AFC Wimbledon U18 vs Plymouth Argyle U18

Argyle Under-18s Head Coach Jamie Lowry believes back-to-back victories will place his side in a strong position when facing AFC Wimbledon in the South Youth Alliance League on Saturday.

A league victory against Bromley was followed by Joe Hatch’s heroic performance against Bristol Rovers in the Youth Alliance Cup, where the forward scored all five of the Greens’ goals at Millennium Fields.

“Confidence is high,” Lowry told Argyle TV. “There's definitely been more of a buzz around the place, which is really good when going into a very difficult game away at Wimbledon on Saturday. We’re going into it full of confidence, however. We'll plan like we do every game and prepare properly.

“The performance against Bristol Rovers was pleasing as an all-round team effort. We were outstanding and pressed aggressively. We spoke about it before the game about our press being nice and aggressive and by pressing high, we'll get success.

“As for Joe, credit to him. We've worked loads in the last couple of years with him about minimal touches in and around the box and first-time finishing. He's worked really hard, so I’m pleased for him, and also extremely proud for the other lads really to have that high intensity and go back-to-back after the Bromley game as well.

“Defensively, the strikers are our first line of the press, so it must not be just the goalkeeper and defenders that get a pat on the back after a clean sheet, it's everybody.

“It was very good to get our first clean sheet of the season, something to build on, and it gives us confidence moving onto Saturday.”

AFC Wimbledon have started their league campaign on the front foot, with an unbeaten run of four games and have picked up 10 points in the process. Lowry and the Greens are aware of their run of form but have made sure preparations have been put in place to maximise performance away from home.

He said: “The boys in their first year played in the under-17s game on Tuesday, so they had a lighter day on Monday before the game. The second years trained on Monday and Tuesday. The boys who needed to work worked and those who needed to recover recovered. We’ll be fine and ready to hit the ground running on Saturday.

“I'm looking for the competitiveness we've been showing the last couple of games. Our willingness and desire to run and compete has been great and I think there's a good foundation for us to build on. That'll be needed against them [AFC Wimbledon]. They're a very, very good robust side, who are also competitive and physical.

“We need to stamp our foot on the game, play the way we want to try and play and keep the good things that we're showing at the moment repeating.”

Argyle Under-18s suffered late heartbreak against AFC Wimbledon in the Youth Alliance League on Saturday afternoon, falling to a 2-1 defeat.

The Dons led from an early penalty, and though Argyle equalised via Joe Hatch, Kiaym Moore's goal at the very end gave the home side the victory.

Pilgrims Head Coach Jamie Lowry made three changes to the team that won against Bristol Rovers a week prior.

These changes came in defence as well as in goal. Dan Holman, Harley Sneap and Jensen Ireland took the places of Jack Flower, Toby Haley and Billy Devlin.

It was an unusually slow start by the Pilgrims and Wimbledon capitalised, forcing a penalty in the third minute.

The hosts launched a hopeful ball into the penalty area from the right flank which ricocheted up off the sodden surface and into the hand of Kian Burch.

Despite the handball incident being really unfortunate, the referee had no choice other than to point to the spot and award the penalty.

Jake Lawrence stepped up from 12 yards and converted the spot-kick, sending Holman the wrong way and giving the hosts the lead.

The poor weather conditions did not help either side and the game became quite stop-start with neither team able to really stamp any authority on the game.

Fletcher Poole seemed Argyle’s brightest spark in the first half, a few mazy runs down the left caused the Wimbledon defence lots of problems, but the final ball just was not there for the young Greens.

Just before half-time, the London side should have doubled their advantage when goalscorer Lawrence turned provider and picked out Harry Hedges, on the penalty spot, with a pinpoint cross.

The forward scuffed his effort, perhaps due to the poor conditions, and dragged the ball wide of the left-hand post with just Holman to beat.

Argyle seemed to have a new lease of life in the second half. Poole once again caused issues down the left and Flowers' deliveries from the other flank ensured no let-up for the hosts.

The Pilgrims' early pressure finally paid dividends when they equalised from a corner on 64 minutes. Cole Fisher’s floated delivery to the edge of the area was headed back across goal by Harry Shield, to Hatch who had peeled away at the back post.

Hatch, very much a man in form, swivelled on the spot and acrobatically thundered a volleyed effort past the helpless Ethan MacGrath, bringing the game back to an equilibrium.

The Greens struggled to sustain their early-half pressure and Wimbledon crept back into the game.

It was late heartbreak when substitute Moore punted the ball into the penalty area from distance with seemingly nothing on in the 90th minute.

Holman came to claim the ball but, perhaps due to the conditions, it evaded his grasp, and he was only able to palm it into his own net.

Wimbledon nearly added another late on, but after a harsh penalty award against Finley Wilkes, Holman saved the ensuing effort from the spot.

Head Coach Jamie Lowry felt his side deserved more out of the game, for all their efforts in the 90 minutes away from home.

“I’m pleased with the overall performance,” Lowry said. “The lads deserved something out of the game. They were great for 80+ minutes. Two individual errors cost us and led to their two goals, but that's part of the boys’ development, as is learning from them.

“It was probably our best overall performance so far this season. Wimbledon is a tough place to go and they’re top of the league for a reason. I'm pleased with the boys’ application and general performance in that position.

“It’s something to continue to build on and add to, and we’re seeing lots of pleasing progression and development in the lads moving forward over the last couple of games. We’re really pleased with the direction we're going at the moment.”

Argyle: 40 Dan Holman, 2 Harry Shield, 3 Lewis Flowers, 4 Harley Sneap, 5 Jensen Ireland, 6 Joel Sullivan (capt) (14 Finley Wilkes, 75), 7 Kian Burch (12 Toby Haley, 60), 8 Sam Lord, 9 Joe Hatch, 10 Cole Fisher, 11 Fletcher Poole. Substitutes: 23 Jack Flower (gk), 15 Sam Hayman, 16 Frankie Maund.

WIM Wimbledon

PLY Argyle