Under-18s Report | Argyle 2 Cheltenham Town 0

Argyle’s Under 18s secured a vital three points, and got back to winning ways, beating Cheltenham Town in the Greens' penultimate fixture in the Youth Alliance League on Tuesday afternoon.

Tegan Finn scored the Greens first of the day inside the opening ten minutes and Josh Bernard notched his ninth of the season when he doubled the Pilgrims' lead early in the second-half.

There was a chance that league leaders Argyle could have secured the title on the day, but second-place Swindon Town beat Bristol Rovers 4-3 to keep them in with a chance. Swindon are five points behind Argyle, with two games to play. The leading two teams still have to play one another.  

Argyle manager Jamie Lowry made two changes to the team that drew away at Oxford just over a week ago. Caleb Roberts returned to the fold off the back of first-team experience in the FA Cup, Sam Lord dropped to the bench.

Jack Matthews, who also featured for the first-team in Argyle’s fourth-round FA Cup replay against Leeds United, was unavailable for this one and Jensen Ireland took his place in the heart of defence.

The young Pilgrims wasted no time in getting going in this game and were denied an early opener when Eddie Lewis made a heroic goal-line clearance in the fifth minute after Joe Hatch had beaten the keeper with a low effort from close range.

This would give Lowry’s side a platform to build from rather than knock their confidence, the Greens eventually taking the lead just minutes later.

A combination of good pressing by Argyle and careless passing by the Cheltenham defence forced a turnover in a dangerous area. Hatch was the one to pick the ball up before setting it back to Roberts who was bombing up the pitch in order to support the attack.

The midfielder fed Finn down the line with the wide-man opting to cut in on his trusty left foot and curl the ball around both full-back David Romer and keeper Archie Burford before it eventually nestled in the bottom-left corner.

With the Greens playing some of the best football they had done in recent weeks, they did not relinquish the pressure that they had put the Robins under in the opening period and pressed on for another goal.

They really should have had it when Roberts set Finn away once again after winning the ball back well in the middle of the park. The move was a carbon copy of the goal, only this team Burford anticipated Finn would once again try to pick out the bottom-left corner, therefore getting down quickly and making the save in order to prevent a repeat.

Roberts seemed to be involved in everything good that the Greens did and came close to scoring a goal of his own late in the first-half. Josh Bernard won the ball back and slid it across the edge of the box to Roberts who opted to go in search of the top-left corner, narrowly missing.

Minutes before half-time Cheltenham came close to levelling the game after a misplaced pass from Dan Holman set Brandon Liggett one-on-one with the Argyle stopper. Holman made up for his error with an important save to ensure his side went into the interval leading.

Similarly to the first half, Argyle had a lightning quick start. Josh Bernard had the ball in the back of the net within two minutes of the restart.

Lewis Colwell swung an excellent cross towards the back-post from deep on the right-flank which Henry Donovan came flying through the air to meet and in turn forced a magnificent save from Burford.

Fortunately for Argyle, Bernard was in the right position to tap home the rebound from just yards out with the Robins keeper being only able to parry Donovan’s headed effort straight into the path of the Argyle goalscoring midfielder.

Cheltenham showed glimpses of threat, their best chance of the half coming from a free-kick which Liggett fizzed inches wide of the right-hand post, Holman seemingly beaten.

Liggett again had a chance to get the visitors back into the game when he forced a strong save from the Argyle goalkeeper from a tight angle.

Lowry’s side were quite happy to sit-in and defend their lead for the remainder of the second half in search of back-to-back clean sheets and a first win in over a month.

They did so with relative ease, Cheltenham finding it difficult to break down the young Pilgrims' compact and organised back-line.

This result ensures that the Greens keep moving in the right direction, closer to the Youth Alliance League title. Lowry’s side now just need to avoid defeat in their next game against league rivals Swindon Town, scheduled for Friday, to ensure they cannot be caught by the Wiltshire side.

Argyle: Dan Holman, Lewis Colwell (capt), Joel Sullivan, Cole Fisher (Oscar Dean 46), Jensen Ireland, Cole Gibbings, Josh Bernard, Caleb Roberts, Joe Hatch (Sam Lord 77), Tegan Finn, Henry Donovan (Lewis Thomas 55). Substitutes not used: Toby Haley, Jack Flower.