CITY'S away-day blues continued as they were beaten by a Plymouth side without a home win prior to today's match at Home Park.

Although Doherty's unlucky first-half own goal put Argyle in front, City were bright and purposeful before the break and perhaps deserved to go into the interval all square.

But they didn't and a poor second half performance saw further goals for the home side from Seip and Norris effectively end the game as a contest.

A well-taken injury time strike by Robert Earnshaw did little to raise the spirits of the 776 City fans facing an epic journey home to Norfolk.

Before the game Worthington rang the changes after the midweek Carling Cup win at Rotherham.

Gary Doherty returned to the centre of defence, partnered by Craig Fleming, who capped a solid performance at Millmoor with a goal.

Young Everton loanee Patrick Boyle, ineligible for the cup game, came back in at left-back following a competent debut against Palace last weekend.

Youssef Safri rejoined Carl Robinson and Dickson Etuhu in the now-familiar three-man midfield, with Lee Croft returning from injury on the right wing and leading scorer Robert Earnshaw once again spearheading the City attack.

New signing Dion Dublin started the game on the bench, with Ryan Jarvis - scorer of a fine brace at Rotherham - also adding to the striking substitute options.

There was a hint of a colour clash as City in their change strip lined up against Plymouth in their traditional green and white colours.

City started brightly and forced the game's first half-chance, Robinson's glancing header from Safri's free-kick flashing across the face of goal and wide of the far post in the sixth minute.

In the 12th minute Plymouth posed their own threat as Ebanks-Blake powered past Doherty, but his shot was saved well by Gallacher.

But from the corner which resulted Plymouth took the lead thanks to an unfortunate own goal by Doherty.

Capaldi's corner was headed by Nalis and seemed to take a deflection past the helpless Gallacher off Doherty's knee and in to put the home side in front.

It was virtually a carbon copy of the own goal at the same end of the same ground scored last season by Simon Charlton.

City worked hard to get themselves back into the game but although they were retaining possession well they were still to pose a significant threat to McCormick's goal.

In the 23rd minute though Boyle surged forward and whipped in a testing low cross which found the on-rushing Croft at the far post, but his effort at full stretch was just wide of the post.

A minute later Buzsaky hit a great cross into the City box which Gallacher was forced to punch clear under pressure from the Argyle attack.

In the 25th minute City had the ball in the Plymouth net as Etuhu hit the target, but he was adjudged to have been narrowly offside as he picked up Robinson's pass into the box.

As the game passed the half-hour mark Safri's clever ball found Earnshaw and the City striker tried a lobbed effort which McCormick clawed away brilliantly.

In the 35th minute the Canaries were fortunate that their keeper was alert as a quickly-taken free-kick by Norris produced a smart save from Gallacher.

A minute later Doumbe's foul on Croft gave City a free-kick on the right. Safri's kick was headed down by Doherty to McVeigh, but the City winger's volleyed effort was off target.

Two minutes later Etuhu showed good strength in the Plymouth box to retain possession and set up Earnshaw, but his effort was deflected just wide with McCormick struggling to make his ground.

It was more encouraging stuff from Norwich now as they aimed to erase the disappointment of going behind in unlucky fashion so early on.

In the 40th minute Croft nicked the ball of the hesitant Capaldi and found Earnshaw, whose close-range effort forced another good save from McCormick.

As the game approached half-time another testing free-kick from Buzsaky caused a nervous moment for City as Gallacher caught the ball with his feet behind or at best right on the line - but he showed good awareness to ensure he kept the ball from crossing for a goal.

In the dying moments of the half City were briefly reduced to ten men as Fleming was forced to leave the pitch for treatment to a cut.

Half-time: Plymouth Argyle 1, Norwich City 0

But City's bright response in the first half was to no avail as they suffered a hammer blow just two minutes after the break.

A corner from Capaldi once again proved City's undoing as Seip rose unmarked to head home on only his second appearance in English football.

Norwich were now left with a mountain to climb if they were to stop Plymouth getting their first home win of the season.

In the 52nd minute Hayles went crashing to the deck in the box claiming his shirt had been pulled by Doherty, but the referee waved away loud appeals for a penalty.

Worthington decided it was time for a change and Dion Dublin was duly brought on for his City debut, replacing Safri and going up front as the Canaries changed to 4-4-2.

In the 58th minute Robinson's high ball into the box was flicked on by Dublin to McVeigh, but the former Northern Ireland international fired a good chance wide of the mark.

Doherty, who was having a testing afternoon, was booked for pulling back Ebanks-Blake as the Argyle man threatened to break clean through.

Plymouth boss Ian Holloway made his first change of the afternoon on the hour, Hayles replaced by Chadwick.

In the 65th minute each side made another change as Ryan Jarvis came on for Croft and Sawyer came on for Buzsaky.

It seemed City had lost their rhythm as a result of Plymouth's second and the changes in personnel. As the home side gained a succession of corners Dublin made a great and timely header to clear one and Fleming survived a penalty appeal for handball as another came into the box with 20 minutes to go.

In the 71st minute a poor backpass from Boyle was picked up by Chadwick, but Jurgen Colin reacted swiftly to clear the danger.

But soon after a woeful afternoon for City and their 776 loyal travelling fans was made even worse as Norris carved through the City defence before netting with a lovely shot low into the corner.

In the 76th minute Reid came on for Ebanks-Blake for Plymouth while Peter Thorne came on for Boyle.

As City desperately pushed forward, Plymouth found themselves with a lot of space to attack and Norris fired a shot just over as his side pushed for a fourth.

In the 81st minute Capaldi - a thorn in City's side all afternoon - sent in another great cross from the left which was scrambled away by the Canary defence.

Teenage substitute Reid was the next to try his luck, ending an excellent run with a shot which he blazed over in the 86th minute.

An afternoon to forget for City couldn't end soon enough - but there was still time for Norris to find Chadwick who fortunately headed a reasonable chance over the bar as the game entered stoppage time.

City did however manage to grab a consolation deep in injury time as Dublin did well to flick on a ball to Earnshaw and the City striker swivelled past his man and fired home his seventh of the season from a tight angle.

Final score: Plymouth Argyle 3, Norwich City 1

Plymouth Argyle: McCormick, Norris, Buzsaky (Sawyer 65), Ebanks-Blake (Reid 76), Hayles (Chadwick 60), Nalis, Kouo-Doumbe, Capaldi, Wotton (c), Seip, Connolly. Subs: Chadwick, Sawyer, Reid, Summerfield, Djordic.

Norwich City: Gallacher, Colin, Doherty, Fleming (c), Boyle (Thorne 76), Robinson, Safri (Dublin 56), Etuhu, Croft (Jarvis 65), Earnshaw, McVeigh. Subs: Thorne, Dublin, Camp, Hughes, Jarvis.