By HeraldDMunday
March 23 marked exactly 12 months since the loan return of Ghanaian holding midfielder Hiram Boateng was confirmed by Plymouth Argyle as the 2015/16 loan window drew to a close.
It was a day of much joy for Argyle fans given that Crystal Palace man had arguably been the Pilgrims' most crucial player in the first half of the season.
In a short space of time, Boateng had become very popular with the Green Army for his ability to police the middle of the park excellently alongside team-mate Carl McHugh.
He appeared to be almost the complete midfielder player with the strength, stamina and intelligence to break down attacks, win the ball back and most of the time play the right pass too.
He was also a threat from set-pieces and grabbed the odd goal in those circumstances.
Boateng's first loan spell at the club was cut short by injury, though, and on November 26th 2015 he returned to Palace nearly a month and a half before the end of his temporary deal with Argyle.
That was after he picked up a leg injury in a 2-0 win over Morecambe on October 31st.
And that was incredibly frustrating for members of the Green Army because his departure coincided with their first real blip of the season having, at that point, made it to the top of the table.
They crashed out of the FA Cup the week after losing Boateng in a 2-0 home defeat to Carlisle and two Saturdays later, with a host of other important injuries plaguing them, the Pilgrims were humbled by arch rivals Exeter City 2-1 at Home Park.
Disappointing draws with Leyton Orient and Dagenham and Redbridge followed that Devon Derby loss before Cambridge United were 2-1 winners at Home Park on December 12th.
By that point, Argyle's lead at the League Two summit had disintegrated and they had slipped to third in the table.
Thankfully the return to fitness of the likes of Luke McCormick, Reuben Reid and Graham Carey helped the Pilgrims climb back to the top of the league during December and January.
But after that was when things began to unravel once more with Argyle slipping back down to second in February and their record from the end of January to March 22nd - the day before Boateng returned - was won two, drawn three, lost three.
When it was revealed that the young defensive midfielder was coming back to Argyle there was almost a collective sense of relief given that he arrived very soon after a 1-0 defeat at home to Luton which saw Derek Adams' men slip outside the top three for the first time since September.
There was definitely a consensus among fans that now that Boateng was back, Argyle would snap out of their poor form, walk through their remaining games, finish in the top three and win promotion to League One.
Although there was a quarter amongst the supporters keen to avoid any unnecessary pressure on Boateng's shoulders alone.
Ultimately his return did prove to be something of a false dawn, though, as Boateng never really got back to his best in an Argyle shirt.
He had to spend three games on the bench - at the request of the Crystal Palace sports science team - and got his second Argyle 'starting debut' in that disappointing 2-1 defeat to Wimbledon at Home Park on April 9th.
In their end of season run-in, a few decent results aside, Argyle's players looked tired and lacked the drive to really push for promotion and, unfortunately, Boateng was also a part of that.
Of course, we never expected Boateng to turn this around on his own given that Argyle's biggest problems appeared to be in finding someone to score goals.
And you have to remember he spent most of the winter months rehabilitating from injury.
Although he's not come back to Argyle since the end of that heart-breaking campaign we are certainly happy to see him operating at League One level with Bristol Rovers and now Northampton Town.
I don't think many Argyle fans would disagree that, when at his best, Boateng was a player fully capable of playing at a much higher level than League Two.
After all, he nearly scored for Palace against Swansea in January when Alan Pardew's first team options were heavily limited.
So a year after he came back to Plymouth, we wish the youngster well in his future endeavours - and want to go on record as saying that if you ever do want to play for Argyle again we'd more than welcome you back with open arms, Hiram!
Source: Plymouthherald.co.uk