Argyle Under-18s’ final home game of the season at Millennium Field saw 12 goals scored in a chaotic comeback victory over Cheltenham Town on Saturday morning.
The 7-5 win for the Greens was more of a basketball game than a football match, with constant back-and-forth attacking action as the sun beamed down on both sides.
An extremely positive opening 10 minutes from Jamie Lowry’s side was topped off by Jared Rendle’s first goal of the game. The winger found himself in the right place at the right time to tap home at the back post after just two passes moved Argyle from their own 18-yard box to their opponents, through Toby Maclean and Tashall Sandhu.
From then on, chaos ensued. 21 minutes of play saw the visiting Gloucestershire side score four goals, with Argyle seemingly combusting.
Aiden Crouch got the equalising goal for Cheltenham, levelling the game in the 14th minute, from inside the area, with George McNamee’s header coming just four minutes later.
Seconds before the 30-minute mark, an own-goal from Sam Hayman further extended the Robins’ lead. The defender looked to play a pass back to Leo McCormick in the Argyle goal, but was wayward with his attempt, which found the back of the net. Sopuru Obieri added their fourth in the 35th minute, and Argyle looked beaten.
However, the Greens were not down and out. Two goals before half-time, via a Rendle rebound finish and a Seb Campbell strike from tidy counter-attacking play, pulled Lowry’s side to within a goal before the whistle blew for the break.
Wind in their sails, Argyle came out after the interval and quickly found the equalising goal through Campbell, and continued throughout the half.
On the hour mark, the lead was finally regained through an unlikely scorer. A bundle in the box ensued, following a corner, being eventually turned home by Malachi Davy, though celebrations were muted from Argyle, with the desire to extend their lead clearly on show.
A spell of substitutions was the next action of the game, but goals continued after. As the final stages of the game crept closer, Sandhu and Under-16s midfielder Harry Locke both pulled out strikes worthy of recollection.
Sandhu’s left-footed volley into the far corner, from just inside the box, was followed by a right-footed curling effort by Locke, from a similar shooting position, and into a similar area of the Cheltenham goal.
Obieri converted a last-minute penalty for Cheltenham, scoring their only goal of the second half, before the full-time whistle was blown and a thriller was ended at Millennium Fields.
Lowry told Argyle TV after the match: “For me, it was a typical end-of-season game. Both teams had nothing to play for and started quite flat, with lots of shouting and driving from the sidelines from me just to keep the boys honest and on their toes, but overall, we’re really pleased.
“We scored some really good goals and are disappointed with a couple of goals that we conceded again, which has maybe been our Achilles heel this season, but we are pleased to come back from 4-1 down to win the game.
“I thought after the first goal and how we started really brightly, that we should have been more than one goal up. We then conceded four quick goals, some very poor goals, and, again, that is something that we've really struggled with this season. This time, however, scoring six on the bounce was something we were all delighted to see.
“We spoke at half-time about how it was important that we continued to try to do the right things, be aggressive in the press, win duels, stop them trying to play forward into their strengths, and the boys showed the character and mentality to do that and come back in the game.”
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick (1 Tom Armytage, 71), 2 Dylan Williams, 3 Malachi Davy (14 Joel Tolcher, 79), 4 Oscar Dean (capt), 5 Sam Hayman (12 Toby Rider, 71), 6 Toby Maclean (17 James Sharpe, 86), 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Harry Locke, 9 Tegan Finn (15 Frankie Maund, half-time), 10 Seb Campbell, 11 Jared Rendle.
Goals: Rendle 8, 40, Campbell 45+1, 47, Davy 60, Sandhu 78, Locke 84.
Yellow Card: Rendle 42.
