ARGYLE came out with three points in a stunning Westcountry derby with Bristol City at Home Park.
Chris Clark scored a tremendous volley and Bradley Wright-Phillips added a sublime overhead kick to send the Greens into a 2-0 half-time lead.
The Robins came out firing after the break and pulled level with a double-strike from Nicky Maynard before Carl Fletcher grabbed the victory with a dramatic winner in injury-time.
"I'm a little tired but obviously elated," said head coach Paul Mariner. "We played almost as well as we did on Saturday at Coventry. We were obviously delighted to go in with two quality goals.
"It was a special goal from Bradley. He throws the 'keeper, who didn't have any idea it was coming. It was a sensational finish from Clarky to finish off a nice build-up, so we were delighted.
"We knew how dangerous it still was. We were under no illusions that [Bristol city manager] Gary [Johnson] would reorganise and get his lads geed up and they came out with quality players going forward that caused us all sorts of problems.
"I am obviously delighted to be on the right end of a late winner. I knew that the players were ready for this. I've been preaching and shouting from the rooftops about how resilient and ultra-professional these guys are.
"Maybe we just deserved it. If it was a boxing match, we maybe won seven rounds out of five. We just got over the hump.
"To top it off was a guy that epitomises what we are all about in Carl Fletcher. It was an unbelievable finish, if you think about what he did in a crowded box.
"It was underneath his body, he had no back-lift and it was slightly on the half-volley, and he's drilled it in the bottom corner. That's not a fluke. He does that for fun and he's done it many times for us this season.
"I very rarely step out and praise players individually but I thought Carl Fletcher put the team on his shoulders today and carried us forward.
"If you consider where we've been in the table all season, a lot of teams, to use an American term, mail it in. These lads haven't mailed it in and we've lost two in eight now, and we were unlucky to lose at Sheffield United.
"We didn't give a good account of ourselves at Queens Park Rangers. We were very disappointed because that wasn't our stamp but we've got some momentum. We've really got our tails up.
"We've got a lot of fight in the dressing room. The players really care about what they're doing and we all have ownership in where we are in the table, and they want to put it right."
The night began with Mariner surprising everyone by switching dugouts and he thoroughly enjoyed his evening with a buzzing Green Army.
"We changed dugouts just to freshen it up and make people think," he said. "We had great banter with the fans behind and they were tremendous. They really got their money's worth tonight.
"It was wonderful to hear Home Park ringing with 'Argyle' and 'Green Army'."
The Pilgrim roar almost turned to grief when Maynard banged in his brace and Mariner blamed fatigue in his front-line and the power of the Robins' attack.
Despite all the attacking talent on show, Réda Johnson picked up the man of the match award for a majestic performance at the back.
"Everybody who has worked in football will tell you it starts from the front and it was probably a big ask for Bradley to go 90 minutes tonight," said Mariner.
"When you've been out, there is nothing quite like playing in the Championship. We changed it up a bit and started to get some momentum back.
"Réda was spectacular in the first-half. His heading was something to behold but, as we've seen throughout the season, the defence can only withstand so much pressure.
"Gary changed his team at half-time and they are a very good team going forward, so we knew it was going to be difficult but we came out the right end tonight."
Next up for Mariner is a trip to fellow-strugglers Scunthorpe United, who face the daunting prospect of a trip to Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
He said: "They have a difficult game at Newcastle tomorrow night. It is so difficult to win this division, so we'll enjoy tonight and think about Scunthorpe tomorrow."
