Match report for Plymouth Argyle U18 vs Portsmouth U18 on 01 Sep 17

ARGYLE’S youth team bagged a 2-1 win against Portsmouth at Home Park on Friday with goals from Luke Jephcott and Billy Craske.

Forwards Craske and Aaron Goulty had their fair share of chances to score within the first half but 25 minutes into the game it was Luke Jephcott who managed to give the young Pilgrims a promising lead.

Portsmouth’s Joe Dandy managed to quickly equalise within 10 minutes of the opening goal with a header from a corner.

Three minutes into the second half there was an impressive save from Argyle’s keeper Mike Cooper, and within 30 seconds Jephcott was challenging Pompey’s keeper one-on-one but was prevented from scoring. This was followed by a second challenge from Jephcott with the same outcome.

Throughout the second half it was clear to see that Argyle had picked up a lot of the possession and become the dominant team on the pitch. Jephcott again went close, as did Goulty and there were also plenty of chances from corners taken by Harry Hodges.

With about 15 minutes of the game remaining, Craske grabbed the winning goal for Argyle after an attempt from previous goal scorer Jephcott. Portsmouth could not find another equaliser, and the Pilgrims finished the game as deserved winners.

Argyle: Michael Cooper; Harry Hodges, Andrew Burn, Harry Downing, Ryan Law; Matt Ward (Adam Randall), Tom Purrington, Michael Peck; Billy Craske, Luke Jephcott, Aaron Goulty.