Report | Oxford United beat Argyle Under-18s on penalties

Argyle Under-18s bowed out of the Youth Alliance Cup on penalties, having drawn 1-1 with Oxford United in normal time. 

Joel Sullivan’s late equaliser cancelled out Jack Lee’s first-half goal before the Greens fell to a 4-2 defeat in the shoot-out.  

It was a fast start for the hosts; Lee should have put the U’s ahead inside the first five minutes when his header from within the six-yard box cleared the crossbar.  

Oxford continued their good start; good movement from Lee meant Sam Lord was the wrong side of the striker when the U’s swung a corner into the box. Lord was deemed to push the forward to prevent the ball from reaching him at the near post, with the referee awarding a penalty. 

Lee himself stepped up for the hosts but was unable to beat Dan Holman with his initial effort. However, the ball ricocheted off Argyle’s stopper and fell back into the path of Lee, who made no mistake at the second time of asking, giving Oxford the lead. 

United should have doubled their lead when Leo Snowden was unable to make contact with Callum Palmer-Flynn’s pinpoint cross. It seemed a chance harder to miss than score, but Oxford’s winger could not position his body correctly and there was a collective sigh of relief from Lowry’s side. 

Busy forward Lee thought he had both his and Oxford’s second of the game when he turned the ball in from close range. However, the linesman’s flag was up for offside, and the Greens were once again off the hook. 

The young Pilgrims failed to create anything of note in the first-half, Lord’s late volley the only shot of note that U’s keeper Ajae Patel had to deal with.  

It was a much better start to the second period for Lowry’s side, and on 55 minutes Kian Burch should have levelled the game. 

Lord’s deft flick muddled Oxford’s backline and Burch raced through on goal. With the goal at his mercy, Argyle’s number nine opted for power, but his effort thundered over the bar. 

Lowry had to contemplate risk versus reward for the majority of the second half, on two occasions centre-back Sullivan had to bail his side out with opposition players looking certain to hit the back of the net, Oxford having broken away.  

The last ten minutes saw Argyle go for it. Sullivan was thrown up front alongside substitute James Sharpe in an attempt to find the all-important equaliser. 

Both Tegan Finn and Seb Campbell saw efforts saved by Patel, the keeper proving a match for everything the young Greens had thrown at him to that point.  

In stoppage time, the Greens recycled a corner, carving out an opportunity for replacement Joel Tolcher to try his luck from the edge of the penalty area.  

The driven shot cannoned off an Oxford defender and into the path of the advanced Sullivan. He stabbed at the ball, diverting it past Patel who had seemingly done enough to get across and deal with the initial deflected effort and Argyle had their leveller.  

It was an all-action performance from skipper Sullivan who, minutes later, was back in his own area making yet another last-ditch challenge to deny Lee from winning the game for the hosts.  

With the game finishing a draw at the end of regulation time, the cup tie went straight to a penalty shoot-out, with Oxford the first team to take.  

Holman once again used his giant frame to deny Lee from the first spot-kick, giving the Greens an early advantage, but Cole Fisher was unable to breach Patel’s goal in Argyle’s first effort and the game was back level after the first round of kicks. 

Both sides’ next two penalties were well dispatched with the shoot-out level at 2-2 after three attempts each.  

Jameson Blackmore continued the scoring run for Oxford, but Argyle defender Jensen Ireland was denied by Patel, meaning the U’s took the lead and could win the shoot-out with the next penalty.  

Josh Holton kept his composure and beat Holman from 12 yards, giving Oxford the victory in the game and, in turn, knocking Argyle out of the Youth Alliance Cup. 

Head Coach Jamie Lowry said: “We were braver in possession but still lacked the intensity and the levels out of possession. In the final third, we had quite a lot of the ball but didn't really trouble their goalkeeper and their backline enough.  

“It is disappointing but again it's another learning curve for the boys. They've got to be consistent with the performances, especially going into big cup games.”