A superb double from Craig Mackail-Smith and a bullet header from Aaron Mclean earned Gary Johnson's Peterborough United a 3-0 win at Plymouth Argyle as Posh transferred their excellent home form into matches on the road.

An ambitious over-head kick from Craig Noone went wide of the target on three minutes after an excellent ball into the box by Lee Molyneux. Posh, wearing their third kit, responded well and Molyneux had to be alert to clear as the ball threatened to roll into the path of Craig Mackail-Smith.

The home side won the first corner kick of the afternoon on nine minutes as Tommy Rowe headed behind, but Ryan Bennett cleared well at the near post. A superb run from George Boyd on 11 minutes  saw him shake off the attentions of the full-back and pull the ball back for Aaron Davies, but his shot went wide with Reda Johnson doing well to make things difficult for the winger.

Posh were inches away from breaking the deadlock on 18 minutes as a driven corner kick from McCann picked out Kelvin Langmead, but he guided his header the wrong side of the post.

A poor clearance from captain Grant McCann presented a shooting opportunity for Noone, but he fired over Joe Lewis' crossbar  Nana was cautioned for an obvious trip on the edge of the area on Bhasera and it presented Argyle with a good chance. The free-kick was struck straight into the wall.

Noone was booked for a foul on McCann in a similar position at the other end and it caused problems, the midfielder delivering a teasing centre to the back post where Molyneux cleared well with Langmead closing in.

Striker Patterson fired wide of the target on 38 minutes, but clear cut chances were hard to come by for both sides. The impressive Molyneux then went on a weaving run from left-back, but after exchanging a one-two with Dean Parrett, he dragged his effort wide.

Duguid then produced an excellent last-ditch tackle to stop Davies from racing clear on 42 minutes, had he miss-timed it, he would have been dismissed and had he missed both the man and the ball, the Posh winger would surely have broken the deadlock.

Half-time: Plymouth Argyle 0-0 Posh

Young midfielder Dean Parrett fired wide of the near post after a good ball through by Duguid on 48 minutes before the hosts won a free-kick as Rowe upended Mason. Mackail-Smith appeared to be fouled by N'Gala on 52 minutes following a long ball forward, but as the striker took a tumble, the referee and the assistant referee waved play-on. Mclean then sent an ambitious volley wide before Boyd did the same thing less than 60 seconds later.

A clever ball forward from Nana picked out Mackail-Smith on 55 minutes and there was still plenty to do for the striker, but he did the first bit superbly, chipping the ball over the defender, but his left-foot volley went inches past the post.

Posh opened the scoring on 62 minutes as a superb in-swinging free-kick from McCann was headed powerfully past goalkeeper Button by MACKAIL-SMITH. A needless corner conceded by Rowe nearly led to the equaliser for the home side as a deep corner was met by Noone, but Lewis made a good save.

Langmead made a good block to deny Patterson after a big gap in the Posh defence was nearly exploited by Peter Reid's men. Boyd then squandered a glorious chance to double the lead after a fine pass from Mclean, firing over on his favoured left foot after appearing in plenty of space at the back post.

The miss didn't matter moments later however as a cross-field pass from Tommy Rowe picked out MACKAIL-SMITH, he took a fine first touch and then fired an unstoppable volley past Button.

On 77 minutes, Posh added a third, simplicity was the best word to describe it, McCann floating the corner into the box and MCLEAN powering a header past Button. Plymouth did have a spell of pressure after the third goal, but only a weak Maclean effort that drifted wide caused any kind of panic for Posh and their travelling support of 274, making good noise behind Button's goal.

Tomlin was keen to get in on the act and he wasn't far away, his right-foot shot finding the side-netting as the Plymouth fans finally lost patience with their side and began heading for the exits.

Button, on-loan from Tottenham Hotspur, enhanced his reputation with a superb save to deny Hibbert after excellent approach play from the visitors with Tomlin instrumental. Mackail-Smith then saw a shot blocked as he went in search of his hat-trick. Lewis made his first save on 94 minutes to deny Maclean before the referee brought a half to proceedings.

Final Score: Plymouth Argyle 0-3 Posh

Plymouth: Button, Duguid, N'Gala, Johnson, Clark, Patterson, Bhasera, Mason (sub Maclean 71min), Noone, Molyneux (sub Patterson 88min), Parrett (sub Peterlin 75min). Unused subs: Larrieu, Summerfield, Timar, Nelson.

Posh: Lewis, Nana, Rowe, Langmead, Bennett, Wesolowski, McCann, Boyd (sub Tomlin 79min), Davies (sub Mendez-Laing 56min), Mclean (sub Hibbert 79min), Mackail-Smith. Unused subs: Zakuani, Lee, Piergianni, Collis.

Attendance: 7,712 (274 Posh fans)