Saints' reserves were soundly beaten at Staplewood as Plymouth ran out 7-0 victors on Wednesday evening.

An experienced Argyle team including former Saint Bradley Wright-Phillips appeared eager to impress first team boss Paul Mariner who was watching from the sidelines.

Saints were able to give run outs to several players returning from injuries and loan spells away from the club as Olly Lancashire skippered a youthful second string for the night.

The hosts almost went in front early on when Simon Gillett's powerful shot was spilt by 'keeper Lloyd Saxton, but the ball wouldn't fall for Lancashire as he followed up on the rebound.

Wright-Phillips clattered the frame of the goal with a header shortly before Argyle took the lead on four minutes. Joe Mason supplied Craig Noone one on one with Saints stopper Tommy Forecast and the striker finished low into the far corner.

The visitors doubled their advantage in the eighteenth minute as Yala Bolasie's close range header was too hot for Forecast to handle and Mason stole in to crash home an effort off the bar and into the back of the net.

It was three a minute later when full back David McNamee put Noone in with a raking pass down field which Noone collected in his stride before firing in again off the woodwork.

Reserve team boss Stewart Henderson withdrew Sam Argent and dropped Jack Boyle into right back and the versatile Jersey winger's strong shot was kept out by the visiting 'keeper as Saints couldn't find an opening.

Two minutes before the break it got worse for the hosts when Wright-Phillips notched a goal against his former employers. A neat link up with Mason on the left of the area led to a one on one with Forecast, which he kept his cool to finish low into the right hand corner.

It was a similar story in the second period as Mason grabbed his second of the game five minutes after the re-start. A mesmerising run and cross from Bolasie picked out the striker, who finished smartly from close range for 5-0.

Wright-Phillips completed the best part of an hour's play before he was replaced by one time Saints trialist George Donnelly. The hosts then had to make a change of his own when Oscar Gobern was carried off with a knock to his shins which saw Callum McNish get a run out for 25 minutes or so. First year scholar Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain followed him on to the pitch soon after as he replaced Jamie White.

Another slick move in attack saw Alan Gow lay on the chance for Mason to complete his hat-trick which he obliged with a fine finish on the edge of the area as play entered the last ten minutes.

The game was summed up by almost the last kick of the match from a Saints point of view as Donnelly's low cross was deflected into the back of his own net by Boyle to complete the scoring.

Afterwards, Stewart Henderson admitted that the visitors just had a bit too much quality in their side to make it a competitive encounter.

"It's a long time since I personally have been on the receiving end of something like that, but I have to say that Plymouth played an experienced side out there tonight with people who really wanted to impress their manager who was here, and there were a lot with football league experience in the team which showed," he said. "They were very slick and had terrific movement up front which was too hot for us to handle.

"One of the positives we'll take is that we had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain come on for the last 20-25 minutes and he's progressing very, very well and he would be the main one that we can take, but we have to look at it because there were one or two performances that I thought were OK.

"I just thought that overall they were too strong and too powerful for us. We were a little lightweight up front and defensively there were one or two problems coping with their pace and movement and I think that's what cost us."

Saints Res: Forecast, Argent (Holder-Spooner 28), Lancashire, Martin, Reeves, Boyle, Gobern (McNish 63), Gillett, McLaggon, Doble, White (Oxlade-Chamberlain 72). Subs (not used): Pernecky, Tafazolli.

Plymouth Res: Saxton, McNamee, McCrory, Leonard, Barker, Kinsella, Bolasie, Gow, Wright-Phillips (Donnelly 57), Mason, Noone (Clifford 57).