Argyle 2 Leyton Orient 0 | Waine's Reaction

Ben Waine scored his first two Home Park goals to ensure Argyle’s safe passage to the second round of the Carabao Cup against Leyton Orient on Tuesday night.

In doing so, Waine doubled his overall total of goals for the Pilgrims, and notched his first strikes of the season on a night where Argyle put the game to bed in the first half.

For his opener, Waine leapt on a slack backpass by Omar Beckles, bore down on the goalkeeper and slid home in front of the Devonport End. The goal came shortly after Waine and Finn Azaz had both had efforts ruled out for offside.

There was an element of fortune about Waine’s second, as a Freddie Issaka cross deflected to where Waine had timed his run, with the cannoning off of the New Zealander and into the net. However, judging by the smile on his face at full-time, Waine cared not of how his first home goals came about.

“I've been waiting to score at home, so it's been, an amazing night,” he told Argyle TV. “It was great; I've missed that feeling. It's so good to get a good start, but it's more about that winning mentality. We talked about that as a team.  The most important thing is we've moved on, those cup ties can always be a bit niggly.

“We were told before the match that some of the defenders played around with the ball a little bit too much and they were prone to mistakes. The pressing paid off and as soon as I got it, I knew where I was going to put it.

“[The second] came right off the top of my shoulder. All I'm going to say is it's just a reward for the first one because I personally think the first one was onside. That happens, and strikers take those goals.”

Waine was one of 10 players who started against Orient who had not begun the 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town the prior Saturday, but he and the others who stepped in demonstrated the squad’s depth with a fluent and energetic first-half performance in which the Greens dominated and could have been further ahead by half-time.

Many of Waine’s appearances for Argyle thus far have been from the bench, including an impactful goalscoring appearance against Morecambe in April. Substitutes doing so well was a strength of the Pilgrims’ title-winning season, and as they look to build on two wins from two at the start of this campaign, Waine says that feature of the club’s success will need to continue, with a trip to Watford up next.

“You saw it last season,” he said. “Whether you're starting or you're not, if you're on the bench, you have to be ready to make that impact. We were one of the top teams for substitute goalscorers last season.

“No-one looked out of place tonight. We have to maintain that throughout the season, because everyone's going to be needed. It's all about building momentum and we're doing that at the moment. We're going to go to Watford and give it our best - it's exciting.”