Nigel Pearson's reign as Southampton boss got off to a disappointing start as Plymouth triumphed at St Mary's.

Nightmare bow for new Saints boss as Plymouth march on

Nigel Pearson's reign as Southampton boss got off to a disappointing start as first-half goals from Peter Halmosi and James Paterson gave Plymouth a convincing win. Argyle moved up to seventh in the Championship after their 2-0 win at St Mary's, their first victory away to the Saints in 34 years. Despite starting brightly, Saints went behind after 31 minutes when Lilian Nalis played in Halmosi, who calmly clipped the ball past Kelvin Davis. Things went from bad to worse two minutes later when Paterson curled home an excellent long-range effort for his first Pilgrims goal since joining the club from Motherwell in January.

Disgruntled

In front of their lowest-ever crowd for a league game at St Mary's the disgruntled Saints fans voiced their concerns as Davis made a superb save to stop Jermaine Easter making it 3-0 just before the break. Southampton came flying out the traps after the restart in search of a way back into the game and Marek Saganowski headed over from a tight angle. Southampton continued to press late on, but they ran out of steam as the Pilgrims held on for the win that took them within two points of the play-offs.