Craig Mackail-Smith scored twice as Peterborough United came from behind to record only their second away victory of the season as Plymouth Argyle were beaten 2-1 by Gary Johnson's men at Home Park.

Gary Johnson's men enjoyed some early possession at Home Park and spent most of the opening four minutes in the attacking third without testing goalkeeper Romain Larrieu.

On six minutes, Tommy Rowe volleyed wide of the target after a good lay-off from Liam Dickinson as Posh continued to show some promising signs. Plymouth won the first corner kick of the afternoon on the quarter hour mark and as that set-piece was cleared, Mackail-Smith was fouled by Alan Judge, who was cautioned.

A snap-shot from Nathan Koranteng went over the crossbar on 25 minutes after a poor Josh Simpson corner had only been half cleared. Posh had the ball in the back of the net moments later as a quickly-taken free-kick from Mackail-Smith picked out Dickinson who finished superbly, but the offside flag was raised and the goal was chalked off.

Posh were certainly having the better of the opportunities with Dickinson glancing a Charlie Lee cross wide of the target on 29 minutes as the stadium became bathed in sunshine.

Johnson's men were indebted to the reactions of goalkeeper Joe Lewis on 31 minutes as centre back N'Gala saw his low shot deflected onto the outside of the post. Moments later and Plymouth opened the scoring and the goal looked suspiciously offside, Bradley WRIGHT-PHILLIPS took advantage though and slotted the ball calmly past Lewis.

Mason should have made it 2-0 moments later as Wright-Phillips tricked his way past Craig Morgan and Posh were looking shaky after the breakthrough with Lewis slicing a back-pass out for a throw in.

Mark Little fired wide from long-range on 35 minutes, moments after Rowe had taken a knock in the face following a hefty clearance from Karl Duguid. Koranteng was cautioned for a push on Judge and Andrew followed him into the book for a late tackle.

Wright-Phillips was inches away from extending the advantage on 43 minutes after again beating the offside trap, but his right-footed effort grazed the outside of the post.

Half-time: Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Posh

Referee Mr Tanner cautioned Lee just after the break for a foul, the third Posh player to be booked by the Somerset based official. Dickinson was denied by goalkeeper Larrieu after a sharp turn on the edge of the penalty area.  

Posh levelled the scores on 63 minutes and it was a well-worked strike from Gary Johnson's men, a flick from Lee into the path of Little, whose low cross was flicked by Dickinson into the path of the onrushing Craig MACKAIL-SMITH who tucked away the chance for only his second goal since December.

MACKAIL-SMITH made it 2-1 on 69 minutes with a superb glancing header from a Tommy Rowe free-kick awarded after Clark fouled the impressive Lee. Posh had appeals for a spot-kick turned down as the ball appeared to strike the arm of Duguid under pressure from Ben Wright.

Rowe, who was named the foreverposh Young Player of the Year last week, fired wide of the target after he showed good strength to hold off the attentions of Carl Fletcher on 73 minutes.  Romain Larrieu then made a fine save with his legs to deny Josh Simpson's angled drive before Wright-Phillips fired horribly wide at the other end.

On 81 minutes, Plymouth were awarded a free-kick after a foul by Lee and Judge stepped up and curled a wonderful effort around the wall, which crashed against the underside of the bar with Lewis and then Bennett providing heroics to ensure the rebound is not forced over the line.

Judge certainly fancied his chances from distance, trying his luck several times from 30-yards, with neither efforts coming close to troubling goalkeeper Lewis. Four minutes of injury time was signalled by the fourth official and there were chances galore, first Simpson was denied by a fine block and then Posh centre back Morgan twice cleared from his own goal-line.

Final Score: Plymouth Argyle 1-2 Posh

Plymouth: Larrieu, Duguid (sub Fallon  78min), Fletcher, Clark (sub Bolasie 67min), Johnson, Wright-Phillips, Arnason, Judge, N'Gala, Mason, Bhasera (sub Barker 46min). Unused subs:  Summerfield, Chenoweth, Johnson, Nelson.

Posh: Lewis, Morgan, Lee, Dickinson (sub Wright 63min), Mackail-Smith, Rowe, Little, Andrew, Bennett, Koranteng, Simpson. Unused subs: McKeown, Green, Mills, McCrae, Griffiths, Piergianni.

Attendance: 8,557 (339 Posh fans)