A FIRST win in the Championship since Boxing Day revived Plymouth's faltering push for the playoffs at the expense of a Leicester City team which, for all the changes in personnel and organisation made by Ian Holloway since he left Home Park to take over at the Walkers Stadium, continue to hover dangerously near the relegation zone.
City's lowly league position is not so much down to defensive frailties as a season-long struggle to create anything going forward. They have condeded fewer goals than any team in the Championship - 30 - but they have only scored 29.
But they began positively enough, Steve Howard's flick-on giving Matt Oakley a shooting chance that was pulled wide. Plymouth, however, were patiently playing themselves into the game, and the 25-yarder with which Hungarian Peter Halmosi almost opened the scoring marked the start of a long period of ascendancy for the visitors. Steve MacLean fired just wide and shortly after the half-hour, the pressure paid off when centre-half Krisztian Timar headed Paul Connolly's free kick back across goal, Lilian Nalis challenged and Halmosi seized on the loose ball to shoot past City goalkeeper Ben Alnwick.
Looking to hit back, City created their best chance of the half but Stephen Clemence's shot from Iain Hume's lay-off was too close to Luke McCormick in the Argyle goal.
Holloway shook his team up at half-time, sending on DJ Campbell to play up front alongside Howard and pushing Hume up to join them. Howard, somewhat fortunate to still be on the field after catching McCormick across the face with a high arm in the first half, headed a corner a couple of feet over the bar, but it was still Plymouth who were creating the better chances.
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Halmosi saw a shot deflected into Alnwick's arms, and the goalkeeper had to react quickly when Patrick Kisnorbo nearly deflected Jim Paterson's driven cross into his own goal. Though City were being outplayed, their workrate was keeping them in the game. Howard, conceding nothing in a running battle with Timar, headed a corner back across goal and substitute Zsolt Laczko guided a header just wide. Leicester were beginning to play with belief as well as hope, but with 15 minutes remaining they were caught square at the back by a long clearance. Easter outpaced Gareth McAuley but his powerful rising drive was pushed away by McCormick.
Still Leicester pressed, and they were unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty when an 88th-minute scramble saw the ball hit Argyle substitute Lee Hodges on the hand before being cleared. But there was nothing fortunate about the brilliant save with which McCormick denied Matty Fryatt or the fact that the young goalkeeper was in the right place again when McAuley side-footed a subsequent corner towards goal.
"January has been a horrific month for us as a club," said Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock, "but the players took on board the importance of this game to the fan base and responded. Hopefully we can use the performance as a springboard."
Holloway, unhappy with what he had witnessed, kept his players in their dressing room for an hour after the final whistle. "Once we let a goal in, I don't like the look of our lot - we lack leaders," he said. "We were better in the second half, but although I believed we would equalise, I'm not sure that my players did. I won't accept anyone not being positive, and I'm going to be looking to bring in one or two loan signings."
Star man: Luke McCormick (Plymouth)
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Player ratings: Leicester: Alnwick 5, Chambers 5, Kisnorbo 6, McAuley 6, Clapham 6 (Fryatt 89min), Hume 5, Oakley 6, Clemence 5, Bori 5 (Campbell ht, 6), Hayles 5 (Laczko 65min), Howard 5
Plymouth: McCormick 8, Connolly 6, Timar 7, Doumbe 6, Sawyer 6, Halmosi 7 (Hodges 80min), Abdou 6, Nalis 7, Paterson 6, MacLean 5 (Fallon 85min), Easter 6
Scorer: Halmosi 34
Referee: I Williamson
Attendance: 21,264