Bristol City 4
Bell 3
James 9
Sykes 33
Cornick 81

Argyle 1
Randell 26

It was a night of Westcountry woe for Argyle, as Bristol City produced a clinical display to win 4-1 at a soggy Ashton Gate.

For the second time in four days, the Greens were playing catch-up after conceding an early goal, Sam Bell scoring from a corner, and the mountain doubled in height when Matty James made it 2-0 on nine minutes.

A sweet strike from Adam Randell was almost immediately cancelled out by Mark Sykes, and a late goal from Harry Cornick sealed the City win.

Argyle boss Steven Schumacher made seven changes from the narrow loss at Preston, with Dan Scarr, Joe Edwards, Callum Wright, Lewis Warrington, Tyreik Wright, Randell and Ben Waine all coming into the starting 11. Mustapha Bundu was on the bench for the first time since joining on Deadline Day.

While the Greens suffered a frustrating loss at Preston on Saturday, the Robins drew 0-0 at home to West Brom but any weekend irritation in front of goal for the hosts quickly disappeared, as Bell reacted quickest from a corner to prod the ball past Conor Hazard.

The goal was followed by a lengthy interruption for the officials to sort out some of their technical equipment and the restart brought more pain for the Greens, as James pounced on the loose ball to score after Hazard had parried clear a low cross.

The Pilgrims looked understandably shell-shocked and only a good save with the legs from Hazard prevented Hazard from extending the lead even further.

Argyle finally found some attacking impetus when a deep cross from Callum Wright was met on the half-volley by Tyreik Wright, but his radar was off target.

The foothold Argyle desperately needed arrived on 26 minutes, when a Callum Wright pass ricocheted off a City defender and bounced nicely for Randell to rifle a terrific 20-yarder into the bottom corner.

Unfortunately for the Pilgrims, any momentum they hoped to build evaporated just seven minutes later, as Sykes expertly timed his run into the penalty before nudging a clever finish beyond Hazard.

Argyle ended a tough first period with a Waine shot narrowly wide of the post and then Randell forced goalkeeper Max O’Leary into a decent save.

Jordan Houghton and Morgan Whittaker replaced Tyreik Wright and Warrington at the half-time interval, with the early exchanges bringing some promise, as Argyle enjoyed strong spells of possession.

Ryan Hardie and Bali Mumba for Callum Wright and Waine was the next shuffle of the Pilgrim pack, but clear-cut chances continued to elude Schumacher’s men, despite the unwavering support of more than 3,000 Green Army stalwarts.

Finn Azaz for Luke Cundle was the final substitution on 72 minutes but City were the side to threaten next, with Haydon Roberts forcing a good save from Hazard before his rebound effort was blocked by an Argyle boot.

Sadly the game was up, when Cornick popped up with a killer fourth nine minutes from time.

Hardie struck the woodwork in the closing moments for the Greens, who will dust themselves down for the weekend visit of Norwich City.

Bristol City: 1 Max O'Leary; 3 Cameron Pring, 4 Kal Naismith, 6 Matty James (capt), 8 Joe Williams (10 Andy King 71), 12 Jason Knight (22 Taylor Gardner-Hickman 61), 17 Mark Sykes (29 Ephraim Yeboah 61), 19 George Tanner, 20 Sam Bell (24 Haydon Roberts 71), 21 Nahki Wells (9 Harry Cornick 61), 26 Zak Vyner. Substitutes (not used): 23 Stefan Bajic (gk), 11 Anis Mehmeti, 16 Rob Dickie, 30 Raekwan Nelson.

Booked: Wells 34, Tanner 67

Argyle: 21 Conor Hazard; 6 Dan Scarr, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 11 Callum Wright (2 Bali Mumba 61), 16 Lewis Warrington (4 Jordan Houghton H-T), 17 Lewis Gibson, 19 Tyreik Wright (10 Morgan Whittaker H-T), 20 Adam Randell, 23 Ben Waine (9 Ryan Hardie 61), 28 Luke Cundle (18 Finn Azaz 72), 29 Kaine Kesler-Hayden. Substitutes (not used): 25 Callum Burton (gk), 3 Macaulay Gillesphey, 7 Matt Butcher, 15 Mustapha Bundu.

Booked:

Referee: Matthew Donohue

Attendance: 23,017 (3,394 away)