Argyle Under-18s dropped their first EFL Youth Alliance League points of the season, with a defeat at home to an unbeaten Northampton Town side.
The Young Pilgrims started well and took a deserved 2-0 lead into half-time thanks to headers from James Sharpe and Seb Campbell.
Argyle maintained a two-goal lead until the 71st minute when Tom Goodman pulled one back for the visitors, before Harry Stephenson equalised. Goodman then struck again in the first minute of added time to give the Cobblers all three points and put an end to Argyle’s winning league start.
There were some enforced adjustments to the team that started last week’s 4-1 win against Swindon Town. Due to their loans at Malvern Town and Bideford respectively, Leo McCormick and Sam Hayman were replaced by under-16 duo Tom Armytage and Toby Rider, while Campbell came in for Marley-Blu Francis. Corey Browne took the place of Jared Rendle due to the latter’s first-team involvement.
This meant a back four of Rider, Dylan Williams, Toby MacLean and Browne started in front of goalkeeper Armytage, while Tashall Sandhu, Joel Tolcher, Campbell and Billy Devlin lined up in midfield. This left Sharpe and Frankie Maund to continue their partnership up front.
The Greens enjoyed a fast start to the game with Sandhu and Rider combining well down the right flank, but it was Northampton who had the first big chance when Armytage made a good save to deny Taila Chonya’s header from point-blank range.
Armytage then turned from shot-stopper to creator, providing an assist for Sharpe as Argyle took the lead just 14 minutes in. The goalkeeper took a quick free kick from the edge of his own box that evaded the entire Cobblers defence and found Sharpe, who nodded the ball past Jamie Morrison to find the back of the net.
The Greens continued to dominate and deservedly doubled their lead 12 minutes later when Campbell headed home. Tolcher went short from a free kick to find Sandhu out wide on the right, before the winger worked his magic to create space and deliver a pinpoint cross to provide Campbell a good goalscoring opportunity.
The early stages of the second half were more balanced, with both sides creating opportunities, and both keepers making important saves to keep the score at 2-0.
Oliver Campbell should have pulled one back for the visitors on the 50-minute-mark, but Armytage produced a fantastic triple save to keep the ball out of his net.
Argyle’s best opportunity to extend their lead came courtesy of their own Campbell after 70 minutes. The midfielder lined up a sensational long-range effort, but his strike was denied by Morrison who made another impressive save.
But, less than 60 seconds later, Northampton began their comeback. Stephenson picked the ball up in a midfield position and drove past several Argyle defenders, before finding his teammate Goodman, who shot across goal into the bottom-left corner.
Substitute Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff created a good opportunity to regain the Young Pilgrims’ two-goal lead, using his strength to ghost past the Cobblers’ back line, but dragged his shot narrowly wide.
Despite this, the momentum was with Northampton since their first goal.
Stephenson made it 2-2 with six minutes of normal time remaining after Armytage’s misdirected punch left the Cobblers attacker facing an open goal inside the six-yard box.
Argyle suffered further heartbreak in the first minute of stoppage time when Goodman sealed the comeback. The Greens were unable to clear the ball from a long throw-in, allowing Goodman to find the back of the net after two blocked shots.
Despite a disappointing result that ended Argyle’s eight-game winning run in the league, Jamie Lowry’s side remain top of the table, three points ahead of Northampton.
After the game, Lowry said: “We are disappointed with the result and to lose our unbeaten start.
“Performance wise, I actually thought we were really good for the first 70 minutes. It was one of the better performances we’ve had in our first nine league games to be honest.
“But the disappointing bit that we need to learn from is conceding the first goal, going under pressure and losing our way. We weren’t focused enough to regroup and stay in the game.
“It’s happened a few too many times this year, where we have been one or two goals up, then let teams back into games and made it hard for ourselves. It leaves us with a lot to take away and plenty of things that we can tidy up on moving forwards.”
The Young Pilgrims will be looking to bounce back on Tuesday afternoon when they travel to face Bristol Rovers in the Youth Alliance Cup.
Argyle: 1 Tom Armytage, 2 Toby Rider, 3 Corey Browne, 4 Joel Tolcher, 5 Dylan Williams, 6 Toby MacLean, 7 Tashall Sandhu (15 Harry Locke, 86), 8 Seb Campbell, 9 Frankie Maund, 10 James Sharpe (16 Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff, 70), 11 Billy Devlin (capt). Substitutes: 23 Charlie Pawley (GK), 12 Toby Tamblyn, 14 Max Moser.
Goals: Sharpe 14, Campbell 26
Booked: Sharpe 38, Sandhu 44, Rider 76, Campbell 86