Plymouth strengthened their position at the top of the Second Division following a hard-earned victory at struggling Stockport.
The Pilgrims recorded their seventh away league victory, but it was far from plain sailing as bottom four club Stockport gave a spirited display.
And Plymouth manager Paul Sturrock admitted his side was fortunate to pick up maximum points saying: "There was a 15 minute spell when we got battered but we managed to hold on. Sometimes when you are not playing well, you have to churn out performances like this.
"Every game is a Cup Final for our opponents and it is going to remain like that so we will have to raise our game." Stockport manager Sammy McIlroy was full of praise for his beaten side: "We were outstanding in the first half, played some good football and with a bit of luck in front of goal we would have got something out of the game." Plymouth took the lead in the 28th minute with French midfield player David Friio scoring his 13th goal of the season.
Stockport goalkeeper James Spencer failed to catch a cross and when the ball dropped free Friio pounced to fire home from ten yards.
But it was amazing Stockport failed to find the net in a first half which saw them create a number of clear-cut chances. The best two fell to Ricky Lambert who was desperately unlucky.
Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick pulled off a breath-taking save to keep out Lambert's point-blank header and then late in the half Lambert struck the crossbar with a ferociously struck shot from the edge of the penalty area. But Stockport's failure to turn possession to goals was to prove their downfall.
Early in the second half, winger Andy Welsh made a weaving run and found himself free in front of goal only to shoot wide.
Moments later, Plymouth sealed victory with their second goal as they showed how the art of finishing ought to be applied.
Substitute Paul Wotton's first touch was to fire over a free kick from the left touch line which was flicked on by Hasney Aljofree and Graham Coughlan headed over Spencer from inside the six yard box.
With Stockport committed to all-out attack, Plymouth were denied a third goal in the dying minutes when David Norris beat Spencer only to see defender Danny Griffin save the day with a goal-line clearance.
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