Swindon Town 1 Plymouth Argyle 3: Papa John's Trophy match report

Two goals in the space of two first-half minutes courtesy of teenagers Will Jenkins-Davies and Oscar Halls for the visitors proved the difference in the Southern Group E clash at the County Ground last night.

A well taken third goal from Ryan Hardie in the 88th minute put the tie to bed but Town were given something to cheer when debutant Rushian Hepburn-Murphy capitalised on a loose pass to poke the ball past Callum Burton for a late consolation.

As expected, the Town squad was heavily rotated going into the group tie, with the home side making seven changes in total.

Debuts were handed to Morgan Roberts and Reece Devine, while Ellis Iandolo made his first start following a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury.

For Plymouth, there were 10 changes from their 2-2 Sky Bet League One draw at Portsmouth on Saturday. The only player who stayed in the starting line-up was midfielder Jordan Houghton.

It was a relatively even affair early on, with both sides struggling to settle into their rhythm, which was perhaps expected with the number of changes made by both sides.

It took 27 minutes for the Pilgrims to take the lead through Jenkins-Davies. After a fair bit of pinballing in the box, the teenage prospect fired a low effort which was deflected past a helpless Sol Brynn to make it 1-0.

Within a blink of an eye, the away side doubled their advantage through fellow Argyle youngster Halls. A well-worked delivery from the left found Halls at the back post, and his header looped over the Town keeper to make it 2-0 before the half-hour mark.

Callum Knowles (Image: Callum Knowles)

Swindon almost halved the deficit on the 42nd minute through some hard work from Tyrese Shade down the left.

The forward did extremely well to not let a through ball go out for a goal kick and stretched to tap the ball into the box to find an approaching Mo Dabre. He fired low and hard into the right-hand side of the goal, however the chance was dramatically cleared off the line by an Argyle defender to maintain the two-goal advantage.

In the second half, Swindon looked to get themselves back into the game and it didn’t take them long to get an opportunity on goal.

Shade showed real trickery down the right to create space and deliver a ball into the box to an approaching Dabre. The forward’s attempt was hindered by what looked like a shove from behind, but referee David Rock didn’t think anything of it.

Four minutes later, Shade and Dabre linked up once again after Shade showed great skill to again delivery an inviting cross into the box. This time Dabre was able to get a shot off, but the destined goal was denied by an Argyle clearance off the line for the second time.

Callum Knowles (Image: Callum Knowles)

Just three minutes after coming on to make his Town debut, Hepburn-Murphy was involved in the action after his well-struck effort was saved by keeper Callum Burton.

Argyle almost made it 3-0 in the 78th minute when forward Sam Cosgrove was neatly played through on goal who looked destined to slide it past Brynn. But an excellent interception from Ciaran Brennan was able to stop the forward in his tracks and stop the opportunity.

The third goal arrived in the 88th minute through forward Hardie. The referee played an advantage following a foul on Freddie Issaka, which led to Hardie being played through and calmly slotting past Brynn.

Swindon did get a consolation through debutant Hepburn-Murphy in the 90th minute. The forward capitalised on a loose pass from Argyle’s backline and poked the ball past keeper Burton.

SWINDON TOWN: Brynn; Hutton, Brennan, Clayton, Devine (Fox 83); Aguiar, Khan, Iandolo (Dworzak 64); Roberts, Shade (Hepburn-Murphy 58), Dabre. Subs not used: Brann, Hart, Kanu, Keyes,

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: Burton; Wilson, Pursall (Butcher 71), Galloway; Halls, Houghton  Lonwijk 71), Randell, Endacott; Jenkins-Davies (Whittaker 63), Mayor (Hardie 63); Cosgrove (Issaka 84 mins). Subs not used: Mumba, Baker.

REFEREE: David Rock.

ATTENDANCE: 2,026 (125 away).