Argyle Under-18s fell to defeat in their Premier League Under-21 Cup opener against Leicester City.
Caleb Roberts netted the game’s opener before Hugo De Lisle and Michael Golding both scored at the end of the first half to flip the game on its head.
Despite a valiant second-half effort, Sam Hayman’s own goal put the game beyond doubt on 67 minutes.
It was a youthful Argyle side selected for the cup’s opener. Caleb Roberts was the only first-team addition to the squad that beat Watford in the Youth Alliance League last Saturday.
Despite this, their relative youth compared to Leicester was not obvious. Lorenz Hutchinson did have an early chance which he saw Joe Mwaro clear off the line, but Argyle gave as good as they took.
Roberts worked well in midfield alongside Joel Tolcher and Seb Campbell to help the Greens gain control of the early proceedings.
This good play was eventually rewarded with a goal, Roberts fired Argyle ahead shortly after the ten-minute mark.
It was a fantastic team move that Head Coach Jamie Lowry will have no doubt been very pleased with.
Frankie Maund’s relentless pressing forced Leicester ‘keeper Freddie Marson into an error. His misplaced pass was picked up by Tashall Sandhu on the left, who skipped past the Foxes’ right-back.
He would then look up and cut the ball back to Roberts, who was arriving in the box. No mistake was made as he swept the ball into the back of the net, past a helpless Marson.
It seemed as though that goal kicked Leicester into gear; Hutchinson had another decent opportunity before De Lisle equalised.
Nathaniel Opoku dropped deep and played the ball forward to Golding, who turned and rolled it wide to Riley Carr. The winger broke into the box and crossed low for Hutchinson, who scuffed it into the path of De Lisle who eventually turned the ball over the line.
Just eight minutes later, the hosts took the lead. Golding received the ball centrally and beat both Roberts and Tolcher before arrowing a strike into the bottom-left corner from distance.
This could have really stung Lowry’s side, but they responded well after the interval.
Campbell got himself in a good position but was unable to get a clean shot at goal after Kevon Gray did just enough to put last week’s hattrick hero off.
As the half went on, the Foxes began to show their experience and quality; both Mwaro and Jared Rendle were forced into making goal saving interventions.
The pressure eventually told, Leicester made it 3-1 on 67 minutes. A threatening cross forced an intervention from Hayman, who was only able to watch the ball loop over Leo McCormick into the back of his own net.
The Foxes went in search of a fourth and were unfortunate not to find it. Carr was unluckiest of all, hitting the crossbar before seeing the linesman rule out a later strike for offside.
It ended 3-1, a fair scoreline on the balance of play. Argyle looked good in spells, but Leicester’s experience and quality proved too much.
Speaking after the game, Lowry expressed how pleased he was with his side’s performance, despite the result.
He said: “I thought the lads were outstanding, I couldn’t fault their attitude or application.
“It was great to take the lead and have something to build on but obviously they’re a very good side, a lot older and a lot more experienced than us.
“The whole point of being in that competition [Premier League Under-21 Cup] is to test ourselves against better and older players, so a lot of learning opportunities came from the game.
“Overall, I’m really proud of the boys, I thought every single one of them had a magnificent game.”
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick, 2 Jovan Wamani, 3 Jared Rendle, 4 Joel Tolcher, 5 Sam Hayman, 6 Joe Mwaro (capt), 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Caleb Roberts (16 Emran Boudarga-Wischhoff, 72), 9 James Sharpe (12 Corey Browne, 90), 10 Seb Campbell (14 Dylan Williams, 90), 11 Frankie Maund (15 Harry Locke, 68). Substitutes: 1 Danny Ley (gk).