The Hatters’ away day blues continued as they were beaten narrowly at Plymouth.

Former Town defender Brendan Galloway grabbed the winner in first-half stoppage time to condemn Jack Wilshere’s side a third straight away league defeat.

In truth Argyle could have won by a greater margin with the Hatters indebted to goalkeeper Josh Keeley and wayward finishing from the hosts.

That’s not to say the Town did not have chances themselves and could have snuck a point had Nahki Wells’ shot not been cleared off the line with 20 minutes left.

The Hatters, who started showing one change to the side that drew with Lincoln last weekend with Kasey Palmer given his debut in midfield, almost fell behind in the 11th minute when Alex Mitchell headed wide when unmarked inside the penalty area.

And two minutes later the Hatters needed a vital goal-line clearance from Nigel Lonwijk to prevent the Pilgrims from taking the lead after Matty Sorinola’s shot beat Keeley but was cleared by the defender.

Slowly, though, the Town began to find their rhythm. Wells was off target with two efforts in quick succession that came either side of a wonderful block from Kal Naismith to deny Malachi Boateng a chance for the hosts.

But while the Hatters had control of the ball they could not force a meaningful effort on target despite the ball dropping kindly inside the penalty area on numerous occasions.

As half-time approached, Argyle upped the ante and the fingertips of Keeley kept out a rasping drive from Ronan Curtis that rattled the crossbar before Boateng glanced a header wide on 40 minutes.

However, just when it seemed both sides would head at the break level, Argyle took the lead. The hosts sped clear after clearing a Hatters free-kick to win a corner. Keeley produced a spectacular one-handed save to deny Lorent Tolaj’s header but ex-Town defender Galloway was quickest to the loose ball to acrobatically turn home from close range.

Behind, the Hatters rallied at the start of the second half and Palmer inches away from celebrating a debut goal only for Hazard produced a flying fingertip save to turn the shot from 20 yards over the crossbar.

On 53 minutes the Town almost fell further behind when another former Hatter in the Argyle line-up, Bim Pepple, sped clear but shot wide with the goal at his mercy.

It was a massive let off the Town and Jack Wilshere responded with his first change, introducing Shayden Morris for Emilio Lawrence. The winger’s impact was almost immediate when his cut-back found Jordan Clark but Mathias Ross cleared the danger at the final moment.

The Hatters began to stir once more. Liam Walsh rifling a shot low into the side-netting before Wells had their best chance on 70 minutes. Clark threaded a disguised throughball into the feet of Wells and the striker did well to guide a shot on target. However, as the ball rolled goalwards, Argyle defender Mitchell got back in the nick of time to hack the ball to safety.

Wilshere threw on Cohen Bramall and Jerry Yates with 13 minutes left but, try as they might, the Hatters could not find an equaliser.

Keeley, who prevented Tolaj from making it 2-0 in the second minute of added time, went upfield in the final moments. It almost led to a last-gasp equaliser when Clark’s effort at the back-post was stopped by Hazard with the final chance.

It’s defeat on the road for the Town who will need bounce back quickly when they head to Huddersfield on Tuesday night. We’ll see you then.

Town: Keeley, Lonwijk, Johnson, Naismith, Andersen, Walsh, Clark, Palmer, Kodua, Lawrence, Wells.

Subs not used: Shea, Fanne, Saville, Makosso.

Attendance: 15,949, including 790 backing the Hatters.