After a chastening start to life back in the dugout, this win will surely be of great relief, no matter its questionable importance in the grand scheme of things. It will also surely make his Thursday more comfortable, Rooney the headline act for a sold-out Q&A at this stadium.
This threatened to be an awkward evening until Ben Waine opened the scoring, with Cheltenham very much alive in the contest. But nine minutes from time Ryan Hardie slotted in and then the substitute Mustapha Bundu made it 3-0 from the edge of the box. In the end Plymouth were into round two with minimal fuss, Cheltenham dispatched. This was the Plymouth supporters' first glimpse of Rooney at Home Park, with the stadium not hosting any pre-season games owing to a new £1m pitch being laid. Plymouth routed Cheltenham 5-1 in a friendly less than a month ago and while it was not quite the same emphatic scoreline here, a first victory, strangely, felt somewhat priceless. Before play began, a handful of photographers focused on Rooney on the edge of his technical area.
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