Academy Preview | Gillingham (H)
After an unbeaten opening to their Merit League campaign, Argyle Under-18s look to extend that sequence at home to Gillingham on Saturday morning, at Millennium Fields (11am).
The Young Pilgrims drew their opening two fixtures, then picked up a superb away win at Portsmouth last weekend. Gillingham, who qualified for Merit League One via a fourth-place finish in the Youth Alliance League, have started the new phase of the season by also beating Portsmouth away, but losing 3-0 at home to Luton Town last time.
Last season, a late Gills equaliser in the game in Kent stopped Argyle picking up an away win, and the sides met again in this season’s FA Youth Cup, with Gillingham obtaining a 1-0 win.
“We've played them twice since I've been at football club and both have been really tight games,” said Under-18s manager Darren Way.
“We played at their place in the Merit League last year. We were one up and we conceded in the last 10 seconds, so they took us close in that game. Then we had the experience this year of the FA Youth Cup, which again was a tight game. Unfortunately, there was one mistake in it, and we made it. It was late on and we didn't give ourselves enough time to recover.
“It is always a competitive game against a Gillingham team. They always fight until the end. We are making sure that sometimes we enjoy the ugly side of the game. Even though we want to play fast, flowing football through the thirds, to make sure we get into the final third with a good end product, sometimes you have to win your one v one duels, and we’ve got some good characters, good personalities in the team that are willing to fight. It'll be a good test on Saturday.
“Both teams are set out quite strong. Gillingham play a 4-3-3 formation and get numbers behind the ball well. They throw their lives at the ball to block shots and we've got to make sure that we work the right areas at the right time, are clinical with our finishing and then it's do-or-die defending at the other end, making sure we keep the ball out the back of the net.”
