FA Youth Cup Report: Argyle beat Lincoln City on penalties
Argyle are through to the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup after a tense night at Home Park ended in a penalty shoot-out victory.
The Young Pilgrims went 2-0 up against Lincoln City via goals from Fletcher Poole and Josh Sullivan, but were pegged by the Imps, with a Zane Okoro penalty and a Jaxon Tomak strike levelling the tie.
After extra-time passed without incident or goals, the sides took turns from the spot, and reached 3-3 before Dan Holman saved Carter Ford’s effort. Two penalties later, Tegan Finn converted to ensure the Greens went through.
After a slow start to the game, Argyle began to assert on the game, and Finn had his first effort with intent on the 23-minute, the ball going over the bar.
In a first half with few chances, the Greens always looked the more likely, and they took the lead five minutes before the break with a neat move and finish.
Finn was involved, clipping a ball on the right to Cole Fisher, and he sent in a beautiful cross to the far post. Poole was waiting, but he still had plenty to do, as he may have expected the defender in front of him to meet the delivery. As it was, the defender missed the flight, and Poole reacted to steer a header into the corner.
His reaction to the goal was to seek out club photographer Izzy Field and celebrate directly at her. Frankly, his knee slide game needs a lot of work – but fortunately his heading is the bit that matters.
Holman in the Argyle goal was called into action for the first time, saving well to his right to deny an effort from Okoro, but the Greens went in leading at the interval.
After the break, Argyle upped their attempts to get a second goal to give themselves some perceived breathing space. A lovely move on the right saw Finn, Fisher, Lewis Thomas and Poole all involved, with the latter two having shots blocked at close range.
Then, a superb interception by Harry Shield, anticipating and stepping out from the back, saw him play Finn through. The number 10 went round the goalkeeper, but saw his shot from a tight angle halted en route to goal.
Then, from a free-kick, Argyle got their second. Fisher sent a ball from the left to the far post, Shield did really well to head back across, and captain Sullivan acrobatically reached out a leg to flick over the goalkeeper.
Almost immediately, Lincoln were handed a lifeline in the form of a penalty. It seemed harsh on Joe Mwaro, who seemed to nick the ball away from Gbolahan Okewoye, but the referee decided it was a penalty, and Okoro dispatched well to halve the deficit.
This goal awoke the Imps, and they equalised 13 minutes later. Substitute Tomak was the eventual beneficiary of Argyle losing the ball when playing out from the back. Okewoye pinched it in the area, and squared for Tomak, who had the facile task of rolling in the leveller.
Lincoln looked the more likely to get a third, too, and Holman saved from Tomak at his near post to keep parity in the game.
Near the end of the 90 minutes, Argyle nearly won it, with Finn, now playing on the left, driving outside his man and shooting on target, only to find an outstretched leg of goalkeeper Jaden Taylor in the way. Substitute Jared Rendle followed up, but could only head wide.
Extra-time yielded precious little in terms of action until the very end. With literally seconds to go, Frankie Maund’s scooped effort was clawed away by Taylor, and he claimed the follow-up effort too.
Penalties followed, with Fisher, Shield and Seb Campbell converting after three Lincoln players had scored. With the shoot-out even, Holman’s large frame blocked Ford’s strike, and Argyle had a foot in round five.
Rendle scored to give Argyle the advantage, and although Okewoye made it 4-4, Finn’s decisive penalty was just that. He struck it hard and true, out of reach of the goalkeeper, sending Argyle through to the next round.
Argyle: 40 Dan Holman, 2 Joe Mwaro, 3 Harry Shield, 4 Billy Devlin, 5 Jensen Ireland, 6 Joel Sullivan (capt), 7 Cole Fisher, 8 Lewis Thomas (6 Seb Campbell, 63), 9 Kian Burch (18 Frankie Maund, 75), 10 Tegan Finn, 11 Fletcher Poole (17 Jared Rendle, 84). Substitutes: 23 Jack Flower (gk), 12 Toby Haley, 14 Sam Hayman, 15 Toby Maclean.
Goals: Poole 41, Sullivan 52
Booked: Shield 12
Lincoln: 1 Jaden Taylor, 2 Carter Ford, 3 Noah Simmons (16 Jaxon Tomak, half-time), 4 Lewy Oliver, 5 Charlie Parks (capt), 6 Denny Oliver, 7 Dakara Wifa (12 Kian Sagoo, 85), 8 Charlie Carlisle (15 Josh Kennealey, 102), 9 Gbolahan Okewoye, 10 Zane Okoro, 11 Kelly Fombad. Substitutes: 13 Mario Vasiloiu (gk), 17 Kenzie Oliver.
Goals: Okoro pen 55, Tomak 68
Booked: Okoro 68, Wifa 73
Attendance: 561
Referee: Lewis Sandoe