Burley stuck with an unchanged side for the third game in succession, with Gareth Bale missing out through injury and Alexander Ostlund missing out for no apparent reason.
Centre midfielder Wright again kept his place at right back at the expense of cult hero Jesus and to be fair to him put in a solid performance. Perhaps Burley believes his leadership qualities are necessary to protect youngster Nathan Dyer on the right of midfield, but the youngster failed to spark, being taken off at half time.
Djamel Belmadi made a welcome return after finally overcoming his calf injury and showed his magic on the ball, playing his part in the winning goal, wrongfooting the Plymouth defence with a trademark turn.
Also welcome on the fitness front was the successful late fitness test for Idiakez. The Spaniard provides valuable shape, ball retention and set piece ability. It is no coincidence that our form has improved after he has joined the club. He was once again neat and tidy, catching the eye with a superb defence splitting pass to put Kenwyne Jones in on goal. Shame the finish didn't match the pass.
Up front goalscorers Jones and Rasiak resumed their partnership, but only Rasiak had brought a shooting boot, scoring his 6th goal in 8 and missing two other great chances. Jones was back to his inconsistent self in front of goal, a pity as he is just finishing ability short of a very decent centre forward in this league.
Good news has emerged today that Plymouth defender Hasney Aljofree has been given the all clear after being stretchered off with a worrying looking neck injury.
On the Cross Verdict
This is the kind of fixture that we would have drawn or lost last season and we can only hope that Saints have turned a corner after losing so many leads.
We can be grateful that we were not made to pay for wasting our chances to kill off the game, with Plymouth threatening late on, buoyed by the excellent support from the sell-out away contingent. As it is, some days we get what we deserve as with Palace and Plymouth, others the luck goes against us as with Ipswich.
We simply have to find that killer instinct and, with Wright-Phillips and Jones still learning their trade, a second clinical striker on loan from the Premiership would fit the bill. It is just as well that Rasiak continues to find the back of the net as without him in the side you worry as to where consistent goals are going to come from.
But still, we are more than happy to take a consecutive win after so much early season inconsistency, a win that thanks to the tightness of the league takes us up into 4th. Let's not get too carried away though just yet, as Colchester down in 16th are within 3 points of us!
Saints head next to Burnley a point and a place ahead of us, a fixture which we need to win to maintain our momentum and to keep taking points off those towards the top of the table, an area in which we failed badly last year.
Man of the match: Chris Baird was once again immense at the back, strong in the air and calmness personified under pressure. A knock on the shoulder was a scare not just for the short term with no central defender on the bench, but also for the fact that we simply have to have him in the team.
Cameo of the day: A welcome return from injury from Djamel Belmadi who despite Nathan Dyer's drive and enthusiasm has been missed. It needed his magic on the ball to turn the game in the second half and we look a strong side in midfield with him back in the side.