Argyle 4
Barnes 15, Mackie 26, Judge 27, Seip 37

Coventry City 0

CRISIS? What crisis?

The Greens' most complete home performance of the season came at just right point of their rollercoaster season to banish any relegation blues: Easter, the time of new beginnings and fresh hope.

Manager Paul Sturrock will be the first to warn his players and the Green Army that the Pilgrims are not out of the forest yet, but the foliage is definitely thinning out.

First-half goals from Ashley Barnes (possibly), Jamie Mackie, Alan Judge (within two minutes of Mackie's ) and Marcel Seip sewed up three valuable points and, perhaps more importantly, gave everyone in green - on the grass and in the stands - a healthy injection of confidence.

Luggy said before the game that he intended sticking as closely as possible to the 11 that had achieved a pressure-relieving 1-0 win at Blackpool the previous week, and so he did.

He was unable to call upon central defender Craig Cathcart, who had limped away from Bloomfield Road on crutches with a knee ligament problem, but, rather than recall Krisztián Timár, he opted to continue with Cathcart's substitute at Blackpool, Chris Barker.

The Beast had to be content with a place on the substitutes' bench alongside, amongst others, Cameroonian striker Rudi Douala. Never in his wildest dreams can Barnes have believed, just a few weeks ago, that he would have been keeping an international striker out of the Pilgrims' starting line-up.

Coventry, easy-osey in the middle of the Championship, selected the same 16 that had done duty in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace in midweek - and "battered" them, according to Luggy.

That meant a lone striker in the shape of Irish international Clinton Morrison, although he was ably supported by Freddy Eastwood and Robbie Simpson.

There was no place, either, for the Sky Blues - or, on this day, the All Blacks' - number five and another Home Park favourite, in the considerable shape of Elliott Ward, who, like Timár, was only a substitute.

The Pilgrims started as brightly as the afternoon, with Barnes and Judge nipping at the heels of the Coventry back line.

Brightly and sprightly - Mackie instigated a nerve-settling opener with a lost-cause chase down the left flank that drew a foul, and a yellow card, from opposition captain Scott Dann.

Paul Gallagher's free-kick was a bomb but no Argyle players could get a head on it. Fortunately for them, Coventry defender Daniel Fox did, directed it towards his own goal.

Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood flung himself full length to spoon the ball away at his far post, but Gary Sawyer, the previous week's goalscorer, fetched it back from the byeline and returned it into the crowded six-yard box.

The ball appeared to get a final touch from Barnes, although it might have gone straight in, or option three, an own goal by Westwood.

Mackie and Barnes continued to have the same effect on the Coventry defence as a man with a blow-torch in an igloo and it was not long before they melted away again.

Judge induced panic from Westwood with a little dink into the goal area that the Coventry goalkeeper tried to get to by jumping around Barnes.

The Argyle striker stood his ground, got a little toe to the ball, and the predatory Mackie was there when it dribbled away from the pair of them, to sweep it home from the edge of the penalty box.

Just 97 seconds passed before Westwood was picking the ball out of the net for a third time. Given the considerable celebrations for Mackie's strike, the ball had been back in play for much less than a minute when he did so.

This time, the glory was all man-of-the-half Judge's. He picked the ball up on the left, cut inside, played a neat little one-two with Gallagher, and lambasted the ball past Westwood from 25 yards.

It was bow-tie twirling time for the Pilgrims. Barnes caught the mood with a long-ranger, and they looked like scoring from every attack, such was the boot-laces morale of their opponents.

Romain Larrieu was kept keen by a couple of efforts from substitute Kevin Thornton, brought on for the injured Aron Gunnarsson, and Fox, but Argyle were otherwise totally in control.

The party pieces became more outrageous, typified by Judge's sumptuous volley six yards out that came from Larrieu's punt and did not hit the floor in between. Had the ball gone in and not over, it would have been the best goal ever seen at Home Park.

The Pilgrims underlined their superiority eight minutes before the interval with a fourth that came straight off the training-ground.

Another Gallagher corner - and how potent they have been in the last two matches - was headed back at the near post by Barker, for Seip to run in and slot home two yards out in the centre of goal.

Argyle did not let their pace drop after the break, although the tempo of the match was severely affected by injuries to:

a)referee Clive Oliver, who limped out of action with what looked like a hamstring problem; and

b)Coventry goalkeeper Westwood, who required the attention of Argyle club doctor Paul Giles for a facial injury.

To their credit, Argyle kept keen, and, with some of those teams round about the Pilgrims in the Championship winning, or at least not losing, it was important to keep up the momentum. For a start, who knows how vital goal-difference could prove to be at the end of the season?

Carl Fletcher came close to nodding in number five, from another Gallagher free-kick, but substitute custodian Andy Marshall stopped the ball by sitting on it.

The lead allowed Luggy to introduce Douala to the Green Army, and, at the same time, throw Rory Fallon and Chris Clark into the fray.

They had tough acts to follow, but they added their little bits to the sunshine mix.

Argyle (4-4-2) 1 Romain Larrieu (gk); 33 David Gray, 19 Marcel Seip, 15 Chris Barker, 18 Gary Sawyer; 23 Alan Judge (6 Chris Clark 74), 2 Karl Duguid (capt), 28 Carl Fletcher, 11 Paul Gallagher; 24 Ashley Barnes (14 Rory Fallon 74), 25 Jamie Mackie (37 Rudi Douala 74). Substitutes (not used): 5 Krisztián Timár, 27 Lloyd Saxton (gk).

Coventry City (4-5-1): 1 Keiren Westwood (33 Andy Marshall 50); 16 Isaac Osbourne, 6 Scott Dann (capt), 20 Ben Turner, 4 Daniel Fox; 10 Freddy Eastwood, 12 Aron Gunnarsson (Kevin Thornton 28), 7 Guillaume Beuzelin, 8 Michael Doyle, 24 Robbie Simpson; 19 Clinton Morrison. Substitutes (not used): 3 Marcus Hall, 5 Elliott Ward, 40 Ashley Cain.

Booked: Dann 13, Doyle 45, Morrison 65, Fox 76.

Referee: Clive Oliver (Nothumberland) - replaced by linesman Paul Graham (Greater Manchester) 53; fourth official Lee Swabey took over on the line.

Attendance: 12,568 (790 away).