Under 18s Report | Argyle 2-2 Luton Town

An extraordinary conclusion to Argyle Under-18s’ South Youth Alliance game with Luton Town on Saturday morning saw the young Greens salvage a draw, having looked like they had lost the game.  

With the game at 1-1, following goals from Luton’s Dylan Stitt and Argyle’s Joel Sullivan, the game entered injury-time, and Luton dramatically went in front as Harry Fox headed in a 95th-minute free-kick. However, just a minute later, Sam Lord drove home for the Pilgrims to complete a frantic finale at Millennium Fields.  

Luton’s lead came from Stitt’s converted penalty within 10 minutes of the second-half restart. The opening 45 minutes was a highly contested match, with both sides finding opportunities to shoot at goal, but neither side could find the back of the net. 

After the Hatters took the lead, Argyle stepped on the front foot and took only four minutes to draw level. A fortuitous goalmouth scramble ended with a final touch from what seemed to be Sullivan before bouncing into the back of the visitors’ goal. 

The Greens continued to press on the front foot but could not convert any chances in front of goal. It was Luton’s Jamie Odesah who missed the closest chance with his open header in the box. 

Soon enough, the visitors were rearing off in celebration after taking the lead in the 95th minute. A free-kick from the right wing was delivered into the area and met by Fox, who steered his header home past substitute keeper Jack Flower. 

These celebrations were overtaken by Argyle cheers just a minute later when Lord calmly placed his shot into the top corner past a recovering Lucas Thomas, before the full-time whistle blew, ending the contest equal. 

Head Coach Jamie Lowry was delighted with his side’s overall performance against a strong Luton side.  

He said: “I’m proud of the lads, again. The overall performance was really strong. We're just making naive mistakes at the moment that are giving teams goals and making it difficult for ourselves, however. 

“I addressed the boys at the end and said I can't ask for any more in terms of their work and effort, and following the game plan I'm putting together. We're just making silly errors that are giving chances to teams that are at the top of the league. 

“Wimbledon last week were first, Luton are second in the league and the lads make it hard for themselves by giving them goals from our mistakes, but we’re pleased and proud of their performance.” 

Argyle: 1 Dan Holman (23 Jack Flower, 57), 2 Toby Haley (15 Billy Devlin, 87), 3 Lewis Flowers, 4 Harley Sneap, 5 Jensen Ireland, 6 Joel Sullivan (capt), 7 Kian Burch, 8 Sam Lord, 9 Joe Hatch, 10 Cole Fisher, 11 Harry Shield (12 Joe Mwaro, 45+1). Substitutes: 14 Sam Hayman, 16 Jared Rendle.