Former fireman Rhys Griffiths scored on his professional debut as Plymouth Argyle beat Northampton Town for their first League Two win of the season.

Alex Nicholls gave the visitors the lead, firing Ben Tozer's cross home on the turn, before Warren Feeney headed home a leveller.

Griffiths, 32, calmly side-footed home to give them the lead and Curtis Nelson added a third with a looping header.

David Artell headed home deep into injury-time for the Cobblers.

Griffiths, a summer signing from Port Talbot, only played 27 minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute and then coming off with an injury for fellow goalscorer Nelson.

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Plymouth Argyle manager Carl Fletcher told BBC Radio Devon:

"I'm pleased with Griff, all he wants to do is play and show what he can do and you can see what he can do after 20 minutes.

"We had a good second half which showed a good hunger and desire to do the right things and that got us the win.

"You always want to get the first win of the season, it's like a monkey on your back, you want to get it done and out of the way and move onto the next one.

"You see what an organised and good side Northampton are, and they're going to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season so it's a good win for us today."

Northampton Town manager Aidy Boothroyd told BBC Radio Northampton:

"It was a disappointing result. It is a difficult place to come. We did very well in the first half and got a deserved lead.

"In the second half, we set our stall out to hang on to what we'd got, it was very lacklustre.

"We gave them momentum. We were architects of our own downfall.

"In three months' time, we'll be looking back on these fixtures thinking we've missed out on five points."

Lineup, Bookings (1) & Substitutions (6)

Plymouth Argyle

  • 01 Cole
  • 02 Berry
  • 03 Williams
  • 04 Blanchard
  • 05 Purse
  • 06 Hourihane
  • 08 Young
  • 14 Bhasera
  • 15 Wotton (Griffiths - 45' )
  • 07 Cowan-Hall (MacDonald - 33' Booked )
  • 11 Feeney

Substitutes

  • 13 Chenoweth
  • 17 Nelson
  • 19 Lennox
  • 27 Gurrieri
  • 28 Gorman
  • 10 Griffiths (Nelson - 67' )
  • 32 MacDonald

Northampton Town

  • 21 Nicholls
  • 03 Widdowson
  • 05 Langmead
  • 18 Artell
  • 23 Danny East
  • 04 Guttridge
  • 08 Harding (Demontagnac - 69' )
  • 11 Hackett (Mukendi - 79' )
  • 12 Tozer
  • 10 Akinfenwa (Platt - 51' )
  • 14 Nicholls

Substitutes

  • 13 Snedker
  • 06 Charles
  • 07 Demontagnac
  • 09 Platt
  • 15 Mukendi
  • 16 Wilson
  • 19 Moult
Ref: Andy Davies
Att: 6,037

Match Stats

Shots

12 17

On target

7 9

Corners

4 9

Fouls

10 12

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +4:37 Full time

Full Time The final whistle goes and the game is over.

90:00 +3:37

Assist by Ben Tozer.

90:00 +3:37 Goal scored

Goal - David Artell - Plymouth 3 - 2 Northamp'n David Artell finds the net with a headed goal from deep inside the penalty area. Plymouth 3-2 Northampton.

90:00 +3:01

Ishmel Demontagnac takes a shot. Darren Purse gets a block in.

90:00 +1:54

Clive Platt takes a shot. Save by Jake Cole.

90:00 +1:13

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Alex Nicholls by Alex MacDonald. Direct free kick taken by Alex Nicholls.

90:00 +0:18

The referee blows for offside. Jake Cole takes the direct free kick.

88:26

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Ishmel Demontagnac by Onismor Bhasera. Free kick taken by David Artell.

87:31

Luke Guttridge restarts play with the free kick.

87:31 Booking

Booking Alex MacDonald is shown a yellow card for dissent.

87:18

Darren Purse concedes a free kick for a foul on Clive Platt.

86:09

Luke Guttridge fouled by Conor Hourihane, the ref awards a free kick. Lee Nicholls restarts play with the free kick.

85:33

Warren Feeney takes a shot. Lee Nicholls makes a comfortable save.

84:42

Corner taken right-footed by Luke Young.

83:08

Ishmel Demontagnac takes a shot. Darren Purse gets a block in. Ben Tozer takes a shot. Lee Nicholls makes a save. Corner taken by Luke Guttridge played to the near post, Headed effort from close range by David Artell bounces off the post.

78:15 Substitution

Substitution Henoc Mukendi joins the action as a substitute, replacing Chris Hackett.

78:15

Shot from inside the area by Ishmel Demontagnac clears the bar.

75:48

Chris Hackett takes a inswinging corner to the near post, Luke Young manages to make a clearance.

75:07

Unfair challenge on Warren Feeney by David Artell results in a free kick. Darren Purse restarts play with the free kick.

73:30

Assist on the goal came from Onismor Bhasera.

73:30 Goal scored

Goal - Curtis Nelson - Plymouth 3 - 1 Northamp'n Curtis Nelson finds the net with a headed goal from deep inside the penalty area. Plymouth 3-1 Northampton.

73:15

Free kick awarded for a foul by Ben Tozer on Onismor Bhasera. Free kick taken by Robbie Williams.

72:03

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kelvin Langmead by Warren Feeney. David Artell restarts play with the free kick.

69:02

Alex Nicholls takes a shot. Blocked by Darren Purse.

67:30 Substitution

Substitution Ben Harding leaves the field to be replaced by Ishmel Demontagnac.

67:30

Luke Young takes the outswinging corner, Shot from deep inside the area by Maxime Blanchard clears the bar.

66:42 Substitution

Substitution Rhys Griffiths leaves the field to be replaced by Curtis Nelson.

65:31

Unfair challenge on Ben Tozer by Conor Hourihane results in a free kick. Free kick taken by David Artell.

61:23

Alex Nicholls takes a shot. Blocked by Luke Guttridge. Corner taken left-footed by Ben Harding. Chris Hackett takes a inswinging corner to the near post, clearance made by Jake Cole. Corner taken by Ben Harding from the right by-line, Alex Nicholls takes a shot. Maxime Blanchard gets a block in. Corner from the right by-line taken by Ben Harding, Close range header by David Artell goes wide of the left-hand post.

58:09 Goal scored

Goal - Rhys Griffiths - Plymouth 2 - 1 Northamp'n Rhys Griffiths fires in a goal from inside the area to the bottom left corner of the goal. Plymouth 2-1 Northampton.

57:23

Handball decision goes against Alex MacDonald. Free kick taken by Joe Widdowson.

55:59

The referee blows for offside against Warren Feeney. Lee Nicholls takes the indirect free kick.

54:27

Corner taken right-footed by Chris Hackett from the left by-line, save by Jake Cole.

52:30

Header on goal by Chris Hackett from inside the box goes harmlessly over the target.

51:48

David Artell fouled by Rhys Griffiths, the ref awards a free kick. Lee Nicholls takes the direct free kick.

50:06

Free kick taken by David Artell.

50:06 Substitution

Substitution Clive Platt is brought on as a substitute for Adebayo Akinfenwa.

50:06

Conor Hourihane concedes a free kick for a foul on Luke Guttridge.

49:36

Outswinging corner taken by Conor Hourihane from the left by-line played to the near post, Danny East makes a clearance.

48:20

Effort on goal by Alex Nicholls from a long way out goes over the bar.

46:02

Onismor Bhasera provided the assist for the goal.

46:02 Goal scored

Goal - Warren Feeney - Plymouth 1 - 1 Northamp'n Warren Feeney finds the back of the net with a headed goal from close in. Plymouth 1-1 Northampton.

45:25

Onismor Bhasera takes a shot. Save by Lee Nicholls.

45:01

The referee gets the second half started.

45:00 +2:16 Half time

Half Time The first half comes to an end.

45:00 +0:44

The referee blows for offside against Warren Feeney. Lee Nicholls takes the indirect free kick.

45:00 Substitution

Substitution Rhys Griffiths on for Paul Wotton.

44:26

Outswinging corner taken right-footed by Paul Wotton from the right by-line, Darren Purse takes a shot. Save by Lee Nicholls.

41:37

Alex MacDonald produces a left-footed shot from outside the penalty box and misses right.

40:31

The ball is sent over by Alex MacDonald, Kelvin Langmead makes a clearance.

39:11

Corner taken left-footed by Ben Harding from the right by-line to the near post, Header from close in by Alex Nicholls misses to the left of the goal.

33:40

The ball is crossed by Chris Hackett, Alex Nicholls produces a right-footed shot from close in which goes wide of the left-hand upright.

32:42

Unfair challenge on Conor Hourihane by Luke Guttridge results in a free kick. Robbie Williams restarts play with the free kick.

32:42 Substitution

Substitution Alex MacDonald joins the action as a substitute, replacing Paris Cowan-Hall.

32:25

Free kick awarded for a foul by Adebayo Akinfenwa on Maxime Blanchard. Maxime Blanchard takes the direct free kick.

31:18

Unfair challenge on Paul Wotton by Adebayo Akinfenwa results in a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Robbie Williams.

29:29

Effort on goal by Conor Hourihane from inside the penalty box misses to the right of the target.

26:39

Adebayo Akinfenwa concedes a free kick for a foul on Maxime Blanchard. Jake Cole restarts play with the free kick.

25:30

Assist on the goal came from Ben Tozer.

25:30 Goal scored

Goal - Alex Nicholls - Plymouth 0 - 1 Northamp'n Alex Nicholls finds the back of the net with a goal from inside the penalty box to the bottom left corner of the goal. Plymouth 0-1 Northampton.

24:49

The official flags Warren Feeney offside. Direct free kick taken by Lee Nicholls.

24:31

Unfair challenge on Durrell Berry by Ben Tozer results in a free kick. Paul Wotton restarts play with the free kick.

23:44

The ball is delivered by Paul Wotton, Onismor Bhasera has a headed effort at goal from close range which goes wide left of the target.

23:08

Paris Cowan-Hall takes a shot. Lee Nicholls makes a save.

20:24

Chris Hackett fouled by Robbie Williams, the ref awards a free kick. Ben Harding produces a strike on goal direct from the free kick.

19:21

Free kick awarded for a foul by Ben Tozer on Conor Hourihane. Free kick taken by Jake Cole.

18:39

The assistant referee signals for offside against Onismor Bhasera. Lee Nicholls restarts play with the free kick.

16:08

Adebayo Akinfenwa challenges Paul Wotton unfairly and gives away a free kick. Jake Cole takes the direct free kick.

14:10

The official flags Adebayo Akinfenwa offside. Free kick taken by Jake Cole.

9:02

Onismor Bhasera has an effort at goal from outside the penalty area missing to the wide left of the goal.

8:36

Adebayo Akinfenwa gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Paul Wotton. Free kick taken by Robbie Williams.

8:03

Unfair challenge on Kelvin Langmead by Onismor Bhasera results in a free kick. Lee Nicholls takes the free kick.

6:26

Foul by Ben Tozer on Conor Hourihane, free kick awarded. Maxime Blanchard takes the free kick.

5:27

Darren Purse fouled by Adebayo Akinfenwa, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Jake Cole.

3:08

The referee blows for offside against Warren Feeney. Lee Nicholls restarts play with the free kick.

2:08

Chris Hackett takes the inswinging corner, clearance by Darren Purse.

0:00

The match begins.

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