Under-18s Report | Argyle 2-1 Swindon Town
Argyle Under-18s’ fine form in the EFL South Youth Alliance League continued on Sunday, with a 2-1 win over Swindon Town at Millennium Fields.
Goals from Kian Burch and Harry Shield handed Argyle three deserved points after a gritty and determined performance at home, pushing the Greens to third in the league table.
Jamie Lowry’s side started on the front foot, causing problems for the visiting Swindon defence, and soon took the lead through Burch. Tidy and quick play down the left flank from Shield created room to cross the ball across the face of the goal, and after a scramble in the six-yard box, Argyle’s number nine tapped home easily.
This lead lasted until the half-hour mark when Swindon won a penalty, following a foul by Argyle’s Joe Mwaro, and converted from the spot. Defender Liam Hutt stepped up and sent Dan Holman diving the opposite way to bring the game level.
The Robins used the equalising goal as a key motivator for the final third of the first half and nearly took the lead from a well-worked set piece. A short free-kick resulted in a left-footed strike from Harry Chard, but the defender’s effort was deflected wide and caused no issues for the Argyle defence.
After the break, Argyle continued to work hard and create chances in front of goal, and in similar timing to their opener, the Greens re-took the lead within the opening quarter of the second half.
Shield and Sam Lord connected well, with the former beating his defender and firing home to give the Pilgrims the advantage.
Argyle should have had a third after the hour mark when Fletcher Poole won the ball in Swindon’s box and looked to play Burch in to tap home for his second of the game, but the visitors’ keeper Lucas Myers did well to recover and cut out the pass across goal.
Despite being under pressure, Swindon pushed forward and created chances of their own, most notably forcing Dan Holman into a reactive - and excellent - double save in the 82nd minute.
The Greens held onto their lead and picked up a third victory in league action in four games, whilst also extending their unbeaten run to five.
Head Coach Lowry said: “I’m delighted with the performance. We want to be a high-pressing team, an aggressive team, we want to play on the front foot, and we want to try and nullify teams having the ball for long periods. We want to try and rush teams up when they have the ball, so they make mistakes and they give the ball away, and give us a chance to counter-attack. Credit to the boys; every single game, they’re bang on it.
“They're 100%. They rush teams. They press hard, even in the 90th minute. They're rushing the goalkeeper trying to make it difficult and force mistakes. It's fantastic. I'm just really pleased for them.”
Argyle: 40 Dan Holman, 2 Joe Mwaro, 3 Lewis Flowers, 4 Harley Sneap, 5 Jensen Ireland, 6 Joel Sullivan (capt), 7 Fletcher Poole, 8 Sam Lord, 9 Kian Burch, 10 Seb Campbell, 11 Harry Shield. Substitutes: 23 Jack Flower (gk), 12 Billy Devlin, 14 Jared Rendle, 15 Frankie Maund.
