Cheltenham 1 Argyle 5 - Youth Report

ARGYLE’S youngsters kept their hopes of winning the EFL Youth Alliance Merit League Two with a comfortable victory at Quat Goose Lane.

Aaron Goulty and Cameron Sangster gave Argyle a 2-0 lead at the break, and although Cheltenham scored quickly after the interval, two goals from Luke Jephcott gave Argyle a cushion, and Billy Craske goal rounded things off nicely.

Academy director Kevin Hodges took the opportunity to give five of his schoolboys an opportunity with Owen Raven starting his first match for the under-18's while Ben Bayliss made his debut and Jimmy Miller, Alfie Wotton and Owen Price all came on as substitutes.

Argyle started well with Cameron Sangster shooting just wide before they finally made the break on 21 minutes when Luke Jephcott and Billy Craske combined for the latter's pass to find Goulty shooting home on the turn.

It was 2-0 on 35 minutes as good play down the leftfrom full-back Ryan Law saw his perfect cross find Sangster racing in to head home.

Cheltenham had their best spell at the start of the second half and were rewarded by pulling a goal back on 48 minutes when Michael Cooper did well to save a fierce drive but the Pilgrims’ defence was slow to react allowing the home forward to strike home the rebound.

Argyle responded by Jephcott's fine effort looked to be harshly ruled out by an offside decision but he had better luck on 57 minutes when he took Sangster's astute pass to finish well.

Jephcott was on target again, eight minutes from time, as he turned sharply in the box to finish well before Craske ran through the centre of the home defence to place his shot into the goal and complete the scoring.

“A good performance in which we played football the right way, which drew plenty of praise from the watching spectators,' said a delighted Hodges.

Argyle: Michael Cooper, Ben Bayliss, Ryan Law (Owen Price 85), Tom Purrington, Harry Downing, Ollie Tomlinson (Alfie Wotton 81), Billy Craske, Owen Raven (Jimmy Miller 80), Luke Jephcott, Cameron Sangster, Aaron Goulty. Substitute not used: Harry Townsend.