Plymouth secured their third straight win at Home Park as they got the better of their clash with Preston.
Plymouth edge out Preston
Plymouth secured their third straight win at Home Park as they got the better of their clash with Preston.
The visitors dominate proceedings for long periods but were unable to find a breakthrough and ultimately paid the price for their inadequacies in front of goal.
Rory Fallon got the only goal of the game after 18 minutes, ensuring the points remained on the South Coast.
North End pushed forward towards the end and Youl Mawene forced a stunning save from Plymouth goalkeeper Romain Larrieu in the dying moments of stoppage time.
But the Pilgrims held on for a battling victory.
North End returned to the venue where they secured their Championship status last term, determined to grab their second win in as many matches.
They enjoyed the better of the opening stages and Ross Wallace was unable to convert the first chance of the match, when Mathias Doumbe blocked his effort from 12 yards after five minutes.
Tested
Wallace then tested Larrieu after a quarter of an hour, when he chested the ball down and rifled it goalwards from 25 yards.
But it was Argyle who struck first after 18 minutes when Fallon met Chris Clarke's corner with a looping header which evaded everybody and found the back of the net.
Preston came close to levelling the scores when Wallace's corner found Jon Parkin after 25 minutes but his header was cleared off the line by Luke Summerfield.
The home side suffered a setback two minutes later when Doumbe was forced off with an injury and replaced by James Paterson.
Parkin nearly put Preston level five minutes after the break when he latched on to Wallace's ball and forced Larrieu into a brilliant save.
But the Lilywhites striker was given offside and his effort would not have counted.
Preston boss Alan Irvine brought on top scorer Neil Mellor just before the hour mark to try and inject some firepower into his side.
Impact
This had little impact and Plymouth nearly doubled their advantage after 71 minutes when Paul Gallagher turned on to Summerfield's free-kick.
But the former North End striker shot against Preston defender Sean St Ledger.
Jamie Mackie then came close from the edge of the box as his shot forced Preston stopper Andy Lonergan to tip the ball around the post after 80 minutes.
Preston pushed forward in search of an equaliser and Billy Jones headed an inswinging corner from Wallace just wide of the post with four minutes left.
Mawene nearly snatched a draw for Preston at the death but his shot was beautifully turned around the post by Larrieu.
But Plymouth did enough to narrowly come out on top in a disjointed contest, which consigned North End to their sixth defeat in seven Championship matches.
