Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Stoke City: Adam Randell gives Pilgrims last-gasp winner
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Adam Randell's match-winner was his first goal at Home Park
Substitute Adam Randell kept his cool to score a 97th-minute winner for Plymouth Argyle on his 100th appearance for the club to beat fellow strugglers Stoke City.
The Pilgrims ended a scrappy game the stronger and got their reward when academy product Randell swept the ball into the bottom corner after Luke Cundle's effort was scrambled off the line.
Up until then it had been a Championship game lacking end product, with both sides showing the fatigue of a third match in the space of a week.
Tyrese Campbell profited from a lack of communication in the home defence to ghost in and slot Stoke ahead, with Mustapha Bundu steering home a leveller for Argyle from Kaine Kesler-Hayden's low, fizzed-in cross from deep.
Victory moves Plymouth above Stoke into 16th, maintaining their six-point gap over the bottom three, while the Potters fall to 20th, a point further back.
It is now five games without a win for Alex Neil's side, with the former Sunderland, Preston and Norwich boss starting to come under some pressure.
His charges arguably edged most of the match - Campbell heading over when well-placed before his first league goal of the campaign, Andre Vidigal slashing over inside the box in an attempt to double Stoke's lead and Ryan Mmaee forcing Michael Cooper to save with his leg in the second half.
But the Pilgrims have picked up all but three of their points this season at Home Park and, with the game at one point meandering towards a draw, had the confidence to take late risks in search of a winner.
Cundle's first-time shot was kept out by the knees of Jack Bonham and Ryan Hardie curled over on his return from injury, both from the craftsmanship of Finn Azaz, before Randell showed composure in a crowded penalty box to send the Argyle faithful into raptures.
For Stoke, the return of midfielder Lewis Baker off the bench following pre-season knee surgery was a rare positive on another disappointing afternoon.
Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher told BBC Radio Devon:
"Obviously it feels a lot better than the two times this season when we've conceded to the last kick of the game.
"It's brilliant when it happens to you - as a manager when your team score and you know there's no time left on the clock it is a brilliant feeling. The other side of it is you feel gutted for the opposition team and manager because it's not nice.
"We need to limit those errors - it was a concentration error [for the Stoke goal] but I was pleased with the reaction to it.
"I felt we got better after they scored, played with a bit more urgency and looked more like us.
"It took until the last kick to win it but it doesn't matter, three points is all that counts."
Stoke manager Alex Neil told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I don't think we deserved to lose the game. We had some good moments.
"The game was, to be honest, too open for my liking - but what it did it was make us really threaten.
"We had some really good chances to score. It was just that final pass, shot or run that we didn't pick out.
"Sometimes when things aren't going your way the ball ends up in the back of the net - and it's the cruellest way to lose."