NORWICH City wracked-up another win in their fight against the drop at Carrow Road, goals from debutante Ched Evans and Darren Huckerby enough to sink in-form Plymouth Argyle.
Teenager Evans pounced after just two minutes, sprinting clear of a square defence to slide a cool finish under the goalkeeper.
City had to battle for large portions of the game, but looked like they'd made the points safe when Huckerby scored from the spot with just minutes left after being taken down by Paul Connolly.
But from their next attack Plymouth scored through Kristian Timar, setting up a nerve wracking final few moments.
However, Norwich stood up to the test and kept Plymouth out. The three points were also enough to take City off the bottom with QPR losing at home to Crystal Palace.
City boss Glenn Roeder rang the changes for the visit of Paul Sturrock's in form Plymouth side.
Out went Lee Croft, Dion Dublin and Jason Shackell from the side which lost 2-1 to Stoke at the weekend, and in came Jamie Cureton, Jon Otsemobor and Ched Evans, who was making his first start since his loan move from Manchester City.
Biggest surprise was the sight of captain Jason Shackell dropping to the bench, with Gary Doherty moved inside to his favoured central defensive position.
In Shackell's absence, Mark Fotheringham was handed the captain's armband as City looked set to assume a 4-3-3 formation, with Darren Huckerby joining Cureton and Evans in attack.
City kicked off the match attacking the Norwich and Peterborough Stand, with Carrow Road virtually full to capacity after another home sell-out.
And on three minutes the ground erupted with noise when City took the lead through the teenager Evans.
The 18-year-old timed his run to perfection in behind the Plymouth defence, latching onto Cureton's knock on.
With no flag from the assistant, Evans showed good pace to take the ball into the area. And he resisted the temptation to square the ball to Cureton to plant a cool finish beneath the despairing dive of 'keeper Romain Larrieu.
It was a great finish, and one which demonstrated the kind of confident form he'd been in before his move from Eastlands.
Plymouth had been left shell-shocked, but they looked to hit back on five minutes, with captain Barry Hayles producing a neat turn and shot inside the area which sailed well over the bar.
Two minutes later and winger Peter Halmosi tried his luck with a curling shot from the edge of the box with his right foot which bent wide of Marshall's far post.
Plymouth had responded well to the early ball, but on 10 minutes City had another sniff of goal when Lilian Nalis misjudged a hooked clearance from Camara, allowing Huckerby to break away down the right.
He jinked into the box, but his attempted cross was too close to Larrieu, allowing him to collect.
Norwich were enjoying some early success down the flanks, with Cureton next to exploit the space down the left, again beating the visitors' offside trap.
He looked up and aimed a cross towards Evans in the six-yard box, but the 'keeper stretched well to palm the ball off his head, with Huckerby's return cross easily dealt with.
On 18 minutes it was Marshall's turn to be seriously tested. A long ball into the City box was only cleared as far as Halmosi 25 yards from goal, and he let fly with a first time shot which the Scotland international did well to palm round his left post.
It was a warning sign that Plymouth were not willing to roll over and be beaten.
A minute later and Halmosi found himself on the wrong end of an Otsemobor challenge on the halfway line, with the City right-back earning himself a booking for his late lunge.
It was certainly a foul, but replays suggested the player's reaction as if he'd been run over by a truck were far from warranted, with Halmosi earning himself plenty of boos from the home crowd, who also suspected some theatrics.
City were looking good value for their lead, but on the half hour mark they should have made more of an excellent break.
Evans again led the attack, turning 40 yards from goal and surging forward before finding Cureton overlapping him.
Both Evans and Huckerby were waiting in the area for a good delivery, but Cureton's left foot cross struck the first man, allowing the Pilgrims to snuff out the danger.
But on 34 minutes only an excellent save from Marshall maintained Norwich's slender advantage.
Hayles collected the ball 35 yards from goal and tried to slide a pass into the path of the on-running David Norris.
The pass deflected off the legs of Taylor, and fell straight into the stride of Norris at an angle but clean through on goal.
His left-foot shot seemed destined for the far corner, but the 6ft 4in frame of Marshall stuck out a leg to deflect the ball to safety, with Hayles' follow-up with a looping header palmed out by the 'keeper for a corner.
It was a great stop by Marshall, emphasising why the Canaries were so keen to secure his services from Celtic in the summer.
On 39 minutes Ebanks-Blake joined Otsemobor in the referee's notebook for a high challenge on Fotheringham as the midfielder tried to clear from inside his own half.
And as the half drew to a close Ebanks-Blake's evening took another turn for the worst when he contrived to head over City's bar from virtually on the goal-line from another dangerous Halmosi corner.
And with the half deep in injury time, Nalis was booked for a lunge on Russell away on the left, a challenge which sent the City midfielder into the advertising boards, but fortunately left him unhurt.
Half time: Norwich City 1-0 Plymouth Argyle
There were no changes at the break for either team, with City 45 minutes away from a crucial three points in their battle to beat the drop.
Within two minutes of the second half Evans almost repeated his trick, seeming to again skip beyond the last defender to latch onto Cureton's pass.
But this time the assistant's flag went up, with the teenager apparently level with the last defender when the ball was played.
With only one goal in it, the match remained finely balanced, and on 56 minutes Roeder made his first switch of the match, replacing the hard-working Pattison with Lee Croft.This allowed Croft to take up his usual position on the right side of midfield, with Huckerby going across to the left.
And moments later Norwich almost doubled their lead, Evans showing yet more confidence to turn on the left corner of the area before firing in a right foot shot which Larrieu did well to punch wide.
On 57 minutes Russell earned a booking after overstretching to reach a loose pass from Huckerby, his studs just catching Norris.
The game was getting edgy, with Plymouth beginning to commit more players to the attack as City seemed to get sucked further back into their half.
But on 66 minutes Cureton wasted a brilliant chance to make it 2-0.
Otsemobor found Croft onside down the right, and the winger did brilliantly to get to the by-line before picking out the unmarked Cureton just eight yards out.
But with all of the goal to aim at, Cureton blazed high into the Barclay, and could only put his head in his hands as he saw the best chance of the second half go begging.
It proved to be Cureton's final act, replaced by Dion Dublin. However the City fans showed there were no hard feelings at the miss, chanting Cureton's name as he left the pitch.
In the 81st minute Sturrock made another change, Jermaine Easter coming on for Hodges - and Roeder responded with a switch of his own, Jason Shackell coming on in a straight swap for Martin Taylor.
On 85 minutes City came desperately close to wrapping up the points.
A delightful passing move across the pitch ended with Croft shifting the ball out of his feet to find Otsemobor overlapping.
He showed great skill, before lifting a ball to the far post where Larrieu could only punch the ball down into the ground. It landed at the feet of Russell, but by the time his shot from 10 yards came in, the 'keeper had recovered his ground to collect.
But two minutes later and City did get a valuable second, this time from the penalty spot.
With Huckerby trying to collect a deep cross away on the left inside the box, right-back Paul Connolly lost his head and dived in, bringing the City player down.
Referee Paul Taylor had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and while Evans seemed keen to take it, Huckerby took the ball and placed it on the spot.
There was a slight delay when Plymouth's players tried a bit of gamesmanship to take Huckerby's mind off the spot kick. But the player held his nerve to drive a right-foot shot to the left of Larrieu as he went the wrong way.
The goal should have made the points safe, but in the 89th minute Plymouth were handed a lifeline when the visitors scored.
Halmosi sent in another dangerous far post corner, and Kristian Timar rose highest to nod into the far corner and set up a never-wracking finale.
With four minutes of injury time signalled, it would not be for the faint hearted either.
But despite some heart-in-mouth moments, Norwich held out for a hugely welcome win.
Norwich City 2-1 Plymouth Argyle
Norwich City: Marshall, Otsemobor, Taylor (Shackell 81), Huckerby, Cureton (Dublin 69), Fotheringham (c), Camara, Russell, Pattison (Croft 56), Doherty, Evans. Subs: Arnold, Shackell, Smith.
Plymouth: Larrieu, Connolly, Nalis, Timar, Norris, Ebanks-Blake, Hayles (c), Halmosi, Hodges (Easter 81), Seip, Nadjim (Gosling 69). Subs: McCormick, Fallon, Sawyer.
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Golden Goal times v Plymouth:
02:08
86:19
88:49
