Plymouth Argyle 2 Cardiff City 1

TWO goals within the space of two first half minutes were enough for Plymouth Argyle to beat Cardiff City live on television at Home Park this lunchtime.

Strikers Emile Mpenza and Paul Gallagher netted in the 38th and 40th respectively.

Argyle boss Paul Sturrock had thrown caution to the wind by including Mpenza, Gallagher and Rory Fallon in his starting line-up.

And it was a move that paid off as the Pilgrims enjoyed the better of the first half with Mpenza and Gallagher both testing Cardiff's Manchester United on-loan goalkeeper Tom Heaton.

But they had to wait until the 38th minute to take the lead when former Manchester City striker Mpenza scored a well-taken goal after hesitation by Cardiff's defence.

And within less than two minutes, Argyle had doubled their lead when Gallagher, who collected the PFA player of the month for October before the game, reacted quicker than any Cardiff player to tap in after a Chris Clark cross had deflected off the bar.

It was a great way to finish the half and the Greens were given a standing ovation as they left the field.

Mpenza had a great chance to make it three just after the break following good play by Luke Summerfield, but his header was just off target.

But Argyle's lead was cut in the 61st minute when Cardiff's Michael Chopra, on-loan from Premiership side Sunderland, put the ball past Romain Larrieu.fr

The Pilgrims had to defend desperately in the dying minutes as Cardiff threw everything at them, but they held on for a well-earned win.

A FULL REPORT WILL APPEAR LATER