PLYMOUTH Argyle were knocked off the top of Sky Bet League One after suffering a humbling 2-0 home defeat to promotion rivals Huddersfield Town.

Tom Cleverley admitted his side had been second best in every department as the Terriers produced an impressive display to climb to third, leaving the Pilgrims fourth after a second defeat in three home outings.

“A real humbling afternoon and one we are determined to react from,” said Argyle’s head coach. “You have to take defeat on the chin on afternoons like that where you are second best.”

Derensili Sanches Fernandes opened the scoring in the sixth minute, latching on to Joe Taylor’s pass before firing an unstoppable shot beyond Murphy Cooper.

The Argyle goalkeeper kept his side in the contest with a string of outstanding saves, denying Fernandes, Cameron Humphreys, Taylor and Bojan Radulovic as the visitors threatened to extend their advantage.

But Radulovic made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, diving to head home Bali Mumba’s excellent cross from the left.

Argyle finally began to apply pressure late on, with substitutes Oliver Irow and Xavier Amaechi testing Huddersfield goalkeeper Matty Young, while Caleb Watts fired narrowly wide. It was too little, too late.

Cleverley felt his players had failed to rise to the challenge posed by a technically gifted Huddersfield side.

“I thought they were excellent today, we seemed to fear that and really go into our shell,” he said. “Technically, they have got a great side.”

The defeat also highlighted Argyle’s struggles to find consistency at Home Park, with Cleverley acknowledging his team had not hit their stride this season.

“Let’s face it, we have not managed to hit rhythm here,” he said. “There are a few doors we need to unlock now and we have been really good at that as a staff and a group of players.”