By Jonathan Brown
DOWNPATRICK-BORN goalkeeper Conor Hazard pulled off two important saves as the EFL Championship’s bottom club Plymouth Argyle knocked Premier League Brentford out of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Morgan Whittaker’s 82nd minute strike at the Gtech Community Stadium was enough to take the Pilgrims through to the fourth round in one of the shocks of the weekend in the FA Cup.
It was a superb defensive effort from Hazard and his Plymouth teammates, with the away side restricting Brentford to just two shots on target in the entire game.
Hazard himself was alert when he was called into action, making crucial saves from two Fabio Carvalho efforts within the first 15 minutes.
The county Down goalkeeper didn’t have a shot to save in the second half as his backline withstood the Brentford pressure to record a memorable 1-0 win.
After the final whistle, caretaker managers Kevin Nancekivell and Joe Edwards took the applause of the 2,500 Plymouth fans who made the long journey to London from the south-west of England.
42-year-old Austrian Miron Muslic, who was recently appointed Plymouth manager following Wayne Rooney’s sacking on New Year’s Eve, was watching on from the stands.
Hazard was playing his fourth game in a row after returning from a three-month injury lay-off and certainly did his case to be the new manager’s number one no harm.
Plymouth’s reward for their 1-0 win over the Bees is a glamour fourth round tie against Premier League leaders Liverpool which will be played between 6-10 February.
