Argyle fell to their first defeat in 2026, after Stockport County won late at Edgeley Park in Sky Bet League One.
Despite taking the lead through Caleb Watts, the hosts came from behind to beat the Greens thanks to a pair of strikes from Kyle Wootton.
Tom Cleverley named an unchanged side from the one that drew against Mansfield Town earlier in the week.
In fact, there was only one change to the match-day squad, Owen Dale was amongst the substitutes, his first involvement since mid-December’s win against Rotherham United.
This meant that it was Luca Ashby-Hammond in goal, ahead of the now regular back four containing Joe Edwards on the right, Brendan Galloway on the left, and both Mathias Ross and Alex Mitchell in the centre.
Malachi Boateng was partnered by Brendan Wiredu in the heart of midfield, Ronan Curtis flanking to the right, and Matty Sorinola to the left.
Tuesday night’s goalscorer, Bim Pepple, played alongside Watts; Lorent Tolaj was still absent, having been deemed not fit to play.
Both teams had strong starts to the game, Stockport looked to test the Greens’ aerial prowess, whilst Argyle kept their opponents honest with a threat on the break.
Wootton probably should have done better when Odin Bailey teed him up well with a great cross from the right. The forward was unable to evade Ross and make a meaningful connection with the ball.
Argyle responded with a chance of their own, Curtis darted away from Ethan Pye and moved infield, sliding a pass across the edge of the penalty area to Wiredu, who had advanced.
The ball was begging to be struck first-time, and Wiredu obliged, curling an effort narrowly wide of the left post.
There was a moment of controversy just before 20 minutes when Watts was seemingly felled by Pye, inside the Stockport penalty area.
The eyes of all inside Edgeley Park were fixed on referee Sam Allison, who now had a big decision to make. Despite contact, the decision he came to was no penalty; Watts was instead booked for simulation.
This did not get the Pilgrims down; they continued to create chances and struck the crossbar just minutes later. Ross had climbed above a crowd of bodies inside the box to glance a Curtis corner onto the woodwork, Ben Hinchliffe only a spectator on his goal line.
The chances continued to come; recent goal-machine Galloway was presented with a good shooting opportunity, which he took, his effort well blocked by the recovering Josh Dacres-Cogley.
Bailey offered the Pilgrims a reminder of the home side’s threat when he struck just over, the chance came after intricate play in the box between Adama Sidibeh and Ben Osborn.
It seemed to all that Argyle had found the breakthrough after industrious work from Watts saw him wrestle the ball from Pye and slip Curtis in on goal.
The Irishman’s shot could not be held by Hinchliffe and was spilt into the path of Watts, offering him the chance to fire into an empty net, had it not been for an excellent recovery challenge from Brad Hills.
Argyle finally managed to breach the hosts’ backline and take the lead, courtesy of Watts and Ross. It came after an overhit cross from Wiredu cleared the intended target, Pepple, and the bouncing ball arrived at Ross’ feet.
The defender took his time, chested the ball down, and looked up before volleying the ball back across goal and into the top-right corner, sparking bedlam in the away end as the Dane wheeled away in celebration.
Upon further review, it became clear that the ball had deflected off Watts before hitting the back of the net, so officially, the goal is his.
Cleverley will have been pleased to see his side take the lead, based on the chances they had created in the first-half. The challenge was now to sustain this in the second period and secure all three points.
Half-time also saw an Argyle substitution; Watts, who was on a booking, was replaced by Xavier Amaechi.
As expected, the hosts stepped it up a gear in the second-half. Stockport controlled the ball better than they had previously done, and began to ask questions of the Greens’ defence.
Galloway picked up a small knock just after the hour mark and could not continue; this allowed for an Argyle debut for the previously injured Jack MacKenzie.
It would be Stockport that found the game’s next decisive moment, Wootton flicking in to level the score midway through the second period.
Great skill from substitute Malik Mothersille saw him beat Boateng and Edwards as he cut inside and laid the ball off to Tayo Edun. The full-back picked out Wootton well, and he made easy work of his first real chance of the afternoon to make it one-all.
Whilst County had dominated the ball, they were rarely calling Ashby-Hammond into action, so the Pilgrims will have been disappointed to have their opening goal cancelled out.
The goal gave Stockport a lift, and they continued to push on in search of a second; Argyle needed to remain concentrated and offer a more regular threat on the break to keep their opponents at bay.
With just over ten minutes left to play, Cleverley made his third change of the game, bringing on Dale to replace Sorinola on the left flank.
Skipper Edwards put his body on the line to deny Tanto Olaofe the chance to fire an effort on goal. Argyle’s number eight threw himself in front of the striker’s effort as he bore down on goal.
However, Stockport’s pressure finally proved too much, and they took the lead with five minutes left on the clock.
Ollie Norwood had found space on the right and threaded an excellent ball to Jack Diamond on the byline, which took Wiredu out of the game.
The substitute chipped a great cross to Wootton, who headed beyond a helpless Ashby-Hammond to score both his and his team’s second of the game.
This was a real blow for Argyle, who had held on well to that point; it also gave them a kick to push on and find another goal.
Dale came mightily close when he rattled the crossbar with a vicious dipping effort from range, it was at that point that the belief that it may not be Argyle’s day began to become prevalent.
Argyle put the pressure on in stoppage time, industry from Dale, Curtis, and Boateng kept the ball bouncing around the Stockport penalty area, but it just would not drop to a black shirt to convert.
The referee blew for full-time, Mitchell was shown a yellow card, and Cleverley’s side were defeated for the first time in 2026. It was not down to a lack of effort or trying; Stockport were a good side, currently enjoying a rich vein of home form, and the Pilgrims did a good job of making it tough for their opponents.
The games do not get any easier for the Greens; next up is second-place Lincoln City at Home Park.
Stockport County: 1 Ben Hinchliffe, 2 Josh Dacres-Cogley, 9 Tanto Olaofa (5 Joseph Olowu, 85), 14 Tayo Edun, 15 Ethan Pye, 19 Kyle Wootton, 23 Ben Osborn (4 Lewis Bate, 60), 26 Ollie Norwood (capt), 27 Odin Bailey (7 Jack Diamond, 60), 29 Adama Sidibeh (11 Malik Mothersille, 60), 33 Brad Hills. Substitutes: 34 Corey Addai (capt), 3 Owen Dodgson, 12 Roman Dixon.
Goals: Wootton 69, 85
Argyle: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond, 2 Mathias Ross, 4 Brendan Wiredu, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 15 Alex Mitchell, 17 Caleb Watts (10 Xavier Amaechi, 46), 19 Malachi Boateng, 22 Brendan Galloway (3 Jack MacKenzie, 61), 27 Bim Pepple, 28 Ronan Curtis, 29 Matty Sorinola (35 Owen Dale, 77). Substitutes: 13 Zak Baker (gk), 7 Jamie Paterson, 18 Owen Oseni, 24 Caleb Roberts.
Goals: Watts 42
Booked: Watts 20, Sorinola 45, Edwards 49, Wiredu 74, Mitchell 90+6
Referee: Sam Allison
