ALEX Hartridge had the last laugh as the Plymouth Argyle defender marked his debut with a dramatic stoppage-time goal to help sink Exeter City in the Carabao Cup first round at Home Park.

Hartridge had been the target of abuse from the visiting supporters throughout a fiery contest, but he delivered the perfect response when he rose to score in the second minute of injury time and silence the away end.

Striker Bim Pepple wrapped up the 2-0 win two minutes later, turning home a loose ball inside the box after Freddie Isaaka had blocked a clearance that fell perfectly for the Canadian forward.

The victory sets up a mouth-watering second-round tie at home to Premier League side Coventry City later this month.

Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley said: “There’s always an overwhelming sort of sense of relief when you manage to achieve these moments.

“But I’m sure that when I put my head down tonight there’ll be a real proud and pleased part of what I feel, because we've managed to overcome a lot of challenges last year as a team and prove a lot of things that we were not so good at, but the one thing that was outstanding was a derby win.

“We didn’t show the best version of ourselves last year in both of them, so it's nice to put a dominating performance on tonight.

“We had to be patient, so did our supporters, but we got there in the end.”

City boss Matt Taylor added: “For large parts, we were connected, disciplined, solid and honest as a team. It was an honest display and we're disappointed that we've got nothing to show for it.”

Cleverley confirmed afterwards that striker Owen Oseni will be sidelined for three to four weeks after a scan revealed a thigh problem sustained in the win.