FA Youth Cup: The Story
Argyle Under-18s enjoyed a sensational run to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup this season, culminating in a meeting with Aston Villa at Villa Park.
A historic win against Everton, a penalty shoot-out victory over Lincoln City and extra-time heroics against Carlisle United secured the date in Birmingham.
Let’s take a look back at exactly how the Pilgrims battled to the last eight of the prestigious cup competition.
Third Round: Carlisle United (A)
Last-minute heroics in regular time from Harry Shield propelled Argyle to victory in the north of England in the Greens' opening game of the FA Youth Cup against Carlisle United.
Cole Fisher’s penalty just after the hour mark sent all players, staff and fans into jubilation, but this soon turned to panic. Three minutes after Argyle took the lead, Carlisle’s Dan Hopper ran behind the recovering defence and slotted home before rearing off to celebrate with his teammates.
Carlisle took the lead in the final stages of the game, through substitute Lewis Lambert, and with a 2-1 deficit and the thought of an FA Youth Cup exit looming, Argyle had to push forward and search for an important goal.
Two minutes before the end of the match, the Greens were awarded a free-kick on the edge of Carlisle’s area. Shield stepped up and curled an unbelievable effort into the bottom corner of the goal, to bring the game level - before being mobbed by his exultant teammates.
With cramp and fatigue setting in, and all substitutions made bar one, an inspiring speech from Head Coach Lowry seemed to spur his side on, with Seb Campbell scoring from a rebound in the 97th minute to give Argyle the lead and Frankie Maund adding a fourth with, what seemed to be, the final kick of the game.
Fourth Round: Lincoln City (H)
Argyle secured their place through to the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup after a tense night at Home Park ended in a penalty shoot-out victory.
The Young Pilgrims went 2-0 up against Lincoln City via goals from Fletcher Poole and Joel Sullivan but were pegged back by the Imps, with a Zane Okoro penalty and a Jaxon Tomak strike levelling the tie.
The opening goal came just before the break for Argyle with Cole Fisher sending in a beautiful cross to the far post. Poole was waiting, but he still had plenty to do, as he may have expected the defender in front of him to meet the delivery. As it was, the defender missed the flight, and Poole reacted to steer a header into the corner.
After the restart, from a free-kick, Argyle got their second. Fisher sent a ball from the left to the far post, with Harry Shield excellently heading the ball back across the goal, and captain Sullivan acrobatically reaching out a leg to flick over the goalkeeper.
Lincoln soon scored two goals of their own to find a way back into the game, but, after extra-time passed without incident or goals, the sides took turns from the spot, and reached 3-3 before Dan Holman saved Carter Ford’s effort. Two penalties later, Tegan Finn converted to ensure the Greens went through.
Fifth Round: Everton (A)
A Cole Fisher penalty in the opening 120 seconds of Argyle’s tie against Tier One academy Everton confirmed their spot in the last eight of the competition.
From the outset of the game, the Greens pushed forward and won a first-minute corner. From this, Kian Burch was fouled in the area, and Argyle were awarded a penalty. Fisher stepped up to convert the spot-kick to give Argyle a dream start, taking the lead against the three-time winners of the competition.
Just six minutes later, Everton showed what they are about with an attack that got Joshua van Schoor through, but Jensen Ireland set the tone for the night with a superb challenge, and it would not be the last time he or a team-mate would put their body on the line.
That said, Argyle did not settle for their single goal. Tegan Finn forced one save from Douglas Lukjanciks before the Everton keeper produced an even better stop to deny a curling effort from Fletcher Poole.
The second half saw a similar pattern emerging, with Everton trying hard to come back, and Argyle holding firm. Billy Devlin was the latest to make an excellent late intervention, blocking an effort on the line and, although Mwaro and Finn carved out chances for the Greens, it was defensively where the important work was to be done.
But Argyle were not for passing. The heroic Greens kept the best and most important clean sheet of their fledging careers – so far – to ensure progression to the quarter-finals.
Quarter-Final: Aston Villa (A)
Argyle Under-18s’ FA Youth Cup run ended in Birmingham, with a 3-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the quarter-final at Villa Park.
Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba’s strike late in the first half, alongside second-half goals from Bradley Burrowes and Cole Brannigan, secured a final-four spot for the Midlands side.
The Greens were forced to field a young side at the historic stadium, due to injuries sustained in recent months and long-term injuries seen throughout the season.
Two minutes before the half-time whistle, the deadlock was broken. Jimoh-Aloba picked up the ball inside the area, turned and fired towards goal, with the effort catching out Dan Holman, due to a rogue Villa player in front of the Argyle keeper. The shot, somehow, found its way through Holman’s legs and into the back of the net, sending the near 1,000 fans in attendance cheering.
The Greens continued to battle on the defensive end, but just before the hour-mark Villa added a second through Burrowes. A quick counter from the hosts saw the winger breakthrough and slot home, doubling Villa’s lead.
The hosts then had a third. Quick play down the left ended with Cole Brannigan tapping the ball home, before rearing off in celebration to a nearby camera.
After shaking hands, Argyle strolled over to the corner flag, clapping the travelling Green Army and were met with the deserved appreciation following their outstanding efforts in this season’s FA Youth Cup.
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Fourth-round goalscorer Fletcher Poole tasted his first experience of the competition this season, with the first-year apprentice relishing every opportunity that the Greens faced on their run to the last eight.
“It’s my first time in the FA Youth Cup,” he said. “It's been brilliant and a great experience so far. Carlisle was very far! It's one of the furthest journeys we could have done, but we came out with a win, which is all we wanted to do. I think the way we won brought everyone closer together. Harry [Shield] scoring the last-minute free-kick and then getting those two goals in extra time was a great performance.
“For my goal against Lincoln, I was running near the back post, the ball was on the other side, and they didn't really track me. The ball glanced over the centre back's head, I closed my eyes, opened them and it was in. It was a brilliant feeling.
“My initial thoughts for the shoot-out were, ‘I back us. I back us to win a penalty shoot-out,’ especially with Dan in goal - and what an unbelievable save it was.
“The buzz around the ground and changing room was amazing, and then it came out that we had Everton away from home. We weren’t nervous. We went into that game with so much confidence like the previous two. We all backed each other throughout the 90 minutes, and it was just excellent.”
