Argyle beat Tottenham Hotspur with confident victory at SuperCupNI Plymouth Argyle - PAFC
It may have been Premier League prospects in Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s visiting Home Park on Tuesday night, but every one of the near-5,000 crowd would have left talking about Argyle’s young crop.
Players like Reece James, Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, Levi Colwill and Tino Livramento have all played against the Greens in the Vertu Trophy, before going on to play for England, and in years to come we may well realise there was a gem or two in Spurs’ line-up this week. However, after the Pilgrims came away 6-2 winners, it was a clutch of teens in green that were the talk of the ground.
Exhibit A: Tegan Finn. The 17-year-old scored two – the second and fifth goals – directly created two – Mathias Ross’s opening header and Owen Oseni’s goal, the fourth which came just before half-time – and had his fingerprints all over Bim Pepple’s goal, which made it 3-0 at the time, when Pepple finished from Ayman Benarous’s knockdown, following a Finn cross.
The final goal was scored by Seb Campbell, aged 16 and 279 days, who in doing so because Argyle’s youngster ever goalscorer. What a night for him, on his debut.
The midfield was marshalled by Caleb Roberts and Law McCabe, both 19 years old. The latter is, admittedly, a Middlesbrough product, on loan, but he is ours for the season and looked a class act in only his third Argyle appearance. Roberts continues to play with control and command that belies his youth and relative inexperience.
Head Coach Tom Cleverley was obviously delighted with Argyle’s result and performance, but reserved his biggest praise for his young stars.
“I think it's a night to celebrate our Academy,” said Tom. “You talk about these games, and it's a big ask for an under-21s team to come and face a senior first team, but we also had our own youngsters playing tonight.
“Caleb Roberts, 19. Law McCabe, 19. Tegan Finn 17, Seb Campbell, 16. It was a night where we put our best youngsters against some of their best youngsters. And I thought we were excellent, with Tegan getting his two goals and Seb becoming Argyle’s youngest ever scorer.
“A really proud moment for him, for his family. A proud moment for us as a staff.
“Nance said about two months ago, ’there's one in the Academy who's 16 years old who you should be looking at’, so we got him up to train. He trains with us every day. He's settled into that really well. The lads have accepted him - which is when you know you've got something - and he'll be even more accepted by the supporters, by the players.
“He should kick on from this. He's got a good head on his shoulders, good attitude, gets about his work with very low maintenance. He should have a very good, very bright future.
“Tegan's more than just goals and assists. He knows when to drop into pockets. He's got a really good game understanding. He knows where to be out of possession, in terms of covering space and then when to be aggressive in pressure.
“He's got a bright future ahead of him. I feel like I'm in a really good position to manage him through that from what I've experienced both as a player and a coach. He’s an exciting player for the club.
“[The quality of Academy players] is really something that I've been pleasantly surprised with when I've come down here. We're a category three Academy, but there’s absolutely no impact on the quality of young player that we have.
“It's something that I see as a big part of the way I work; Academy products coming into the first team and being a really important part of that.
“I’m delighted with this evening. There's a lot of people that can give themselves a pat on the back in getting those lads to where they are now.”
“In the first half, we've got our work done. Really professional, really efficient. I thought Law and Caleb ran the game, controlled the game. Out of possession we were hungry, we were aggressive, we were dominant physically.
“The older lads, the more physical ones, really showed their dominance and scoring from a set piece early in the game [meant we were] really setting our stall out.
“In the second half, a little bit disappointed; we need to get out of the habit of conceding goals. That, and not making teams work hard for their goals. I was disappointed with that, but will address that on the training field.
“All in all, a good night.”
Argyle cruised to victory in their second group-stage game of the Vertu Trophy, ensuring early qualification thanks to a 6-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s.
Tegan Finn was at the heart of Argyle’s attacking play, scoring the Greens’ second and fifth goals, directly assisting Mathias Ross’s opening goal and Owen Oseni’s fourth, and playing a major part in the third goal, scored by Bim Pepple.
Late in the game, after Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny had got one back for Spurs, substitute Seb Campbell scored to become Argyle’s youngest-ever goalscorer at 16 years and 279 days, breaking a record that has stood since Darren Bastow scored in November 1998 – over ten years before Seb was born.
Argyle named a side that included three players - Ross, Brendan Wiredu and Law McCabe - that had started the home game against Peterborough United the prior weekend. Ross and Wiredu were joined by Brendan Galloway in the back three, in front of Conor Hazard in goal, playing for the first time this season.
McCabe played in a two-man central midfield axis, flanked by Ayman Benarous and Joe Edwards as wing-backs, Edwards’ suspension not applying in this competition. Further forward, Oseni, Pepple and Finn played as a front three.
It did not take long for Argyle to take the lead. Finn’s low cross was blocked out for a corner and, from the take, he centred for Ross to head home, unchallenged.
On 20 minutes, Finn had a goal of his own, rifling in from the edge of the area after Spurs had failed to clear their lines, and he was also involved in the creation of the Pilgrims’ third. He and McCabe combined on the right to work Finn into a position to cross to the far post. Benarous steered a smart ball across the centre, and Pepple finished from close range.
Tottenham had played a notably high line, and although Argyle players were often caught offside because of it, the riskiness of the defensive tactic was exposed when Finn floated a pitching wedge of a pass over the top for Oseni to run on to. Oseni, clear but onside, sidestepped the goalkeeper and rolled in.
At half-time, Argyle introduced Owen Dale and Seb Campbell, the latter a first-year apprentice, on for his debut.
Finn soon added a fifth, clipping home with the confidence of someone who was already on the scoresheet, and had played a part in the other three goals too.
Tottenham had been better since, though, and from their third decent chance of the early part of the second half, scored via their captain, Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny, not long before the hour mark.
History was soon made, when Campbell fired home inside the area, following good build-up play by his fellow half-time introductee, Owen Dale.
Tottenham got another one back late on, through Oliver Irow, to make it 6-2. Curiously, the game came on the two-year anniversary of a 6-2 win against Norwich City.
This win means Argyle have two wins out of two in the group stages of the competition, and have qualified for the knockouts, even with an away game at Bristol Rovers still to play.
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 2 Mathias Ross, 4 Brendan Wiredu (35 Owen Dale, half-time), 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 14 Ayman Benarous, 18 Owen Oseni (7 Jamie Paterson, 71), 20 Law McCabe (41 Seb Campbell, half-time), 22 Brendan Galloway (15 Alex Mitchell, 60), 24 Caleb Roberts, 27 Bim Pepple, 39 Tegan Finn. Substitutes: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 9 Lorent Tolaj, 23 Bradley Ibrahim.
Goals: Ross 5, Finn 20, 53, Pepple 28, Oseni 41
Booked: Roberts 12, Galloway 50, Benarous 68
Tottenham: 46 Luca Gunter, 52 Callum Olusesi, 53 Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny (capt), 54 Tynan Thompson, 55 Tyrell Ashcroft (72 Reiss Elliott-Parris, 66), 57 Rio Kyerematen (73 Oliver Irow, 77), 59 Dante Cassanova (71 Pele Arganese-McDermott, 86), 66 Malachi Hardy, 70 Yusuf Akhamrich, 76 James Rowswell, 78 Harry Byrne. Substitutes: 56 Aaron Maguire (gk), 65 Leo Black, 80 Roman Egan-Riley, 82 Calum Logan.
Goals: Russell-Denny 57, Irow 90+2
Booked: Elliott-Parris 84
Conor Hazard returns to the Argyle starting 11 for tonight’s Vertu Trophy game against Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s at Home Park (7pm).
Mathias Ross, Brendan Wiredu and Law McCabe are the three players who started Saturday’s game against Peterborough United and tonight’s.
Joe Edwards starts; he is allowed to play because suspensions in the Vertu Trophy are competition specific.
Argyle: 1 Conor Hazard, 2 Mathias Ross, 4 Brendan Wiredu, 8 Joe Edwards (capt), 14 Ayman Benarous, 18 Owen Oseni, 20 Law McCabe, 22 Brendan Galloway, 24 Caleb Roberts, 27 Bim Pepple, 39 Tegan Finn. Substitutes: 21 Luca Ashby-Hammond (gk), 7 Jamie Paterson, 9 Lorent Tolaj, 15 Alex Mitchell, 23 Bradley Ibrahim, 35 Owen Dale, 41 Seb Campbell.
The Game
Argyle v Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s. Home Park. Tuesday, 23 September. 7pm. Vertu Trophy.
The Opposition
Tottenham Hotspur’s Under-21 side compete in Premier League 2, which is a division for 26 under-21 sides, from the Premier League and some Sky Bet Championship sides with Category One academies. Spurs won Premier League 2 in 2023/24, finishing top of the division after 20 games of a ‘regular season’, and then winning the Champions League-style knockout format afterwards, too.
Last season, however, they finished just 22nd of 26 teams. This season they have won three out of four league games, beating Leicester City 6-3, Sunderland 5-3 and Nottingham Forest 1-0. They lost 3-2 to Crystal Palace.
The Gaffer
Former Pilgrim Wayne Burnett is the current head coach of Tottenham Hotspur’s under-21s. During his playing days, the midfielder featured on the pitch for Argyle, Blackburn Rovers, Leyton Orient, Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town, and Grimsby Town.
Burnett spent two seasons at Home Park playing under Peter Shilton, Steve McCall, Russell Osman, and Neil Warnock from 1993-95, also scoring in the Devon Derby in that period.
Towards the end of his playing career, Burnett dropped into non-league to play for Woking, Grays Athletic, and Fisher Athletic before eventually retiring in 2004.
As a manager, he took over former club Fisher that same year, winning both the London Senior Cup and Southern Football League. After short spells with Dulwich Hamlet and Grays, he would link up with another former club, Leyton Orient, to become youth-team manager.
Only a few months later, he was on the move again, becoming assistant manager at then League Two side, Dagenham & Redbridge. After a few years in East London, Burnett became caretaker manager, eventually being given the role permanently. After a further season-and-a-half, Burnett was sacked. Just over two years later, he joined Spurs to become under-21s manager and has now held that post for over eight years.
Previous Meetings
Argyle have never played Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s in this competition. Argyle and Tottenham’s first teams have met 46 times in their histories, but have not played since 1962, when Spurs, double-winners the previous season, won 5-1 at Home Park, with players like Jimmy Greaves and Danny Blanchflower in the team.
Argyle TV
Supporters unable to attend Tuesday's Vertu Trophy game against Cheltenham Town can now purchase an Argyle TV match pass for the game at Home Park. Argyle TV will go live at 6.50pm, with commentary from Charlie Price and Ian Stonebridge.