Argyle Under-18s’ FA Youth Cup run ended on Monday night in a 1-0 defeat to Watford at The Orbital Fasteners Stadium.
Jael Norville’s goal in the 41st minute ended up being the decider in Kings Langley, but the Greens did come close on several occasions to finding their way back into the game, even after going down to 10 men, with Oscar Dean shown two yellow cards for fouls.
Argyle applied early attacking pressure on the hosts, which they only just dealt with, through Tegan Finn and Tashall Sandhu, but both wide players’ efforts at goal did little to test Sebastian Thrussell.
Jamie Lowry’s attacking approach was creating Argyle chances, with Watford unable to counter and cause many of their own through the opening 30 minutes of play.
It was a strong showing in front of Greens’ first-team staff - Tom Cleverley, Kevin Nancekivell, Derek Adams and more in attendance - but as the minutes ticked on, Watford found themselves in the tie.
Just minutes after Sandhu had an effort curl over the bar, Argyle goalkeeper Jack Flower was forced into a reactive save to stop Cayden Lamothe’s effort finding the back of the net.
Sam Lord had the next chance of the game, after some superb, tidy build-up play, but he could not keep his shot at goal down, following a set-up from Finn.
Then, Watford took the lead out of nowhere. A goalmouth scramble after a corner saw the ball fall to the feet of Norville, who tapped home from within the six-yard box and handed the Hornets the advantage heading into the break.
The opening stages of the second half were different to the first. The game had a slower pace to it, through stoppages, bookings and substitutions, but it was Argyle that kicked into gear first, creating a chance through Finn once again.
Just after the hour mark, the Argyle number 11 delivered a superb free-kick delivery to the back post, picking out Toby Haley, but the defender was unable to turn his effort on target, as he slid and stretched out to reach the ball.
The next 20 minutes were even slower, with more substitutions and bookings taking up most of the proceedings, but again it was Lowry’s side forcing Watford into defensive duty, even after Dean was shown his second yellow card for stopping a counter-attacking move.
The referee signalled a minimum of nine minutes to be played for additional time, and in the final two minutes of the tie, Argyle had one last chance to test Watford.
Finn delivered another superb cross into the box, but had to watch the ball skip through the area, across the face of goal and out of play at the back post, summing up Argyle’s evening in front of goal, and meaning the hosts came away with victory and progression to the fourth round.
Argyle: 1 Jack Flower, 2 Jovan Wamani (15 Kian Burch, 87), 3 Malachi Davy, 4 Oscar Dean (capt), 5 Sam Hayman, 6 Toby Haley, 7 Tashall Sandhu (14 Billy Devlin, 80), 8 Sam Lord (16 Frankie Maund, 58), 9 Fletcher Poole, 10 Seb Campbell, 11 Tegan Finn. Substitutes: 23 Leo McCormick, 12 Toby Maclean, 17 Joel Tolcher.
Yellow cards: Wamani 55, Sandhu 73
Red card: Dean 77
Watford: 1 Sebastian Thrussell, 2 Marley Clarke, 3 Raul Vancea, 4 Jonny Scriven (capt), 5 Raphael London, 6 Albert Stevens, 7 Kymani Smith-Daley (14 Charlie McLoughlin, 83), 8 Tobi Akinyimka (17 Max Lyall-Rajendra, 83), 9 Jael Norville (15 Jamael John-Baptiste, 83), 10 Marat Galajevs (16 Kiefer Gorman, 79), 11 Cayden Lamothe (18 Tony Cowie, 79). Substitutes: 12 Tyler Notley, 13 Finley Murray.
Goal: Norville 41
Yellow cards: Vancea 20, Smith-Daley 65, Clarke 90+4
