Argyle’s Under-18s drew 2-2 with Portsmouth on Tuesday afternoon.
The game, played at Home Park behind closed doors, saw the visitors lead twice, and have a multitude of chances, but a dogged Argyle side twice equalised, with goals from Fletcher Poole and Seb Campbell.
Just before the quarter-hour mark, the sides exchanged the first meaningful chances of the game. Poole’s snapshot after a cross from the left was on target, but pouched by the Pompey goalkeeper.
Quickly, Portsmouth went forward, and Nathaniel Chioma drew a diving save out of Leo McCormick. From the corner, the ball flew over everyone, hit the far post and ricocheted out for another corner, in a bit of a let-off for the Pilgrims. From this corner, Portsmouth defender Ashton Sizer met the delivery and saw his header tipped over by McCormick.
Portsmouth kept up their attacks, and McCormick made another excellent save, this time from Dexter Lee, but eventually the pressure told, and Pompey took the lead.
Harry Clout was the goalscorer, bursting through the centre, holding off a challenge, and clipping high into the net.
Argyle fought back, with Tashall Sandhu stinging the palms of goalkeeper Ethan Blake, but it was the visitors who nearly got the second goal of the game, with Brandon Downey executing a brilliant lob, but watching as the ball bounced off the crossbar on its way down.
The game was very open. Argyle worked a ball down the left, and crossed to the near post, where a Campbell flick fell somewhere between the goal and any incoming team-mates.
Right on half-time, McCormick saved again, with his feet, blocking a Lee effort, when the forward looked favourite to score, and Portsmouth might have been wondering how they were not further ahead than 1-0.
Within six minutes of the restart, Argyle were level.
Poole was integral to the whole thing. Firstly, he crossed well from the left and, when Portsmouth failed to clear, Poole ran onto the loose ball, flicking it just before getting clattered by the goalkeeper. Poole stepped up, and blasted home a confident penalty to level matters.
Eight minutes later, though, Pompey were back in front. Substitute Kinan Botha, not long on the field, headed home from a well delivered corner, and Argyle’s parity had been short lived.
Portsmouth looked determined to extend their lead, and they were prevented from doing so by two unbelievable blocks. Within a couple of minutes, both Sam Hayman and Toby MacLean had flung themselves, at full stretch, to block what appeared to be certain Portsmouth goals.
Argyle had a great chance for a second equaliser when Sandhu crossed from the left and Jared Rendle got in front of his marker, but found his header to be too much of a glancing effort, and it drifted wide.
The leveller came, though, seven minutes from time. Argyle’s passing into the area was intricate, and eventually James Sharpe was able to slip a pass to Campbell, who drove confidently into the bottom corner.
Both sides looked to win it – Campbell fired over, and Portsmouth’s Kyan Syvannus’s shot was kicked clear by McCormick – but had to settle for a point apiece in the Home Park mist.
In the final knockings, Pompey’s impressive number 14, Chioma, drove a deflected effort 20 yards which got a slight deflection then smashed into the angle of post and bar, with Syvannus’s follow-up well saved by McCormick.
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick, 2 Toby Haley (12 Harry Shield, 56), 3 Malachi Davy, 4 Oscar Dean (15 Joel Tolcher, 63), 5 Lewis Flowers (14 Sam Hayman, 56), 6 Toby MacLean, 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Sam Lord, 9 Fletcher Poole (17 James Sharpe, 63), 10 Seb Campbell, 11 Kian Burch (16 Jared Rendle, 56).
