game of November saw them beat Charlton Athletic 3-2 at Home Park in the last 32 of the Papa Johns Trophy, in front of a crowd of just 1,394. Apprentice Caleb Roberts was among the scorers for the Pilgrims.
When Argyle played Port Vale on Friday, December 2 it was their first home League One game since they overcame Exeter City 4-2 in the Devon derby on October 31.
There were high hopes of a 10th consecutive league win at the Theatre of Greens but Port Vale had other ideas as they beat the table-topping Pilgrims with a couple of second half goals from striker James Wilson.
Argyle followed that up with a 0-0 draw away to Cambridge United as their run without a league win extended to four games – which would be the longest such sequence all season.
The match at the Abbey Stadium only went ahead due to the hard work of the ground staff after overnight temperatures dropped well below zero degrees centigrade.
Argyle had 14 goal attempts but only one of them was on target as they found it near-on impossible to play with any sort of fluency on a rapidly freezing pitch.
Given their run of results, it was important the Pilgrims returned to winning ways against lowly Morecambe at Home Park in their final match before Christmas.
However, it was never going to be easy against a side managed by former promotion-winning Pilgrims’ boss Derek Adams who made themselves hard to break down.
Morecambe ‘keeper Connor Ripley was on top form as he made some excellent saves but Argyle’s patience paid off as Niall Ennis finally broke the deadlock in the 69th minute and Sam Cosgrove netted in the 84th.
Anthony O’Connor, the former Pilgrims’ loan signing, replied for the Shrimps deep into added time but it was not enough to prevent the home side from picking up maximum points and keep them at the top of the table.
Argyle were in Papa Johns Trophy last 16 action four days before Christmas as they welcomed AFC Wimbledon to Home Park.
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They were too welcoming in the first half as the visitors from south-west London took a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes and added a third goal in added time before the break.
It seemed all over for Argyle, but Sam Cosgrove thought otherwise as the on-loan Birmingham City striker completed a 15-minute hat-trick in the second period and the tie went to penalties.
Goalkeeper Callum Burton made a key save as the Pilgrims won 4-3 on penalties – with Cosgrove on target for the fourth time on the night – to reach the quarter-finals.
For the third time in the last four years, the EFL fixture computer sent Argyle to play Cheltenham Town at Whaddon Road on Boxing Day, and the Pilgrims completed a hat-trick of wins from those matches.
It looked like it might end in a goal-less draw this time until Morgan Whittaker came up with another moment of magic in the 78th minute as he drove forward from close to the halfway line and then drilled a low 20-yard shot into the corner of the net.
The Pilgrims’ last game of 2022 was against Wycombe Wanderers at Home Park and they won 1-0 after withstanding a late onslaught from the visitors.
Former Wycombe loanee Dan Scarr scored the all-important goal in the 33rd minute with a fine volley after a free-kick was hit into the penalty area by Adam Randell.
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Argyle League One champions special edition being printed by The Herald