Plymouth Argyle under-18s clinch second league title of season

Plymouth Argyle under-18s are champions of the EFL Youth Alliance's Merit League One after beating Portsmouth 3-2 in their penultimate match.

It is the second title success this season for Jamie Lowry's young Pilgrims, who also finished top of the South West Division, which earned them their place in Merit League One and saw them play against teams from across the south of England.

Argyle went into the game against Portsmouth in second position in the table, level on points with leaders Leyton Orient, but with the east Londoners having already played all of their nine fixtures.

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Fourth-placed Portsmouth could have moved above the Pilgrims had they beaten them, and forced Argyle to get at least a draw against Sutton United on Friday to secure the title, but it did not come down to that.

Argyle got the result they needed against Portsmouth even though they were without Freddie Issaka and Caleb Roberts, who were both unused substitutes for the first team in the 1-0 Championship defeat away to Millwall on Saturday.

Seb Campbell was an early Pilgrims' substitute for the injured Joe Hatch and scored his first under-18s goal in the 32nd minute to put them level at 1-1.

Portsmouth restored their lead late in the first half but there was still enough time for Argyle to equalise before the break when Campbell struck again, as he applied the finishing touch to a cross from Cole Fisher.

Campbell has a chance to complete his hat-trick early in the second half but shot wide and Portsmouth pushed forward in increasing numbers in the closing stages as they chased the win they needed to keep alive their title hopes.

Instead, Kian Burch powered home a header from a 90th minute free-kick and that meant Argyle could celebrate becoming champions again.

Argyle: Dan Holman, Lewis Colwell, Joel Sullivan, Finley Wilkes, Jack Matthews, Cole Gibbings, Kian Burch, Sam Lord, Joe Hatch (Seb Campbell 11 mins), Tegan Finn, Cole Fisher. Substitutes (not used): Jensen Ireland, Billy Devlin.

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