Substitute Jamie Mackie made a dream debut for Plymouth as he came on to score two second-half goals after a Steven MacLean free-kick had given his side an early in the 3-0 win against 10-man Barnsley.

The Pilgrims had the advantage after just three minutes when the on-loan Derby defender Lewin Nyatanga was given his marching orders after bringing down Jermaine Easter outside the area.

And Barnsley were duly punished as MacLean lashed home the resulting free-kick.

New boy Mackie doubled the home side's lead in the 75th minute and then capped a magical debut with the third and final goal six minutes from time.

Plymouth went into the game fresh off the back of a morale-boosting 1-0 victory over former manager Ian Holloway's side Leicester at the Walkers Stadium which had reignited their play-off push.

However, that win was the Pilgrims' first in six and visitors Barnsley were in good form after they beat former league leaders West Brom 2-1 at the weekend.

Tykes boss Simon Davey will have also reminded his players this was the last game before he took his side to Anfield to play Premier League giants Liverpool at the weekend.

But the visitors could not have got off to a worse start at Home Park and found themselves 1-0 down and a man down after just three minutes.

Plymouth striker Easter was hauled down by Wales international team-mate Nyatanga as he was about to burst into the area and, after a long deliberation with his fellow officials, the referee issued the on-loan Derby defender his marching orders.

To make matters worse, January signing MacLean stepped up to smash home the resulting free-kick into the top-right corner to give the home side the lead in the sixth minute.

And just three minutes later, it became apparent that Barnsley's on-loan veteran goalkeeper Tony Warner would be having the busier evening as James Paterson fired in another effort which whistled wide of his left post.

The Pilgrims looked determined to exploit their numerical advantage and continued to pile the pressure on the Tykes goalmouth as Warner clawed a Paul Connolly cross out from under his crossbar.

Barnsley captain Brian Howard had his side's first shot in the 27th minute while Martin Devaney also spurned a good chance for the visitors but he failed to generate enough power to beat Argyle keeper Luke McCormick who comfortably saved.

The home side went into the half-time interval with a slender one-goal lead and boss Paul Sturrock would have urged his side to build on that lead as soon as possible and Easter's 53rd-minute volley almost did just that but the ball flew inches wide.

And the Pilgrims were reminded how fragile their lead was in the 64th minute when on-loan Everton midfielder Anderson De Silva rattled the bar as the Brazilian turned and shot in the centre of the area.

That served as a much-needed wake-up call for Sturrock's men and they began to press forward once again.

Midfielder Lilian Nalis registered their first shot on target in the second period but his 20-yard effort was comfortably gathered by Warner.

But moments later, the visitors came perilously close to equalising once again as another De Silva shot was pushed wide by McCormick and, from the resulting corner, the keeper had to be on high alert again to stop Dennis Souza's header creeping in.

Just as the Home Park faithful were beginning to become anxious, debutant Mackie struck to make it 2-0.

The £145,000 January signing from non-league Exeter was on hand to slot home Halmosi's angled pass from six yards out just one minute after replacing Easter as a substitute.

And it must have seemed all too good to be true as Mackie stole in to double his tally and make it 3-0 in the 84th minute.

Mackie looked electric since coming on and he reacted first to Paul Connolly's pass before drilling home a piledriver from the edge of the area to cap a scintillating debut performance.

Teams:

Plymouth McCormick, Connolly, Timar, Doumbe, Sawyer, Halmosi,Nalis, Abdou (Wotton 87), Paterson, Easter (Mackie 75), MacLean.

Subs Not Used: Larrieu, Fallon, Summerfield.

Booked: Doumbe.

Goals: MacLean 6, Mackie 76, 85.

Barnsley Warner, Foster, Souza, Nyatanga, Kozluk,Leon (Campbell-Ryce 64), De Silva, Howard,Devaney (Ferenczi 80), Macken, Nardiello (Hassell 7).

Subs Not Used: Odejayi, Coulson.

Sent Off: Nyatanga (4).

Booked: Foster.

Att: 11,346

Ref: Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire).