A second-half strike from Billy Devlin handed Argyle Under-18s three points on Saturday afternoon against Forest Green Rovers.
The Greens’ midfielder struck the ball well from outside the box, into the bottom left corner of the goal, to push Jamie Lowry’s side to victory in EFL Youth Alliance South play at Hartpury University.
With games being at a premium in recent times and postponements occurring more than fixtures, Argyle made sure to make the most of the match, coming out with a clean sheet as well as moving up the table.
Tegan Finn started well on the right and caused immediate problems for the FGR defence, which continued throughout the half, but none of the efforts were particularly testing for the host’s goalkeeper.
Rovers did have a chance of their own in the seventh minute, through a low-driven effort towards the bottom right corner, but Jack Flower was able to match the shot with a superb save and push the ball away from goal.
It was all Argyle throughout the second 45 minutes, but it took nearly half an hour to break the deadlock.
Toby Haley and Fletcher Poole had two good opportunities in front of the goal but could not turn their shots on target. Then came Devlin.
A driving run, through several Rovers’ bodies, and a well-hit strike from near the 18-yard box flew into the bottom corner, giving Argyle the lead and, ultimately, three points on the road in Gloucestershire.
Head Coach Lowry said: “Saturday was really good and the boys were excellent. I think we had 28 shots on goal, which shows how dominant the performance was, although the scoreline might not reflect it. It took a little longer than it perhaps should have to score the first goal and break the deadlock, but we passed the ball well from box to box and were really good.
“We lacked that little bit of final care, but it may have been caused by rustiness from the lack of games we've had, but, overall, we were all really pleased with some top displays and hopefully will get everyone going now.”
Argyle: 1 Jack Flower, 2 Toby Haley, 3 Harry Shield, 4 Oscar Dean (capt), 5 Sam Hayman, 6 Lewis Flowers, 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Billy Devlin, 9 Frankie Maund, 10 Fletcher Poole, 11 Tegan Finn. Substitutes: 23 Leo McCormick (gk), 12 Jovan Wamani, 15 Trialist A, 16 Joel Tolcher, 17 Harry Locke.
Goal: Devlin 73
