Lowry reacts to nail-biting FA Youth Cup win over Lincoln
Argyle Under-18’s progressed into the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup on Wednesday evening in nail-biting fashion, beating Lincoln City on penalties at Home Park.
The Greens led by two goals, through Fletcher Poole and Joel Sullivan, but soon had to deal with a progressive Lincoln side, who drew level just before the 70th minute.
Extra-time could not separate the sides, but a save from Dan Holman and ice-cold composure from Tegan Finn was enough to hand Argyle victory, in front of the cheering Green Army, on a freezing night at the Theatre of Greens.
It was the second time in two games in the competition that Argyle had gone beyond the 90-minute mark, having won 4-2 at Carlisle United, after extra-time, in the previous round.
Head Coach Jamie Lowry credited the determination and grit of his side as a key factor in the hard-fought victory.
“I’m delighted for the lads to get through and show the character they did to go all the way again,” Lowry told Argyle TV. “I’m a little bit frustrated as well because I think we could have played a lot better. We didn't maybe give the best account of ourselves and made the game a bit more difficult, but credit to Lincoln as well. They came back in, with a little help from us maybe by not managing the right moments in the game, but at the end of the day, I’m delighted for the boys to come through again.
“The lads showed fantastic character. We said the same thing at Carlisle. The boys are so fit. They train so hard every day, and it showed when we got to extra-time. [Lincoln] had three or four players down, cramped, struggling to carry on, and our boys are still running their hearts out, running past people, competing and fighting.
“The aim of the cup is to go and get through to the next round, so that’s the main thing. We all want to play fantastic football and play teams off the park, and in an ideal world you do, but for whatever reason it didn't happen for us tonight. However, on the other side, it showed what we talked about with the lads. It showed character, personality, determination, and a never-give-up attitude.
“Then we had that little bit of quality from Dan to save that penalty. All the boys I thought were outstanding with their penalties as well. There were five good penalties. They were really calm, focused, and knew what they were doing. We practised them in training the other day funnily enough, at the end of a session, so I'm glad we did!
“I was just trying to be positive in my head, calm and I didn't want anybody to miss. I knew there was nothing we could do, but we all have full trust in the lads, and they executed. I had nothing but positive thoughts and it came off.”
