Paul Mariner was thrilled as Plymouth claimed a shock 1-0 win at Cardiff courtesy of Gary Sawyer's strike seven minutes from time.
A poor clearance from Paul Quinn went straight to Sawyer and his shot across Bluebirds goalkeeper David Marshall took a deflection off Kevin McNaughton before going into the far corner.
It was Argyle's first goal in the league for almost nine hours and handed Mariner a first victory in charge.
"We worked very hard for that result but the signs have been there for a couple of weeks," said Mariner. "The players want to get this club out of the mess we are in and we knew we would get a resilient performance from them but three points is a wonderful result."
He added: "The away support was remarkable and I felt we created a few chances in a very tight game but we needed that little bit of luck.
"To keep a clean sheet against such a high-powered attacking force as Cardiff have is a magnificent effort. We haven't scored for a long time but you have to go back to the basics and that is what we have done."
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