Argyle Under-18s beat Portsmouth 4-2 at Millenium Fields to make it three unbeaten at the start of their Youth Alliance League campaign.
Frankie Maund stole the show, netting a spectacular first-half hat trick. Pompey fought back and closed the gap with Elisha Pfupa scoring twice in the second period. The Greens cliched it in second-half stoppage time, Emran Boudarga-Whischhoff netting his first of the season to ensure victory for his team.
Jamie Lowry made three changes to the side that beat Stevenage in midweek. Leo McCormick was back in goal after missing Tuesday’s game; Tegan Finn and Joe Mwaro were both involved with the first team squad, so were unavailable for selection. In came Harry Locke and Jovan Wamani to take their places at right-midfield and right-back respectively.
This meant it was McCormick in goal, with a back four ahead of him that consisted of Wamani, Dylan Williams, Sam Hayman, and Jared Rendle. It was the usual paring of Joel Tolcher and Seb Campbell in midfield with Locke slotting in on the right and Tashall Sandhu remaining on the left. James Sharpe and Maund led the line, the latter fresh from scoring twice against Stevenage.
The game had a cagey start, as you would imagine with two competitive teams, neither wanting to give much away to their opponent.
It was Portsmouth who had the first real chance of the game, Pfupa flashing an effort narrowly wide of the post.
However, Argyle did what Argyle have done especially well so far this season, taking their chances when they came.
It had to be Maund; the striker chased a long channel ball from Locke and beat goalkeeper Ethan Bell to it. Bell was caught in no-mans-land and vulnerable, but Maund still had work to do as he was almost at the corner flag.
He managed to get just enough curl on his shot so that it beat the two recovering defenders and nestled into the back of the net, giving Argyle an early lead.
Once Frankie got going, there was no stopping him. He doubled both the Greens’ lead, and his personal tally for the afternoon, in the 32nd minute.
To put it frankly, Maund scored a screamer. An Argyle corner fell to the number nine on the edge of the box; he produced a remarkable overhead kick which kissed the underside of the crossbar as it flew over the head of Bell in goal and into the back of the net.
Both teams then went on to have decent chances. First, Pompey’s Fraser Thomas wasted what was a good opportunity on the break before Bell tipped a free-kick from Rendle over the bar, which looked destined for the top corner.
However, the next time Bell was called into action, there was nothing he could do to deny the young Pilgrims a third.
Portsmouth cleared an Argyle corner only as far as Locke on the edge of the area, he managed to get just enough on the ball to divert it into the path of Maund. The striker swivelled and half-volleyed the bouncing ball straight into the top-left corner, sealing what was a pretty special hat trick.
There was warning of a Pompey resurgence after the break; had Thomas finished either side of McCormick, he probably would have scored.
Lowry’s side were unable to stop Pfupa from cutting the deficit on 56 minutes. The winger chopped away from Rendle on the break and curled into the bottom corner to make it 3-1.
This goal clearly gave the visitors a lift and they used this newfound momentum to score again.
Pfupa once again used his pace to threaten Argyle in behind. His shot was not the strongest but, having taken a nick off Rendle and gone through the legs ofHayman, it proved impossible for McCormick to stop.
With the score now 3-2, suddenly the Greens were right back in a contest. Pompey did have a late chance to level, but McCormick was on hand to smother Billy Gillooly’s weak header.
With one of the last kicks of the game, substitute Boudarga-Wischhoff sealed the victory, slotting home a cross from Sandhu. The goal came after the winger kept a ball alive that most on the pitch had accepted was going out of play.
Sandhu skipped away from Wilson on the touchline and crossed excellently, laying it on a plate for his teammate to convert.
Shortly after, the referee blew for full-time, the Greens had done it – not without second-half drama – three league wins on the bounce.
Speaking after the game, Under-18s Head Coach Lowry shared his delight with the result, but disappointment to let Portsmouth back into the game.
He said: “The performance was really good. We grew into the game and competed really well.
“Portsmouth are a strong outfit and will be competitive this year. We duelled really well and did the basics that we keep talking about.
“We’ve got real quality, obviously three fantastic goals from Frankie, one of the best hat-tricks I’ve ever seen.
“In the second half I was disappointed to concede, both in transition and on the counter-attack. We turned the ball over too easily and then were not secure enough out of possession to stop the break.
“Credit to the lads, though, they defended well and put a real shift in to make sure Portsmouth didn’t equalise.
“Overall, I’m really pleased with another good performance against a really strong side, keeping on building confidence for the boys.”
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick, 2 Jovan Wamani, 3 Jared Rendle, 4 Joel Tolcher, 5 Sam Hayman (capt), 6 Dylan Williams, 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Seb Campbell, 9 Frankie Maund, 10 James Sharpe, 11 Harry Locke. Substitutes: 1 Danny Ley (gk), 12 Corey Browne, 14 Marley-Blue Francis, 15 Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff, 16 Toby Rider.
Goals: Maund 26, 32, 45+2, Boudarga-Wischhoff 90+4
Booked: Rendle 45+4
Portsmouth: 1 Ethan Bell, 3 Ben Philipson, 4 Ashton Sizer, 5 George Wilson (capt), 6 Tadiwa Bare, 7 Elisha Pfupa, 8 Fraser Thomas, 9 Dexter Lee, 10 Dane Bailey, 11 Brandon Downey, 17 Max Hammond. Substitutes: 14 George Tregunna, 15 Cruz Connor, 16 Kyran Sylvanus, 18 Billy Gillooly, 19 Jakub Jablonski
Goals: Pfupa 53, 72