Nancekivell's Bristol Rovers Reaction

Argyle first-team coach Kevin Nancekivell was pleased with the progress of the Young Pilgrims who started the Papa John’s Trophy tie with Bristol Rovers.

The Greens drew 1-1 with Rovers after 90 minutes at Home Park, winning a penalty shoot-out to gain an extra group-stage point.

Under-18 players Jack Endacott, Oscar Halls and Will Jenkins-Davies all started the match, and each caught the eyes with mature performances alongside more senior players on both sides.

Halls in particular was always going to be in for a challenging evening, up against experienced forward John Marquis, but he came through in encouraging style, with none more pleased than Nancekivell with Oscar’s competitive Argyle debut.

“Competitive is the word with Oscar,” said Nancekivell. “He loves a tackle; he loves a header. He was very composed on the ball.

“He was up against John Marquis, who is a really experienced centre-forward, who gives a lot of League One central defenders a tough time. For Oscar to come out with the confidence and skills that he has, it is a really good night for him.

“We were delighted with them. They’ve been knocking on the door to get involved with us, with training etc. We know how good they are, and what potential they’ve got. They can come out of the night with a lot of credit.”

Argyle emerged with two points from the game, getting the Trophy campaign off to a positive start.

The Pilgrims rotated their squad but still started plenty of experienced players from a deep, talented first-team squad. Nancekivell declared himself, and the management team, pleased with the attitude and performance from the players a competition they intend to take seriously.

“I thought it was an entertaining game, the supporters got into it,” said Nancekivell. “Both teams had a good go, and we’re delighted to come away with some points.

“It was end-to-end. Bristol Rovers treated the competition with respect, as we did, with some youngsters thrown into the mix.

“We want to win every game. We want a winning environment at the football club, which we feel we are close to getting. Tonight goes to prove that. We want to go as far as we can in competition. To go behind, with some young players on the pitch at the time, and respond as we did, with Ryan putting his penalty away, it was fully deserved.

“The crowd were brilliant, they got right behind us. A penalty shoot-out is always good to see. Especially when we win!”