Argyle Under-18s suffered defeat in the opening round of the EFL Youth Alliance Cup on Saturday afternoon, away to Luton Town.
The Greens were beaten 2-1 by the Hatters, with a last-minute goal from Enoch Sampson stealing the victory away from Jamie Lowry’s side.
Argyle took the lead in the tie, through Mario Dache, in the 55th minute, but the advantage didn’t last long, with Dawid Gawel equalising just three minutes later and Sampson scoring the winner 60 seconds from full-time.
The first half was heavily possession-based for both sides, with neither creating much in front of goal. Defence dominated, with Luton having one, somewhat, threatening opportunity 13 minutes into the game, but Ty Lesser dragged his shot wide of Leo McCormick’s far post.
Luton hit Argyle on the counterattack midway through the half, but an Ollie Legg double block deterred the threat, and Argyle cleared away.
Kian Burch had a chance at the back post, from about three yards out, but he was unable to create a chance to test the Luton defensive line and goalkeeper.
The second half was much different from the first, with Luton and Argyle both causing issues for each other early on, but it was the Greens that struck first.
After multiple attacking phases and shots at the Hatters’ goal, the ball fell to the feet of Dache, within the six-yard box, to tap home into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, the tie was level again. Gawel picked up the ball and slotted past McCormick in the Argyle goal, and from that point Luton hunted for a winner.
The Hatters had multiple chances in front of goal and would’ve gone ahead sooner if it wasn’t for McCormick making multiple close-range and important saves in his 18-yard box.
Heartbreak for Argyle came in the 89th minute. A ball into the box was struck home by Sampson, before he turned and ran to the corner flag, being mobbed by teammates, stealing the victory away from the Pilgrims.
Tashall Sandhu headed towards goal in the final seconds of the game, hoping to find the goal to draw level and send the game to extra-time, but his effort looped over the bar and out of play.
Head Coach Jamie Lowry said: “ I can't fault the boys' effort really. They did really well out of possession and probably matched them when we had the ball. In the second half, we were comfortable without possession and were still able to manage the game.
“Obviously, we went one ahead and it was disappointing to concede quite soon after and late in the game but, generally, the boys did well against a very good Luton side. If we continue to try and perform at that level, and have a bit more in both boxes, we will be okay, I’m sure.”
Argyle: 23 Leo McCormick, 2 Joe Mwaro, 3 Malachi Davy (14 Jovan Wamani, 69), 4 Oscar Dean (capt) (15 Joel Tolcher, 62), 5 Ollie Legg, 6 Toby Haley, 7 Tashall Sandhu, 8 Sam Lord, 9 Mario Dache, 10 Seb Campbell, 11 Kian Burch. Substitutes: 1 Tom Armytage (gk), 12 Toby Maclean, 16 Harry Locke.
