Under-18s Report | Exeter City 1-3 Argyle
Argyle Under-18s secured their first win of the season in style on Saturday, beating Devon rivals Exeter City 3-1 in the opening round of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup.
Goals from Kian Burch, Harry Shields and Fletcher Poole in the second half were enough to turn the tie in Argyle’s favour, after the Greens had gone behind in the game.
Despite heading into half-time level, Argyle’s change in formation and high press worked positively when creating chances in front of goal.
Exeter’s Dan Shanahan had a lot to do in front of his goal in the first half, as the pressure kept building and building on the Grecians' back line the more they lost the ball. Shanahan could not stop a chipped effort from Shields midway through the first half, but the linesman ruled the winger was offside and no goal was awarded.
Immediately after the half-time restart, Exeter were awarded a penalty, which Theo Cutler converted past Dan Holman to hand the hosts the lead, whilst Argyle captain Joel Sullivan was shown a yellow card for protesting the decision.
Just after the hour mark, Argyle drew level through Burch. The forward timed his run to perfection and was able to connect with a pass across goal and tap home.
Just under 10 minutes later, a roar from the Argyle players was heard again, as Shields beat Shanahan in Exeter’s goal to hand the Greens the advantage. Oscar Dean won the ball in the middle of the pitch, spreading it wide left to a darting Shields, who continued forward and slotted home.
In the final minutes of the game, Exeter found some momentum and looked to cause problems, but diving bodies and challenges from the whole Argyle side helped hold the lead. In the second minute of additional time, Poole scored Argyle's third to secure a win in Tiverton.
Argyle under-18s Head Coach Jamie Lowry said: “It’s a much better feeling, and much better performance as well obviously. The boys were really good.
“For me, the first 10-15 minutes, we just had to get that press right and settle into it, and then after that, we got to grips with the game and pressed well and managed to control the ball.
“It’s nice that the boys shared the goals around and got goals from different positions, which is important for us and the lads moving forward.
“I think we were fantastic at creating chances today. It could have been a lot more. I think they defended well, had maybe two or three clearances off the line and got some blocks in.
“I thought we were absolutely fantastic, in terms of our attacking play and then being a real threat in possession. Overall, really pleasing and a big tick in terms of what we're looking for this season.”
