The Pilgrims secured an eighth away League One win of the campaign by beating Orient 3-1 at Brisbane Road
22:00, 17 Feb 2026Updated 01:57, 18 Feb 2026
Goal celebrations for Argyle’s Ronan Curtis during the Sky Bet League One match against Leyton Orient at BetWright Stadium, London on 17 February 2026. Photo: Garry Bowden/PPAUK
Plymouth Argyle made it back-to-back away League One wins in four days with a confident and commanding 3-1 victory over Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road.
It followed up the Pilgrims’ excellent 4-0 defeat of Blackpool on Saturday and was their eighth away league success of the season.
Bim Pepple was on target again for Argyle when he opened the scoring at the start of first half added time, but Orient drew level only moments later through Ollie O’Neill.
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Argyle really took control of the match in the second period, though, as Orient hardly had a sight of goal as the Pilgrims went on to clinch maximum points.
They went 2-1 up through Ronan Curtis as the excellent January signing from Port Vale grabbed his first goal for the club, and he then had the assist in the 70th minute when defender Mathias Ross headed home from his well-delivered corner.
It was a result which rewarded the support of a packed out away section of 1,350 members of the travelling Green Army and took the 12th-placed Pilgrims to within six points of the play-off positions.
Argyle were unchanged against Orient from the victory over Blackpool, with top scorer Lorent Tolaj on the substitutes’ bench for a second successive match after missing the previous three fixtures due to a dead leg.
In-form Pepple, with five goals in the last seven games, was up front for the Pilgrims with support from Curtis, Owen Dale and Caleb Watts.
Malachi Boateng and Herbie Kane were the central midfield pairing, while the back four in front of goalkeeper Conor Hazard was made up of Joe Edwards, Ross, Alex Mitchell and Wes Harding.
It was a return to Brisbane Road for Mitchell, who played 26 League One games for Orient on loan from Millwall in the 2021/22 season.
There was one change among the substitutes for Argyle as Matty Sorinola returned from a two-match suspension, with Bradley Ibrahim dropping out of the matchday squad.
Orient had not played a game in 10 days since drawing 0-0 away to Stockport County while it was a second successive long-distance road trip for the Pilgrims, this time in London after beating Blackpool at the weekend.
The hosts had the first scoring chance when a cross from right-back Sean Clare, who had raced high up the pitch, was headed over the bar by striker Dom Ballard.
Ballard fell heavily as he did so and needed physio attention but was able to return to the action after a brief spell on the touchline.
Argyle threatened next when Edwrds swung a cross into the Orient box and Mitchell sent his header straight at goalkeeper Tobi Oluwayemi.
Moments later there was another opportunity for Mitchell, whose close range header was touched over the bar by the Orient ‘keeper.
There was an early blow for the Pilgrims as Kane appeared to pick up a hamstring injury and he was replaced by Brendan Wiredu.
With Joe Ralls, another experienced and influential midfielder, ruled out for the rest of the season by a hamstring injury, and with a busy schedule of matches still to come, the issue for Kane was definitely not what Argyle needed.
The visitors had Dale booked for a foul on Favour Fawunmi and when they attacked from the resulting free-kick it led to a chance for O’Neill who curled his right-foot shot over the bar,
Dale did well to block a strike on goal from Orient left-back James Morris behind for a corner as the home side started to take control of the game.
Wes Harding of Plymouth Argyle and Dominic Ballard of Leyton Orient during the Sky Bet League One match at BetWright Stadium, London on 17 February 2026. Photo: Garry Bowden/PPAUK
Morris then fired wide from the edge of the penalty area after the corner was headed out towards him by Edwards before Orient had penalty appeals for a challenge on Fawunmi by Boateng ignored by referee Alex Chilowicz.
After a bright start to the game from Argyle they had lost their way as an attacking force, with Pepple well contained by defenders Will Forrester and Dan Happe.
Watts did try to thread one pass through for Curtis inside the Orient box but Oluwayemi was quick to slide out and to get to the ball first.
Curtis then sliced a shot wide after the ball was lobbed towards him by Mitchell, and moments later, sent another attempt wide of the target from a central position.
Orient had the next scoring opportunity as the game started to open up when Fawunmi broke forward and had a low shot beaten away by Hazard for his first save of the contest
Watts then made an excellent run into the Orient and his dangerous low cross was put out of play for a corner by a stretching Forrester.
The match then really came to life in added time as first Argyle took the lead with Pepple’s ninth goal of the season when he came up with a far post finish after a cross from Curtis had been helped on by Boateng.
Their advantage did not last long, though, as Morris set up O’Neill for a shot and the O’s attacker beat Hazard as he sent the ball into the corner of the net and the teams went in for the break with the score at 1-1.
There was a yellow card for Pepple at the start of the second period for kicking the ball away after the whistle had been blown.
Argyle then regained the lead in the 52nd minute when Dale unleashed a shot from outside the penalty area which Oluwayemi could not hold onto and Curtis followed up to tuck the ball into the net for his first goal for the club.
There was a double substitution for the Pilgrims just before the hour mark as Tolaj and Sorinola were sent on for Dale and Watts respectively.
The play was quite scrappy from both sides after that, which probably suited Argyle more than Orient, although there was one shot from Sorinola which was not far wide after an attempted cross from Harding had been partly blocked.
Orient sent on Azeem Abdulai and Charlie Wellens in a double substitution before the Pilgrims extended their advantage to 3-1 in the 70th minute when Ross headed home from a perfectly-flighted Curtis corner.
Orient were forced to change their ‘keeper when an injured Oluwayemi was replaced by Will Dennis before Forrester was yellow-carded for a late, lunging foul on Pepple and the O’s then made another substitution with Fawunmi making way for Josh Koroma.
Xavier Amaechi was a late substitute for Pepple, who moments earlier had tapped the ball into the net after a shot from Harding rebounded out to him off a post but the Argyle striker was flagged offside.
Tolaj then tried an audacious shot from the halfway line after he spotted Dennis was a few yards out of his goal and the substitute ‘keeper slipped as he just about managed to make the save.
Into eight minutes of added time and there was a scare for the Pilgrims when Ross almost put the ball into his own net as he tried to prevent Ballard from getting in a shot and it went just wide of Hazard’s right post.
Argyle defended strongly from the resulting corner, just as they had done throughout the game as they continued their superb run of away results.
ARGYLE: Conor Hazard; Joe Edwards, Mathias Ross, Alex Mitchell, Wes Harding; Malachi Boateng, Herbie Kane (Brendan Wiredu 12 mins); Owen Dale (Lorent Tolaj 59 mins), Ronan Curtis, Caleb Watts (Matty Sorinola 59 mins); Bim Pepple (Xavier Amaechi 84 mins).
Substitutes (not used): Luca Ashby-Hammond, Jack MacKenzie, Jamie Paterson.
LEYTON ORIENT: Tobi Oluwayemi (Will Dennis 75 mins); Sean Clare, Will Forrester, Dan Happe, James Morris; Dylan Levitt (Charlie Wellens 67 mins), Tyreeq Bakinson; Theo Archibald (Azeem Abdulai 67 mins), Favour Fawunmi (Josh Koroma 82 mins), Ollie O’Neill; Dom Ballard.
Substitutes (not used): Michael Craig, Kaelan Casey, Sonny Perkins.
REFEREE: Alex Chilowicz
ATTENDANCE:
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