Argyle got back to winning ways as they put three past Barnsley at Oakwell, keeping them firmly in the hunt for the Sky Bet League One play-offs.
Owen Oseni was the man of the moment, scoring two of the Argyle goals as well as setting up Lorent Tolaj for the other.
Tom Cleverley made three changes to the side that lost on Good Friday against Bolton Wanderers at Home Park.
Two of these changes were enforced; Bim Pepple and Herbie Kane were both ruled out with injury, the latter's sidelining him for the remainder of the season.
As one striker dropped out, another came back. Lorent Tolaj started his first game after an injury of his own, having not featured from the off since February’s statement win against Cardiff City.
Jamie Paterson was chosen to fill Kane’s place in the centre of the park; the 34-year-old’s good performances in a similar position against both Huddersfield Town and Stevenage, perhaps, were the reason as to why.
Elsewhere, Wes Harding made his first start in over a month, replacing Jack MacKenzie at left back.
This meant that it was Conor Hazard in goal, with a back four ahead of him containing Joe Edwards, Mathias Ross, Alex Mitchell, and Harding from right to left.
Paterson joined Malachi Boateng in the centre of midfield; Ronan Curtis flanked to the right and Owen Dale to the left.
Oseni was partnered with Tolaj in the forward line; the Swiss striker was in search of his 15th league goal of the campaign.
The Pilgrims were quick off the blocks. Owen Dale was the recipient of a few early searching balls forward, but was unable to find an Argyle man in the box.
There were signs of threats from the hosts too; David McGoldrick was proving a tricky customer as he attempted to drop deep to pull the strings for Barnsley.
The first real chance of the game fell to Mitchell, when Hazard found him superbly over the top from a deep free-kick. It was a defender’s finish from the centre-back, who side-footed an effort well over the crossbar from a decent position.
When the next chance came for Argyle, it was taken. The Pilgrims had the lead 15 minutes in, courtesy of Oseni.
It was far too easy for Mitchell to unlock the Barnsley defence; he picked out Tolaj, who had found space in the channel. The forward attracted the attention of de Gevigney and lofted the ball over his head to find Oseni inside the area.
Jack Shepherd was too far away from Argyle’s number 18, allowing him space to fire a low volleyed effort beyond Owen Goodman at his near post, giving the Greens the lead.
In the moments that followed the goal, Barnsley nearly levelled. McGoldrick had two bites of the cherry, but blocks from Harding and then Ross ensured Hazard remained unchallenged.
To their credit, the hosts grew into the game as the half went on, commanding more possession and beginning to ask questions of both Argyle full-backs.
The Pilgrims still had a threat on the break. Curtis was denied by a strong block after he was slipped in by Oseni, who was proving troublesome in the channels.
Barnsley continued to edge closer to levelling. Their best chance of the half came when Reyes Cleary drilled a brilliant cross into a dangerous area that was begging to be met by a red shirt; fortunately for Argyle, it was not.
Conor Hourihane’s side ended the half with a flutter; Edwards, Mitchell, and Hazard were all forced into defensive interventions to snub Barnsley threats.
This seemed to act as a bit of a wake-up call for the Pilgrims; they then went up the other end and forged some chances of their own. Oseni looked destined to score another, had it not been for a poor touch in the penalty area at the crucial moment after he was played through by Tolaj.
Shortly after this, the referee blew for half-time. Whilst the Greens had the lead, the first period had certainly not been straightforward. Hourihane’s team had made things tricky; therefore, it was crucial Argyle found the game’s next goal, so as not to offer the hosts any route back into the game.
The first action of the second half was Ross making an excellent sliding challenge, on a booking, to hook the ball away from Cleary, who looked to be through on goal.
Argyle did as they needed to early in the second-half, finding a second goal before Barnsley could get up and running.
Paterson was the creator, lofting a ball deep into the hosts’ penalty area, where Oseni was in a physical battle with Shepherd. The referee deemed Oseni’s attempts to win the ball fair; he managed to shrug off the defender and square the ball to Tolaj.
The Swiss striker did what he has done so well all season and found the back of the net. He took two Barnsley defenders out of the game with clever movement before curling a powerful effort into the bottom-left corner, leaving Goodman no chance at stopping it from becoming 0-2.
With a Devon Derby fast approaching and Pepple potentially missing with injury, it was no shock to see Caleb Watts replace Tolaj just after the hour mark.
Caleb Roberts was also introduced to the game, coming into midfield for Paterson in what was a like-for-like change.
The Greens had done well to shift the momentum of the game in the second period, not allowing Barnsley so much time in on the ball in the Argyle half, nullifying their threat at source.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts; a clever one-two between Oseni and Watts opened the Barnsley defence up, allowing the former to bear down on goal.
Shepherd made no attempt to win the ball, instead taking out Oseni and leaving referee Tom Reeves no choice but to award a penalty.
Up stepped Oseni, who fired low after a stuttered run-up and was fortunate to see his strike deflect off the goalkeeper’s forearm and into the top-left corner.
The striker had his second of the game and Argyle’s third; for all intents and purposes, it was game over at Oakwell. Oseni had earned a rest; Xavier Amaechi replaced him.
Brendan Galloway came on for Edwards with five minutes left on the clock; his work for the day was done after a great battle with Cleary down the right.
Barnsley looked a beaten side in the minutes that remained; Argyle were comfortable in seeing out the result with a jubilant away crowd making plenty of noise in South Yorkshire
This result keeps Cleverley’s side firmly in the race for the top six; their next obstacle will be Exeter City in the Devon Derby on Saturday, five massive games to go.
Barnsley: 1 Owen Goodman, 5 Jack Shepherd, 6 Maël de Gevigney, 9 Tom Bradshaw (8 Adam Phillips, HT), 10 David McGoldrick, 15 Eoghan O’Connell, 19 Reyes Cleary, 22 Patrick Kelly, 30 Jonathan Bland (18 Scott Banks, 67), 45 Vimal Yoganathan (39 Leo Farrell, 78), 48 Luca Connell (capt). Subs: 51 Kieran Flavell (gk), 4 Marc Roberts, 20 Charlie Lennon, 27 Tennai Watson.
Booked: Shepherd 78
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 2 Mathias Ross, 7 Jamie Paterson (24 Caleb Roberts,64), 8 Joe Edwards (capt) (22 Brendan Galloway, 85), 9 Lorent Tolaj (17 Caleb Watts, 64), 15 Alex Mitchell, 18 Owen Oseni (10 Xavier Amaechi, 81), 19 Malachi Boateng, 28 Ronan Curtis, 35 Owen Dale, 45 Wes Harding. Subs: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 3 Jack MacKenzie, 14 Ayman Benarous.
Goals: Oseni 16, 79, Tolaj 57
Booked: Ross 10
Referee: Tom Reeves
Attendance: 10,722 (1,242 away)
