Exciting 17-year-old prospect Tegan Finn scored his first two senior goals for Plymouth Argyle in a convincing 6-2 victory over Tottenham Hotspur under-21s in the Vertu Trophy at Home Park.
It was the Pilgrims’ second successive win in Southern Section Group B after previously beating Cheltenham Town 2-0 and guarantees them a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
Argyle apprentice Seb Campbell made his first team debut as a half-time substitute and he grabbed their sixth and final goal on a notable night for the club’s academy.
In doing so, Campbell became the Pilgrims’ youngest ever goalscorer at the age of 16 years and 279 days, beating the record which had been held by Darren Bastow since 1998 by 37 days.
Argyle stormed into a 4-0 lead by half-time after goals from defender Mathias Ross, Finn, Bim Pepple and Owen Oseni and that allowed the opportunity for head coach Tom Cleverley to send on Campbell.
Finn and Campbell added to the Pilgrims’ goal tally in the second period while Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny and Oliver Irow replied for a well-beaten young Spurs side.
Argyle’s starting line-up showed eight changes from the 1-0 League One defeat at home to Peterborough United on Saturday.
The three players who remained in the team were central defenders Ross and Brendan Wiredu as well as on-loan Middlesbrough midfielder Law McCabe.
Goalkeeper Conor Hazard made his first appearance of the season after recovering from a knee ligament injury after Luca Ashby-Hammond had started the previous 12 matches in all competitions.
Joe Edwards started a three-match League One suspension against Peterborough but was able to captain the Pilgrims in the second of their three group stages games.
Also coming into the side were Ayman Benarous, Oseni, Brendan Galloway, Caleb Roberts, Pepple and teenage prospect Finn.
Among those on the bench for Argyle were the fit-again Jamie Paterson, who had not played since mid-August due to a calf injury, and first-year apprentice Campbell.
Oseni, who played in a number 10 role along with Finn behind Pepple, had a shot blocked behind for a corner inside the opening minute of the match.
Unlike in his previous appearances for Argyle, Ross played in the middle of the central defensive trio, with Wiredu to his right and Galloway on his left.
However, Ross’s aerial strength was used to good effect in an attacking sense in only the fifth minute when he powered home a header, low past goalkeeper Luca Gunter, after a well-flighted corner from Finn.
Hazard was called into action for the first time in the ninth minute when Yusuf Akhamrich was played in behind the Pilgrims’ defence but his low shot was saved.
Pepple had a shot from inside the Spurs’ box deflected wide for a corner after he was set up by Edwards and from the resulting corner taken by Finn there was a header from Galloway which hit the bar and Tottenham were able to clear their lines.
Finn also had a first-time shot blocked behind for a corner after a cut-back from Edwards, but the 17-year-old did get his first senior goal for Argyle in the 20th minute with an excellent strike from 18 yards out.
Oseni had a couple of chances to put the Pilgrims further ahead, with one shot going narrowly wide before he sent the ball flying high over the bar from a good position.
Finn could have scored again in the 24th minute but he put the ball wide of the near post after the ball was played back to him from the by-line by fellow academy product Roberts.
It was 3-0 to Argyle soon afterwards, though, when a deep cross from Finn was headed back inside by Benarous and Pepple applied the finishing touch from only a couple of yards out.
People then forced a couple of good low saves out of Gunter as the Pilgrims kept up the pressure and that led to them getting a fourth goal in the 41st minute when Oseni sprinted clear of the Tottenham defence, took the ball past Gunter and slotted into the empty net.
There were a couple of changes to the Argyle team at the start of the second half with Campbell making his senior debut as a replacement for McCabe and Owen Dale sent on for Wiredu
Tottenham had a good scoring chance early in the second period when Akhamrich broke clear down the right and his rising shot was well pushed away for a corner by Hazard.
Galloway was booked for a tackle on the speedy Akhramrich just outside the penalty area before Finn got his second goal of the game, and Argyle’s fifth, in the 53rd minute.
It came when Dale played the ball inside to Finn in a central position on the edge of the box and the teenager took one touch with his right foot before placing a left-foot shot into the corner of the net.
Tottenham did get a goal in the 57th minute with a low shot from Russell-Denny which was well struck and Hazard got a hand to it but could not make the save.
Alex Mitchell was a substitute for Galloway on the hour mark, before Pepple set up Campbell for an excellent scoring chance but his close range shot was blocked.
Paterson was a 71st minute substitute for Oseni, which was a good opportunity for him to make his comeback after being out of action for six weeks.
Argyle had lost some of their attacking spark by this stage of the game and it was Tottenham who carried more threat when they went forward.
However, the Pilgrims still managed to get a sixth goal in the 86th minute when Campbell fired into the roof of the net from inside the box after a good build-up involving Finn, Paterson and Dale.
There was not the end of the scoring, though, as Irow pulled one goal back for the visitors in added time. It was still a very comfortable victory for Argyle.
ARGYLE: Conor Hazard; Brendan Wiredu (Owen Dale h/t), Mathias Ross, Brendan Galloway (Alex Mitchell 60 mins); Joe Edwards, Law McCabe (Seb Campbell h/t), Caleb Roberts, Ayman Benarous; Owen Oseni (Jamie Paterson 71 mins), Tegan Finn; Bim Pepple.
Substitutes: Luca Ashby-Hammond, Lorent Tolaj, Bradley Ibrahim.
REFEREE: Jacob Miles
ATTENDANCE: 4,834 (162)