The last time Plymouth Argyle were top of the table, it was as Steven Schumacher’s side were crowned champions of League One on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign.
It’s been a little while, but we’re back.
🏆 LEAGUE ONE (SAT 3 OCT 2026)
🔴 Leyton Orient 0
🟢 Plymouth Argyle 2
Pepple 52
Evans 56
After missing the chance to climb to the top of the division seven days ago with that surprisingly flat 1-0 defeat at home to Burton Albion, Tom Cleverley’s side were presented with another opportunity to scale the League One summit when they pitched up at Brisbane Road (currently the BetWright Stadium) to take on Leyton Orient.
The first 45 minutes were, shall we say, uninspiring, but Cleverley’s half-time words had the desired effect with Bim Pepple and Will Evans striking the decisive blows — a scrappy opener and a delightful second — within ten minutes of the restart.
With their tails up, Argyle asserted their dominance in search of a third. It didn’t come, but the damage was done. Orient began to see a bit more of the ball with the Pilgrims having effectively declared, but Richie Wellens’ side never looked like finding a way back into this one.
The most notable occurence in the final part of the match was the travelling Argyle contingent’s sustained chanting of “we are top of the league”. Bradford City had started the day as leaders but the Bantams had been pegged back at Reading. With that game ending 1-1, Argyle have taken their place at the top of the tree.
Last week’s loss to Burton was a bit of a reality check, but Argyle did so well in bouncing back from defeats during their brilliant run last season, and they’d done it after the Leicester defeat a month ago, so the challenge here was to do that again.
But another slow start and another sloppy opening 45 minutes meant there was plenty of food for thought at the break. It wasn’t a bad performance by any means, but the number of players who weren’t quite at it and amount of misplaced passes resembled the Burton game somewhat.
However, Cleverley clearly got his point across during the interval and it took barely six minutes for Pepple to put Argyle in front, with the Canadian tucking it in from two yards after goalkeeper Nathan Baxter had saved Ronan Curtis’ header.
A scrappy opening goal it may have been, but it settled Argyle down and the second goal arrived a little over three minutes later. Curtis was one of a few who failed to make an impact in the first half, but after playing a part in Pepple’s goal he provided a superb first-time cross for Evans to head into the far corner.
With Argyle pressing for a third, news of Reading’s equaliser came through and it was all fun and games in the away end. A third goal didn’t come, but there weren’t any in the other end, so the points were safely on the bus back to Devon.
There weren’t any more in Reading’s goal either, so Argyle are top of the league for the first time since that glorious afternoon in May 2023. Can we dream of a similar story in a few months’ time?
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Matt Friday
Founder, The Argyle Angle