Plymouth had an opening 15 minutes to forget as they saw defender Mathias Doumbe sent off inside the opening minute before conceding twice to seal their fate in a 3-0 defeat against Coca-Cola Championship rivals Ipswich at Portman Road.

The Pilgrims began the game unbeaten in their previous three away league outings but that record was immediately under threat when Doumbe was shown a straight red card for his last-man challenge on Jon Walters.

And they were made to pay soon after when Owen Garvan scored his first goal of the season before Alan Lee compounded the Pilgrims' problems with a simple 15th-minute finish.

Danny Haynes added a third close to full-time but after the early flurry of activity the match petered out as Town looked content to collect the victory which took them past the 50-point mark and extinguish any lingering relegation fears.

Town boss Jim Magilton was able to include captain Jason De Vos and Gary Roberts after they shook off foot and groin complaints respectively.

Plymouth, however, were without teenage winger Dan Gosling who injured his hip while in action for England's under-17s earlier in the week while Tony Capaldi failed to recover from a groin injury.

And the news would get worse for the visitors less than a minute into the match when French defender Doumbe was sent off after he brought down Walters just outside the area as he advanced on goal.

It was a hammer blow for the visitors and any hopes they could operate a memorable rearguard action were soon dashed when, in the ninth minute, Garvan finished a beautifully-crafted move with the neatest of left-foot shots.

The Irish midfielder then turned provider to double his side's advantage, cutting back a dangerous pass into the six-yard box where Lee was on hand to poke home his 16th goal of the campaign.

Town's front pairing of Walters and Lee continued to cause Plymouth's reshuffled defence plenty of headaches as the half progressed and Lee thought he had added a third on the half hour, following some enterprising play from Walters, only to be flagged offside.

A defensive error by Town captain De Vos almost gifted Plymouth a lifeline five minute after the restart but Sylvan Ebanks-Blake handled the ball before finding the net.

The former Arsenal striker then gave the hosts a warning against complacency on the hour mark when he drilled a 12-yard shot on goal which forced a save out of Lewis Price.

Town were failing to find their first-half momentum and Pilgrims boss Ian Holloway saw an opportunity to bolster his attacking options bringing on Kevin Gallen and Bojan Djordjic for Akos Buzsaky and Scott Sinclair.

However, their addition failed to spark the match into life as Town were happy to sit back and soak up the Pilgrims' sporadic forward forays.

As the game wound down to a close Town got a third when substitute Haynes showed his attacking instinct with a neat goal to cap a comfortable victory.

Teams:

Ipswich Price, Wilnis (Clarke 74), De Vos, Bruce, Wright,Roberts, Garvan, Williams, Richards (Haynes 62), Lee,Walters (Miller 74).

Subs Not Used: Supple, Peters.

Booked: Miller.

Goals: Garvan 9, Lee 15, Haynes 90.

Plymouth McCormick, Connolly, Seip, Doumbe, Sawyer,Buzsaky (Gallen 67), Halmosi, Nalis, Sinclair (Djordjic 67),Hayles, Ebanks-Blake (Fallon 83).

Subs Not Used: Timar, Hodges.

Sent Off: Doumbe (2).

Att: 21,078

Ref: J Moss (West Yorkshire).