Second-half goals from Saxon Earley and Ryan Hardie gave Plymouth Argyle a 3-1 win at the Kassam Stadium this evening.

Having fallen behind to a Matt Butcher opener, United levelled just before the break when Cameron Brannagan rifled home a free kick. But Earley's close-range effort and a late goal from Hardie decided things as Argyle extended their lead at the top of Sky Bet League 1 and United slipped to a fifth defeat in six games.

The U's had good spells throughout the game and certainly started strongly, with Kyle Joseph, playing as the central man of a front three, stinging the fingertips of visiting keeper Callum Burton with an early drive. However, their bright start was made to count for little when the league leaders took the lead after 19 minutes.

It was a neat move, started in their own half and stretching United’s back line until Butcher headed down for Bali Mumba, who waited then rolled the ball back into his path for Butcher to power the ball beyond the helpless Simon Eastwood to make it 1-0 to the away side.

Now Argyle started to hit their stride and it took a very good save from Eastwood to prevent the returning Elliott Moore from scoring an own goal as he slid in trying to clear one of several dangerous crosses into the box.

However, the U’s hung in there and a minute before the break their perseverance paid off as Brannagan blasted them back on level terms.

The effervescent Tyler Goodrham started it, beating his man and being brought down for a free kick on the left corner of the penalty box. With Argyle seemingly unsure if a cross or a shot was coming, Brannagan powered home a low right-footed effort that beat Burton and nestled perfectly inside the right-hand post to level affairs at the break.

Attacking towards their own fans, United now built up a head of steam and enjoyed their best spell of the match. There were loud claims for a goal when Burton took a step back and carried a Brandon Fleming cross dangerously close to his own line, and the first 20 minutes of the second half belonged to the U's as they swarmed forward, with Brannagan and Lewis Bate driving them forward from midfield.

And then Plymouth scored.

Again it was a free kick at the scoreboard end, and when it wasn't cleared the excellent Sam Crosgrove drove forward and then cut the ball back for Earley to score on his full Argyle debut, thumping the ball past Eastwood to make it 2-1.

That was harsh on United, who had worked hard without creating a host of scoring opportunities. Confidence is a rare commodity when a team is on a run like they are on right now; Jay Matete's wicked effort from wide on the right after 77 minutes was beaten away brilliantly by Eastwood.

Desperate measure saw Sam Baldock and James Henry thrown on and just three men left to ward off any Argyle attacks at the other end, while the pair joined Joseph and fellow subs Josh Murphy and Tyler Smith in the front ranks.

Plymouth stayed disciplined though and picked United off in injury time when Hardie had the freedom of the box to swivel and power the ball past Eastwood to leave United's fans streaming towards the exits.

Two teams in contrasting form. Simple as that. Time to regroup and stop this run. Starting at Cambridge in Saturday.

Att: 8,242

Away: 1,490

Fifty/50 winning number: 69706
Winning prize: £943

Report by Chris Williams, pictures Steve Edmunds, Steve Daniels, Darrell Fisher and Rex Shutterstock