Argyle Under-18s suffered a 4-1 defeat to Oxford United on Tuesday afternoon.
The Pilgrims led at half-time, thanks to Deniz Doru’s header, but the hosts scored four second-half goals to claim victory at The MGroup Stadium, the home of Oxford City.
Argyle Head Coach Jamie Lowry had a similar side to normal at his disposal for the rearranged fixture, only with Under-16s defender Doru and first-year professional Joe Hatch included in his starting line-up.
Doru made his debut for the Under-18s, whilst Hatch was available as one of the allowed Under-19s players in any league match-day squad.
The game in Oxfordshire started in a chaotic manner, with both sides bombing forward and having to rush back and defend the opposition’s counters, but Argyle quickly settled into the affair and found chances in front of goal.
The best chance through the opening 20 minutes came via Kian Burch. Argyle’s number 11 burst into space on the right wing, onto the end of a forward ball, and delivered towards the back post, looking to pick out Fletcher Poole. Annoyingly for the Greens, the cross was too heavy for the arriving Poole, and ran out of play for a throw-in on the far side.
Oxford tested Jack Flower with a corner, which hung in the air and curled towards goal, but a firm punch over the bar ended any threat, with Argyle dealing with the second corner extremely well.
The continued pressure was taking its toll on Oxford as time went on. Seb Campbell came close in the 24th minute, but his shot was blocked by one of many diving Oxford bodies.
Just two minutes later, the breakthrough came. A corner was headed away from goal by Oxford, but picked up by Sam Hayman at the back post. The defender slipped in Hatch, who perfectly found Doru, who headed home past Harry Jones in the host’s goal, giving Argyle the lead.
The remainder of the half, and the start of the second, played out in the same way, with Lowry’s side dominating proceedings and creating chances in the final third, but they were missing that crucial touch.
Mirroring a chance in the first 45 minutes, Poole tried to pick out Burch at the back post with a whipped delivery, but it was too heavy.
Hatch and Campbell won possession well in the centre circle, with the latter driving towards goal and getting a shot away, but it was off-target and also caused no issues for Oxford.
Head Coach Lowry turned to his bench around the 70th-minute mark, bringing on Tashall Sandhu, and within two minutes, it seemed to have paid off, with Poole slotting the ball into the back of the net, seemingly doubling Argyle’s lead. Celebrations were quickly halted, however, with the offside flag raised, ruling out the finish.
This seemed to be the turning point, as just a minute later, Jack Lee’s flicked goal levelled the match, and momentum turned to Oxford.
Lee got his second four minutes later, and over the next 15 minutes, everything fell to the home side. Mo Missanga scored a nine-minute brace of his own, taking the game away from Argyle, before the full-time whistle blew.
The Greens and Lowry will now prepare for their final game of 2025 – a FA Youth Cup Third Round battle against Watford on Monday, 15 December.
Argyle: 1 Jack Flower, 2 Toby Haley, 3 Malachi Davy, 4 Oscar Dean (capt) (14 Billy Devlin, 75), 5 Sam Hayman, 6 Deniz Doru, 7 Fletcher Poole, 8 Sam Lord, 9 Joe Hatch, 10 Seb Campbell (16 Frankie Maund, 80), 11 Kian Burch (15 Tashall Sandhu, 69). Substitutes: 23 Leo McCormick (gk), 12 Toby Maclean.
