Under-18s Report | Cheltenham Town 0 Argyle 2

Argyle Under-18s kicked off their Youth Alliance campaign with a 2-0 win away at Cheltenham Town on Saturday morning. 

Lewis Colwell and Josh Bernard marked the start of the new campaign with goals either side of half time to give the Young Pilgrims the perfect start to the season. 

With conditions wet and windy, both sides found it difficult to create chances and build momentum in the first half. Therefore, it was no surprise Argyle’s opening goal came from a moment of individual brilliance.

Colwell picked the ball up just outside the penalty area before beating his man and breaking into the box. The wing-back then fired the ball into the roof of the net from close range, leaving the Cheltenham keeper no chance.

There were more individual heroics for Argyle, this time at the other end of the pitch. Jenson Ireland made an exceptional last-ditch challenge to prevent a sure goal for the hosts just minutes after the Greens took the lead.

As the weather improved, so did Argyle, doubling their advantage just seven minutes into the second half.

A goal-line scramble resulted in the ball falling kindly to midfielder Bernard who powerfully curled his effort through a sea of bodies and into the bottom-right corner. 

Argyle kept pushing throughout the second period and came close to making it three with both Jack Matthews and Kieran Edworthy failing to find the back of the net from good chances, but it was still a very comfortable win for Argyle. 

The focus will already have shifted to next weekend’s encounter with Forest Green Rovers. The Gloucestershire outfit will make the short trip down the M5 to try and prevent Darren Way’s side from securing back-to-back wins.

Argyle: Dan Holman, Jenson Ireland, Joel Sullivan, Jack Matthews, Cole Gibbings, Cole Fisher (Tegan Finn 46), Lewis Colwell, Josh Bernard, Kieran Edworthy, Joe Hatch (Henry Donovan 38), Harry Shield. Substitutes not used: Jack Flowers, Trialist, Toby Haley, Kian Burch.