Argyle’s Under-18s Professional Development League Cup campaign ended on Tuesday, despite drawing 2-2 against Bristol City at Millennium Fields.
Although the youthful Greens were 2-0 down just after the second-half restart, goals from James Sharpe and Billy Devlin secured a hard-earned point for Argyle.
Five under-16s were in Argyle’s starting 11, but that did not seem to be a problem for Head Coach Jamie Lowry’s side, as the first chance of the game fell to the Greens in just the third minute. Fletcher Poole cut inside from the left wing and looked to curl an effort into the bottom corner, but his shot was straight down the throat of Isaac Finch in the Bristol City goal.
However, the Robins' pressure became too much, and some quick counter-attacking football saw Rushon Walker’s cross across the box turned into the back of the net by Harry Hogg, giving the visitors the lead in the 28th minute.
The Greens cleared several corners and attacking phases before they became too dangerous in the remainder of the first half but, just minutes after the restart, Hogg scored his and the Robins’ second goal of the game.
As the minutes slowly seemed to be running away from Argyle, the arrival of under-15s forward Sharpe and Oscar Dean off the bench flipped a much-needed switch on the pitch.
Within seven minutes of coming on, Sharpe tapped home a loose ball in the area, after a defensive scramble on the line, to cut the visitors’ lead to just one goal. Bristol City then had a chance, but Excellent Ikpaewa watched his shot fly over the bar, after beating two recovering Argyle defenders.
Soon enough, Argyle had the equaliser they deserved through Devlin. The Greens won a corner and swung the ball into the area, causing problems for the scrambling Robins’ defenders, with the ball falling to the feet of Devlin to fire home and bring the game level.
Bristol City had a chance to win the game with what could have been the final kick of the game, but Reubin Shephard’s shot at goal from a free-kick, on the edge of the box, caused no problem for Jack Flower in the Argyle goal.
Lowry said: “Today was a fantastic result. The boys were really competitive. With the state of the pitch, it wasn't going to be the prettiest game and Bristol City are unique. They play forward very quickly and are quite direct with first and second balls as well, so I thought the boys did well, competed, and ran hard. Then, when we got the opportunity in and around their box, we played some excellent stuff.
“We had two under-15s (James Sharpe and Joel Tolcher) that came on today from the bench and did really well, so it's a great experience for them to play against lads that are three or four years older than them.
“Overall, I thought every single one of them was great. Again, like on Saturday at the Newport game, our two second years that started were fantastic.
“They led by example, and the scholars that played as well. We were youthful today and started with five under-16s, but they all did really well. It’s pleasing to see that hunger and that fight in the boys, as the bare minimum that we need to go and produce results and performances.”
The Greens end their Under-18s PDL Cup with one point, sitting fourth in the group, behind Cheltenham Town, who progress into the next stage of the competition, Swansea City and Bristol City.
Argyle: 23 Jack Flower, 2 Joe Mwaro, 3 Harry Shield (12 Toby Maclean, 77), 4 Billy Devlin, 5 Jensen Ireland (capt), 6 Sam Hayman, 7 Fletcher Poole, 8 Sam Lord (15 Joel Tolcher, 77), 9 Kian Burch (16 James Sharpe, 62), 10 Seb Campbell (14 Oscar Dean, 62), 11 Jared Rendle. Substitutes: 40 Dan Holman.
