TWO bizarre first-half goals condemned Cherries to their first home Boxing Day defeat since 1992.

Outrageous efforts from Paul Wotton and David Norris sentenced Cherries to their second league defeat of the season at Dean Court.

A record Fitness First Stadium crowd of 8,901 saw Wotton open the scoring in the 22nd minute with a wind-assisted right-foot shot from around 45 yards.

And Norris's freak second five minutes before the break left Sean O'Driscoll's troops with a mountain to climb in the second half.

But despite dominating for long periods after the interval, Cherries found Pilgrims goalkeeper Luke McCormick in inspired form.

James Hayter, Shaun Maher and Lewis Buxton were all restored to the Cherries starting line-up with Wade Elliott, Garreth O'Connor and Brian Stock dropping down to the substitutes' bench.

Boss O'Driscoll also made a major tactical change with influential skipper Carl Fletcher returning to his more familiar central midfield role after spending around 14 months playing at the back.

The table-topping Pilgrims, beaten just three times in the league this season, made one change with Frenchman David Friio drafted in for Northern Ireland under-21 international Tony Capaldi.

As Argyle made the early running, Wotton's free-kick failed to trouble Neil Moss before Graham Coughlan missed a glorious chance to open the scoring when he miskicked from close range after Nathan Lowndes had hooked the ball back into the danger zone from Lee Hodges's corner.

Although Cherries started to find their feet, they were rocked when the visitors took the lead in the 22nd minute after Wotton seized on a defensive mix-up to net Argyle's 5,000th league goal.

The Plymouth skipper steered the ball into a unguarded net from around 45 yards after Moss's kick had found him near the centre circle. Moss had been forced to come off his line after Marino Keith had charged down Maher's clearance.

Cherries went close to equalising when Carl Fletcher unleashed a fierce drive from 30 yards from Warren Cummings's short free-kick, only to see Pilgrims goalkeeper Luke McCormick acrobatically fingertip his effort over the crossbar.

It was to be Fletcher's final contribution as the Cherries captain was substituted and replaced by Wade Elliott after just 34 minutes with, what at first sight, appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Moss then saved smartly after Lowndes had pulled the trigger having galloped free down the right flank before the Pilgrims extended their lead in quite bizarre fashion five minutes before half-time.

Norris tried his luck with a speculative left-foot effort from 20 yards which struck the top of the crossbar and then bounced off the woodwork before spinning backwards into the net.

Norris could not believe his luck as his wind-assisted strike handed the Pilgrims a two-goal cushion which almost increased further when Hodges fired narrowly wide two minutes from the break.

McCormick pouched a long-range free-kick from Cummings at the start of the second half before Steve Fletcher headed Hayter's deep cross from the left over the crossbar.

Hayter hooked another effort off target from Cummings's centre before Hasney Aljofree's last-ditch tackle denied Feeney a shooting chance. And after the ball had run free to Elliott, his stinging volley just cleared the woodwork.

As Cherries piled forward in a bid to reduce the deficit, McCormick saved superbly from Cummings's header after the Scotsman had been picked out by Elliott.

And McCormick again stood between Cherries and a goal when he saved with his legs after Hayter had beaten the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with the Pilgrims goalkeeper.

Feeney sent a rasping right-foot drive just past the post before Marcus Browning was denied by the woodwork when his drive came back off the angle of post and crossbar in the 73rd minute.

Cherries had an appeal for a penalty turned down after claiming Coughlan had handled Fletcher's shot before Norris was booked for diving while trying to win a spot-kick at the other end.

Maher headed over as Cherries continued to lay seige to the Pilgrims goal before the hosts' luck was summed up when Feeney raced clear in the final minute, only for the impressive McCormick to again save the day.