Just 24 hours after his manager Paul Cox quit the club, Reggie Lambe and his struggling Mansfield Town teammates produced a superb display to beat in-form visitors Plymouth 1-0 and end a dire run of nine matches without victory.
Lambe who was an unused substitute for several previous games, played the entire match.
Argyle arrived, unbeaten in seven League Two games, to face a club in turmoil.
But Mansfield caretaker boss Adam Murray chose a bold, attacking line-up that paid dividends just before the break when Crewe loanee Vadaine Oliver bagged his first goal for the club against the division's meanest defense.
Although Plymouth were always a threat, Mansfield deserved the win over the 90 minutes with their best display for some time.
Amid an electric atmosphere, Stags played the ball around well in the first half and Rob Taylor, Vadaine Oliver and Lambe all went close.
But Argyle missed an absolute sitter on 18 minutes as Kelvin Mellor somehow saw his finish into an open goal from two yards loop up against the bar from a low ball in from the left by Andy Kellett.
Kellett also forced Sascha Studer to save a shot from a tight angle.
But Luke McCormick had to dive to his right to save a deflected Lambe shot two minutes before the break.
And he was finally beaten in the 45th minute as Oliver shrugged off his marker to reach a hoisted Lee Beevers ball from the halfway line and then superbly lift it over the advancing keeper.
Chris Clements was only just over the far angle for Mansfield from Oliver's 56th-minute nod-down.
Then an Oliver header set up Lambe for a low shot that McCormick got down to hold onto while, after a spell of Argyle pressure, Matt Rhead headed on for Oliver to rifle into the side netting.
Studer did have to block a Kellett shot from a tight angle, but Plymouth simply could not muster a killer finish to take anything from the game.
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