Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Scunthorpe United: Both sides relegated from League One after controversial clash

Home-grown defender Lloyd Jones (right) scored his first goal for Argyle after rejoining the club this season, but was devastated at the final whistle after relegation

Plymouth Argyle and Scunthorpe United were both relegated from League One after a controversial final-day game at Home Park.

Lloyd Jones and Freddie Ladapo put Argyle 2-0 up before Scunthorpe's Kyle Wootton pulled one back before the break.

But Argyle were incensed when Josh Morris made it 2-2 just before the hour - Pilgrims keeper Matt Macey threw the ball towards the sidelines to get treatment for an injury, but Morris kept the ball in play and chipped the stricken Arsenal loanee to score.

Graham Carey's powerful shot put the Pilgrims 3-2 up soon after, but with Southend beating Sunderland and AFC Wimbledon picking up a draw at Bradford City, Argyle finish in the relegation places on goal difference while Scunthorpe end the season second-from-bottom.

Plymouth Argyle's Twitter reaction left no doubt what they felt about Scunthorpe's equaliser

Argyle knew they needed another three goals if they were to overhaul AFC Wimbledon and snatch safety, and they hit the post twice in stoppage time, but Southend's late winner against Sunderland killed any realistic hope Plymouth had of survival.

A 5-1 loss to Accrington last week and a 3-0 defeat by Barnsley the week before - results which cost manager Derek Adams his job - meant Argyle's goal difference became inferior to their rivals.

Caretaker manager Kevin Nancekivell did lead Plymouth to a first win in nine games, while the loss was Scunthorpe's 10th in their last 14 matches.

But the game will be remembered for Scunthorpe's controversial equaliser which had shades of Leeds United's goal against Aston Villa six days earlier, only the Iron did not allow their opponents to walk in a goal in response like Leeds had done.

Relegation 'a huge setback'

Nancekivell would not comment on what he thought of Scunthrope's equaliser apart from saying he was "very proud" of how his players reacted.

But the long-serving coach was in no doubt how much of a blow relegation is to the club, which had only been back in the third tier for two seasons having almost gone out of business after successive relegations to League Two in 2011.

"It's huge setback, there's not point me sitting here and saying it's not," he told BBC Radio Devon.

"We fought so hard to get back to League One after the dark days of administration and second season back up we've failed to stay there.

"But the fans are superb, they'll stay with us, there's a new grandstand going up and we've got to dust ourselves down and come back stronger, which I'm sure we will."

The end of difficult seasons for Pilgrims and Iron

Both sides ended the season with caretaker managers in charge - Andy Dawson in his second spell minding the shop at Glanford Park this season, having seen Nick Daws sacked in August after just four games and Stuart McCall dismissed in March.

Scunthorpe moved up to ninth place at the start of October as a 5-3 win over Charlton saw them go on a seven-game unbeaten run that included three wins, but they won just twice more in 2018 as they dropped to second-from bottom.

Five wins in eight games between the end of December and mid-February propelled them back into mid-table, but just one win after that sealed their fate.

Meanwhile Plymouth had an awful start to the season - they were bottom for all of September and did not win a league game until 6 October.

They remained in the relegation zone until mid-January when they launched a comeback as they won six of eight games from 29 December.

However, they only won one more match before the final day - a record that ultimately sealed their fate and that of long-serving manager Adams, who was dismissed last Sunday after one game shy of four seasons in charge.