Westcott's Devon Midweek Cup Final

HM Naval Base  0 - 5   Plymouth Argyle FITC u19

Played at Coach Road, Newton Abbot - 24/04/2024

A well taken hat-trick for 17 year old Connor Trewin plus a goal apiece for Shay Millin and Will Sullivan gave the Plymouth Argyle FITC u19 a well deserved victory as they overcame the stalwart defending of the Naval Base team who , as the game wore on, were being completely unsettled by the pace of their opponents.

Naval Base kicked off in their bright orange shirts but, within minutes, found themselves on the defensive with first, Tylor Love-Holmes firing his shot from the angle of the penalty into the side netting, and then Trewin hitting the near post with a strike from twelve yards with Ben Radford, in the Naval Base goal well beaten.

It was all Argyle in these initial stages as they kept the pressure on, and the Naval Base defenders were clearly struggling with the pace of the Argyle front three. In the fourth minute Sam Cox fired over the bar from twenty-five yards and, in the eighth minute they should have gone ahead as Love-Holmes fired a low cross through the six yard box but, luckily for Naval Base, no one from Argyle got a touch.

A goal was surely not far away and in the thirteenth minute it duly arrived, a low ball in from the left was not dealt by Radford, who impeded by his own defence, could only watch as Trewin gleefully passed the ball into an empty net.

After the restart it gradually became clear that the Naval Base were defending deeper and effectively blocking off the gaps, such that they were able to cope better with the pace of the Argyle attackers and close down the midfield.

There was still a good pace to the game, but clear cut chances became few and far between. In the twenty-sixth minute Argyle’s Will Larsen turn down a good chance to increase the lead, firing over  from close in and then, in the thirty-seventh minute, Naval Base gave up a good chance to equalise. Raine Chinnock and Jordan Lloyd found space down the right but, as they approached the eighteen yard box Lloyd took the shot on firing wide of the near post.

Both teams struggled to create anything in the dying embers of the first half which ended with just the single goal in favour of Argyle.

Less that five minutes into the second half Argyle went two up, Millin getting on the end of a cross from the right. Naval Base had had to replace Michael Cowling with Aiden Madden at half time due to injury and they took some time to settle. Argyle took full advantage with Trewin, who had switched to the left, pouncing on a loose pass, racing into the box, and giving Radford no chance with a fierce strike into the far corner of the net.

Fifty five minutes gone and with Argyle three goals to the good both teams started to use their bench however, although, on the hour mark, Clayton Sargent, for Naval Base had a strike from the edge of the box which went wide of the near post, the changes had little effect to the flow of the game.

In the sixty-eighth minute  Argyle went further ahead, substitute Will Sullivan converting a loose ball from close in. That was followed, in the 72^nd minute, by Trewin, benefitting from a mix up in communications between Radford and his defenders, being on hand to roll the ball into the empty net to complete his hat-trick.

Ten minutes later Radford saved well from Trewin to deny him a fourth and, a minute later, at the other end, the Argyle custodian, Ash Manuell, who had been largely a spectator, did well to deny Chinnock, saving his shot from close range to keep a clean sheet. Despite the final score being five goals to nil in favour of the Argyle FITC u19, both teams played their part in providing an entertaining game for the spectators to enjoy..

Player of the March – Connor Trewin (Plymouth Argyle FITC u19)

Written by Dennis Smith
Devon County FA