Argyle battled to a point away from home on Wednesday night, drawing 1-1 with Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.
The hosts took the lead through a Jacob Brown header in the 55th minute, but a quarter of an hour later the Greens were level through Maksym Talovierov.
Argyle made two changes to the side that suffered a defeat to Blackburn Rovers. The backline of Nikola Katic, Talovierov and Victor Palsson, in front of Conor Hazard, remained unchanged, with Tymoteusz Puchacz and Matthew Sorinola covering the defensive flanks.
Jordan Houghton returned to the midfield alongside captain Adam Randell, with Rami Al Hajj and Callum Wright playing behind Mustapha Bundu, who led the line. Argyle’s prolific Scotsman Ryan Hardie was forced out of the squad through injury.
Luton came firing out the gates, playing long and winning an early corner. A short set-piece routine left Alfie Doughty with clear room to deliver into the area, January signing Lasse Nordås rose above the rest but had to watch his header float over the Argyle goal and out of play.
Katic’s clearance-minded play was at the forefront of the Greens’ defensive success in the early stages, continuing his heroics from the previous weeks since arriving in Plymouth.
Argyle’s first major opportunity came in the 24th minute, through some fortuitous play in the hosts' final third. A pass backwards to Thomas Kaminski was sliced out of play and handed the Greens their first corner of the cagey affair, but it came to nothing as play was stopped for a clash inside the area.
On the half-hour mark, the Green Army, standing in the Domino’s Oak Stand, erupted with elation. Puchaz’s lofted and bouncing ball behind the Luton backline was met by an onrushing Wright, who flicked the ball past Kaminski, before turning and running off in celebration, only to be stopped by the raised offside flag.
The majority of the final minutes of the first half saw Miron Muslic’s side soaking up intense attacking pressure from the hosts, but a Conor Hazard save from an - albeit offside – Nordas shot, kept the game level heading into the break.
It took just two minutes of pressure and intensity from Luton for Elijah Adebayo to nearly punish a mistake at the back from Argyle. Katic defended a ball into the box well immediately but took too long on the second bounce, allowing the Luton forward to connect and unleash an effort at goal from inside the area, that ended up just over the bar.
Quickly after the chance for the hosts, Argyle were gifted their opportunity at goal near the Luton 18-yard box, following a foul on an onrushing Sorinola. A whipped ball into the box from Puchacz was flicked on by a leaping Talovierov to no avail.
Matt Bloomfield turned to his bench for a boost and was rewarded with an immediate one in the 55th minute. Brown replaced the powerful Adebayo and within seconds headed the ball past Hazard, with his first touch, handing Luton the lead.
Muslic was forced into changes of his own, with Argyle struggling to create anything in front of goal that would cause Kaminski issues, bringing on Muhamed Tijani and Kornel Szucs just after the hour mark.
Soon enough, the power of the substitution worked in favour of Argyle. Luton, down to 10 men with an injured Mark McGuinness waiting to return to the pitch, could not deal with an excellent delivery from Szucs and had to watch Talovierov head the ball home in front of the travelling Green Army.
A back-and-forth affair continued in the enclosed Kenilworth Road, with substitute Brown having another headed chance in front of goal from a corner, following two important blocks from Houghton and Palsson. Hazard dived low to his right, landing on the ball and halting the opportunity.
As the game neared its end, Argyle became foul-heavy in and around their 18-yard box, but the hosts were unable to capitalise on the opportunities handed to them.
With eight minutes of additional time announced in the stadium, a wave of moans and groans could be heard from 11,000 fans sitting or standing watching the battle in Bedfordshire. Argyle defended valiantly through the extra time, throwing bodies at shots and clearing anything put into the area, and were rewarded with a point for their efforts.
Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard, 4 Jordan Houghton, 11 Callum Wright (18 Darko Gyabi, 87), 15 Mustapha Bundu, 17 Tymoteusz Puchacz, 20 Adam Randell (capt), 25 Nikola Katic, 28 Rami Al Hajj (26 Muhamed Tijani, 62), 29 Matty Sorinola (6 Kornel Szucs, 62), 40 Maksym Talovierov, 44 Victor Palsson. Substitutes: 31 Daniel Grimshaw (gk), 2 Bali Mumba, 3 Nathanael Ogbeta, 14 Michael Obafemi, 19 Malachi Boateng, 30 Michael Baidoo.
Goals: Talovierov 70
Booked: Szucs 77, Bundu 90+1
Luton Town: 24 Thomas Kaminski, 3 Amari’i Bell, 6 Mark McGuinness (5 Mads Andersen, 83), 8 Thelo Aasgaard, 11 Elijah Adebayo (19 Jacob Brown, 54) 12 Kal Naismith (capt), 13 Marvelous Nakamba, 20 Liam Walsh (26 Shandon Baptiste, 66), 25 Isaiah Jones, 44 Lasse Nordås (21 Millenic Alli, 83), 45 Alfie Doughty. Substitutes: 23 Tim Krul, 2 Reuell Walters, 37 Zack Nelson, 38 Joe Johnson, 47 Josh Bowler.
Goals: Brown 55
Attendance: 11,752 (1,300)
Referee: Dean Whitestone
