Argyle suffered a Huddersfield humbling at Home Park, as the visiting Terriers comfortably won 2-0.
The Greens never recovered from a sixth-minute goal by the impressive Derensili Sanches Fernandes, and Huddersfield Town would have been far further in front had it not been for another superb performance by Murphy Cooper in the Argyle goal.
Ten minutes into the second half the lead was lengthened with a close-range header by Bojan Radulovic
Argyle lined up with Cooper in goal, behind a new-look back four, comprising Wes Harding at right-back, Jack MacKenzie on the left, and Alex Mitchell and Alex Hartridge in between.
In midfield, Ronan Curtis and Caleb Watts flanked Bradley Ibrahim and Harvey White, with Bim Pepple returning to the team to join Will Evans up front.
The start to the game was, as expected, fast and high-octane, with Argyle, inside a minute, drawing a good punch under pressure from away goalkeeper Matty Young, as Watts looked to get onto Curtis' header into the box.
However, it was Huddersfield who took the lead on six minutes. A bit of hesitancy among the Argyle defensive unit was seized upon, and Sanches Fernandes, who had already caught the eye, capitalised and scored.
Naturally, this gave the Terriers, a side arriving at Home Park having lost just once in the league this season, plenty of belief. Fernandes went close again, nipping past a series of flailing defenders before MacKenzie covered to block the shot. This led, indirectly, to a six-yard box scramble and a pair of corners from which Argyle frantically defended.
On 24 minutes, Argyle had a deep free-kick, which was crossed into a dangerous area, but Huddersfield cleared, and broke away. Fernandes slipped in Joe Taylor, who looked favourite to score, but Cooper bravely dived at his feet and claimed the ball.
A minute later, an almost identical situation developed. This time, Taylor was able to get an effort away, trying to clip it over Cooper, but Argyle’s number one was sharp again, raising a hand to block it.
Just after the half-hour mark, Argyle finally got hold of the ball and, after some patient possession, put Huddersfield under pressure for a spell. Three crosses into good areas were dealt with by the visiting defence – and then they broke again.
Rinse and repeat; it looked odds-on that Huddersfield would double their advantage, but once again Cooper came to Argyle’s rescue, this time blocking at the feet of Radulovic.
Argyle were certainly brighter in the final 10 or 15 minutes of the first period, but had still been a clear second best to that point. Their biggest piece of good fortune was that it was only 1-0.
At half-time, Argyle withdrew MacKenzie, with Matty Sorinola his replacement. However, little changed, and within ten minutes of the restart Huddersfield were 2-0 up.
The goal came from Argyle struggling to clear from another sudden Huddersfield breakaway, The ball fell to former Pilgrim Bali Mumba, who jinked this way and that before getting to the bye-line and clipping a cross into the centre. Radulovic could have basically blown the ball over the line, as he guided into the net with a facile header.
Just after the hour mark, Argyle rolled the dice with a triple change to try to liven matters up. Pepple, who Tom Cleverley had warned would only probably be fit enough to last 60 minutes or so, came off, as did Curtis and Ibrahim. The replacements were Oli Irow, Xavier Amaechi and Tyreeq Bakinson. The latter two came on as straight replacements, while Irow slotted into the left side, with Watts moving up front to join Evans.
The changes seemed to inject a bit of energy. On the pitch, and in the stands, where the Green Army were roused, raised the decibel level and tried to play their part in generating a response from their players.
In truth, they had been given precious little to cheer, and their choruses were admirable. Argyle were still finding very little to threaten their comfortable visitors, although Irow struck two shots, just after the 70-minute mark. The first, travelling at a fair rate, was blocked by a defender, the second deflected not far wide.
Amaechi, who looked lively in his stint on the field, went close when threaded in by Hartridge, only to see the shot go over the bar, having been saved by Young. Then Watts whizzed one not far wide, reacting quickest to a cushioned header back in by Sorinola, after a long throw-in had been partially cleared.
But it was not enough to get a goal on the board, and Huddersfield deservedly left with all three points.
However, Argyle will have the opportunity to bounce back almost immediately, with a trip to Stevenage on Tuesday night.
Argyle: 1 Murphy Cooper, 3 Jack MacKenzie (29 Matty Sorinola, 46), 7 Harvey White, 9 Will Evans, 11 Ronan Curtis (10 Xavier Amaechi, 62), 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (42 Jared Rendle, 90+2), 22 Alex Hartridge, 23 Bradley Ibrahim (19 Tyreeq Bakinson, 62), 27 Bim Pepple (14 Oliver Irow, 62), 45 Wes Harding (capt). Substitutes: 21 James Storer (GK), 5 Julio Pleguezuelo.
Huddersfield Town: 1 Matty Young, 5 Joe Low, 8 Archie Collins, 9 Joe Taylor (10 Marcus Harness, 81), 15 Ibane Bowat, 19 Bali Mumba, 20 Cameron Humphreys (capt), 22 Ilias Bronkhorst, 23 Sean Roughan, 25 Bojan Radulović (11 Ashley Fletcher, 75), 30 Derensili Sanches Fernandes. Substitutes: 31 Jak Alnwick (GK), 2 Lasse Sørenson, 7 Lynden Gooch, 14 Ethan Brierley, 34 Samson Tovide.
Goals: Sanches Fernandes 6, Radulović 55
Attendance: 16,124 (539 away)
Referee: Ollie Yates
