JOE Mason scored his first senior goal in the Pilgrims' 4-3 thriller at Bramall Lane and had head coach Paul Mariner predicting a bright future for the young Plymothian.

Half-time substitute Mase score Argyle's second as the Pilgrims' three-game unbeaten Championship run came to an end in dramatic circumstances against Sheffield United.

"Joe Mason is an incredible talent," said Paul, who knows a thing or two about the art of striking.

"He's going to be a very good player. He is a good player to a certain degree. He has got goalscoring instincts and his first touch is fantastic.

"He's got pace; he's brave. He was up against [Chris] Morgan today, who is a bit of a fearsome character."

Fellow substitute Yala Bolasie began the Pilgrims' fightback after they had gone 3-0 down to Jamie Ward's 48th-minute strike, scoring his first Argyle goal in an almost immediate riposte.

Mason nearly snatched a dramatic draw with a late shot that whistled just wide of the post after Jamie Mackie had pulled a goal back to make the score 4-3.

"I thought Mason, Mackie and Bolasie were quite sparkling," said Paul . "I would guess that, if you were a neutral, you'd probably enjoy watching them play, because they're bright as buttons.

"They had some fantastic runs into channels and caused the back four of Sheffield United, which is a decent back four, unbelievable problems.

"The two lads [Mason and Bolasie] have been terrific in training so I thought 'Well, give them a go'."

The fightback came after the Pilgrims had been forced to substitute injured Réda Johnson with Luke Summerfield.

" Summerfield has trained his backside off," said Paul."He's kept his trap shut; he's never been in to see me; he's a very good pro, and he did very, very well when we were adjusting with [Carl] Fletcher going back after Réda came off - plusses as far as that is concerned, but obviously pretty sad about conceding some of the goals."