Argyle Under-18s fell to defeat in their opening Youth Alliance Cup group-stage game, against Exeter City.
The Grecians took an early lead through Joe Newport, before Argyle levelled from the penalty spot, Seb Campbell dispatching well on 79 minutes.
With just minutes left on the clock, Exeter won it, scoring a penalty of their own. Louie Cayless fired in to ensure victory for his side.
Jamie Lowry made two changes to the team that beat Portsmouth in the league just three days previous.
Frankie Maund and Dylan Williams were rested and replaced by Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff and Corey Browne.
This meant it was Leo McCormick in goal, with a back four ahead of him containing Jovan Wamani, Sam Hayman, Browne, and Jared Rendle.
Joel Tolcher and Seb Campbell remained in the heart of midfield and were flanked by Harry Locke on the right and Tashall Sandhu on the left. Boudarga-Wischhoff started alongside James Sharpe in the forward line.
Argyle dealt the first blow of the game; Campbell got the ball down and played it wide to Sandhu. The dynamic winger burst into the box and fired at Sam Down in goal who was able to save with relative ease.
However, from that point on, the visitors grew into the game. Cayless, who has featured regularly for the Grecians’ first team throughout pre-season, showed his quality. The midfielder received the ball short from a free-kick and jinked away from Tolcher before curling narrowly wide of the post.
With their next chance of the game, Exeter scored. Henry Revell crossed in for Newport, who seemed to find acres of space inside the congested box.
Therefore, it was with relative ease that he made it 1-0, much to the frustrationof the Argyle bench.
The Greens fought back; both Boudarga-Wischhoff and Sharpe had efforts that called the Exeter goalkeeper into action.
At the break, Lowry’s Under-18s trailed for the first time this season. This was going to be another test of character for the young Pilgrims.
A quartet of Argyle substitutions changed the game. Marley-Blu Francis offered a physical presence in the middle of the pitch and Dylan Williams shored up the defence. Frankie Maund brought a level of directness that Exeter struggled to handle, and Billy Devlin’s tenacity and work rate ensured the Greens were able to win the ball back quickly.
McCormick made a massive save at 1-0 to keep it that way; the Argyle stopper denied Harry Appleton from point-blank range.
This save proved even more crucial just five minutes later when the Pilgrims were awarded a penalty after Sharpe was pushed inside the box.
Seb Campbell stepped up as he has done previously this season and fired past Down with confidence from 12 yards, levelling the game.
However, that would not be the last penalty action of the afternoon. The visitors were handed the chance to win the game when they were awarded a spot-kick with just four minutes left on the clock.
Cayless converted and gave the Grecians a late lead, one which they were not going to let slip this time.
Campbell had a late sighter which flew just wide of the post, that would be as close as the Greens came to equalising.
It was not their day, and Lowry voiced his disappointment with both the result and performance when he spoke after the game.
“It was a disappointing performance, first and foremost,” he said. “After we started the season so well and did the basics so well, we didn’t today.
“It felt like they wanted to win the game more than we did. They had a little bit more fight about them, they ran little bit harder than us, they were more competitive which is really disappointing.
“We didn’t look after the ball well enough to have a sustained amount of pressure and create more chances. It gave them momentum and incentive when they’d go and press us.
“Overall, I’m really disappointed with the performance compared to where we have set our standards at the start of the season.”
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick, 2 Jovan Wamani (12 Dylan Williams, 53), 3 Jared Rendle, 4 Joel Tolcher, 5 Sam Hayman (capt), 6 Corey Browne (14 Billy Devlin, 70), 7 Tashall Sandhu, 9 Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff (16 Frankie Maund, 58), 10 James Sharpe, 11 Harry Locke (15 Marley-Blu Francis, 53), 18 Seb Campbell. Substitutes: 1 Charlie Pawley (gk).
Goals: Campbell 79
Exeter City: 1 Sam Down, 2 Henry Revell, 3 Tobias Alsop, 4 Louie Cayless(capt), 5 Joe Newport, 6 Percy Baker, 7 Nathan Swift, 8 Jack Bellotti, 9 Harry Appleton, 10 Lucas May, 11 Callum Grant. Substitutes: 12 Logan Aston, 13 Callum Holmes, 14 Iseoluwa Aworinde, 15 Jayden Sweet, 16 Ben Lang.
Goals: Newport 30, Cayless 87
Booked: Alsop 65
Referee: Lee Dudman