Plymouth stride clear at the top

Plymouth Argyle marched on at the top of the Second Division with a 2-0 victory over Brentford at Home Park yesterday.

The Pilgrims were kept at bay throughout the first half but the 42nd-minute dismissal of Leo Roget caught up with the visitors. Tony Capaldi put Plymouth ahead after 48 minutes and Nathan Lowndes secured the victory 15 minutes later.

Barnsley slipped to fourth after suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to Chesterfield. Glynn Hurst grabbed the only goal of a scrappy game when he broke the offside trap to secure Chesterfield's first away win in the League this season 10 minutes from time.

Brighton also lost ground as they went down 2-1 away to Swindon. Stefani Miglioranzi, who moments earlier hit the bar, struck the Swindon winner after Brighton's Leon Knight had cancelled out Sam Parkin's earlier effort. Brighton's misery was compounded in the final minute when Nathan Jones was sent off after a tackle on Sammy Igoe.

Bristol City took advantage to move up to third with a 2-0 success over Bournemouth at Ashton Gate. Lee Peacock and Aaron Brown were the men on target with goals either side of the interval.

Goals from Adrian Forbes and Emmerson Boyce carried Luton to a 2-0 home win over Notts County, while Hartlepool won at Oldham by the same scoreline, with Eifion Williams and Joel Porter on target.

Hector Sam and Chris Llewellyn scored two goals apiece in the first half to steer Wrexham to a 4-2 home win over Blackpool. Scott Taylor and Mike Flynn kept Blackpool in contention but Wrexham held on. Port Vale's match with Stockport ended 2-2 after four goals were scored in the opening half hour. Stephen McPhee twice put Vale ahead but Stockport hit back through Stuart Barlow and Simon Lynch.