TOM Cleverley hailed a “significant moment” for Plymouth Argyle after his side moved into the League One play-off places with a convincing 3-0 victory over Barnsley at Home Park.

The Pilgrims climbed to sixth after a dominant display which saw them take control inside the opening two minutes and never relinquish their advantage.

Oli Irow opened the scoring after just 20 seconds, cutting inside from the left before unleashing an unstoppable 25-yard strike into the top corner.

Ronan Curtis doubled Argyle’s advantage in the 22nd minute, heading into an empty net after Barnsley goalkeeper Rogan Ravenhill failed to hold Wes Harding’s long throw.

Bim Pepple completed the scoring five minutes after half-time, spinning Connor O’Riordan before curling a fine finish into the far corner.

Cleverley admitted the result marked an important step for Argyle, who have not occupied a top-six position for any sustained period since his appointment last summer.

“You don’t win any trophies or any prizes for being sixth in September, but it's a significant moment,” he said. “We’ve not been there under myself and there’s been a lot of hard work to get the 10 points from a really difficult six fixtures.

“We would have all signed for 10 points at the start of the season looking at the fixtures we had, and now we've got momentum.

“We need to not be complacent with that momentum, keep hold of it, work hard for it and push forward.”

Cleverley was particularly impressed by Irow’s spectacular opener, describing it as the best goal he had seen at Home Park.

“The first touch is really impressive, the ball gets switched out to him, to take the first touch inside his full-back and then produce a strike of such power and direction and quality,” he said.

“We’ve got a player who’s got X-factor and those kinds of players turn tight games into wins.”