Plymouth hosted newly-promoted Leyton Orient side last night, coming out 4-0 winners with four goals in the first half seeing them through.

A strong performance saw 8th placed Plymouth come out on top over 17th Leyton Orient. Plymouth are only a point away from playoffs as they look to regain promotion to League One on the first time of asking. They've made a free-scoring start to the season with 24 goals and have three wins and two draws in the last five.

Next, they face 6th places Exeter and can go ahead of them with a win. An important game in the race for playoff positions.

Firing out the gates

Plymouth started really strongly in the match, dominating the first half. They were 3-0 up within 17 minutes and added a 4th just before half time, which is a great time to score. They just had to see out the second half, which they did really well. They build momentum early on and rode it through to half time.

They took nine of their twelve shots in the first half and although Orient came back a bit in the second half they weren't able to score and struggled to keep motivated at 4-0. Getting some early goals through the high energy they showed is the best way to secure some points and shows a strong mentality.

Strong defensive duo in midfield

Edwards played as a defensive midfielder, as usual, protecting the back three and breaking up play. Sarcevic and Cooper started ahead of him, with Danny Mayor coming off the bench in the second half.

Sarcevic and Edwards were particularly strong defensively, making 3 and 4 tackles respectively. Sarcevic also made an interception. Together they pressed Orient a lot, knew the system and were physical in challenges. With the creativity of star man Danny Mayor and the threat of youngster George Cooper, their midfield can really threaten. They complimented each other well in a structured side who have the 7th best defence in the league.

Sharing the goals

Not being reliant on one player is important for any team, especially in the lower leagues. Plymouth have a squad where goals and assists can come from anywhere. McFadzean and Sarcevic have 6 goal contributions each, Grant has 5 and lots of players have one or two to their name.

They have a range of options in attack who they can use. For example, against Leyton Orient, five different players got a single goal or assist.