A poor first half did nothing to inspire the bumper 18,000 crowd as Palace were clueless in attempting to break down the Pilgrims' defensive barrier.
Indeed, Hasney Aljofree could easily have headed Plymouth in front as Gabor Kiraly in the Palace goal could only watch as the ball drifted inches past his upright.
Andy Johnson was kept quiet but he did squeeze in a chance just before the break which prompted Romain Larrieu into making his first save with 44 minutes on the clock.
After the break Palace showed a bit more imagination in their movement.
Substitute Dougie Freedman struck up a good understanding with Johnson and Jobi McAnuff caused all sorts of problems down the left flank.
Palace were at long last beginning to show some fluency.
McAnuff was unlucky with a 15-yard shot which shaved the outside of the post but on 63 minutes Palace eventually opened the scoring.
But Plymouth will kick themselves for sloppy defending as Ben Watson's deep free-kick to the far post saw Ward head across goal to Johnson who turned it back to Ward and he drove low just inside the post from 10 yards out.
The Pilgrims pushed forward looking to immediately respond and it was now Palace who were on the back foot.
Although the Pilgrims failed to create any chances they nonetheless had a few opportunities from set pieces which Palace managed to defend well.