Following article courtesy of The News: Pompey Academy comfortably progressed in the FA Youth Cup with a 4-0 victory against Plymouth at Home Park Conor Chaplinâs brace and goals from Adam May and Chad Field secured a trip to either Dartford or Thamesmead in the second round. A stray back-pass from Field gave Pompey an early scare, but goalkeeper Alex Bass was alert enough to get the ball to safety. It had been a cagey opening to the tie, however, with chances few and far between. Bass was called into action on 16 minutes, although he was not overly troubled by Louis Rooneyâs drive. Instead it was the Blues who broke the deadlock moments later when Conor Chaplin and Calvin Davies worked a short corner and the latterâs cross was swept home by MAY. Davies was causing plenty of problems down the right and his dangerous ball into the box had to be scrambled away to prevent the lurking Lewis Gill from doubling the visitorsâ advantage. Plymouth had not looked particularly threatening, although Jamil Roberts forced Bass into a routine save on 30 minutes. The hosts then seized possession from a poor Pompey free-kick just before the break, but Callum Hallâs shot flew narrowly past the post. Half Time: Plymouth 0 Pompey 1 Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain â watched by father Mark â fired the first salvo of the second half over the crossbar. Plymouth then narrowly failed to find the target with a couple of efforts, but just as they were starting to show signs of life, the Blues doubled their advantage. It was CHAPLIN who scored on 55 minutes, latching onto Kaleem Haithamâs incisive pass and slotting the ball past Argyle keeper Andrew Hannah. Pompey were firmly in the driving seat and extended their lead even further soon after when FIELD rose to head home Chaplinâs corner. Chaplin probably should have scored another on 78 minutes after a long ball found him space, but this time the prolific striker ballooned his shot over the bar. Bass then made a fine stop to keep out Hallâs low drive as Plymouth finally enjoyed a spell of pressure late in the game. But the Blues underlined their superiority on 86 minutes when Hannah could only parry Liam Sayersâ effort and CHAPLIN gobbled up the rebound. Plymouth: Hannah; Hughes, Jones, Moxham, Roberts; Sargent (c) (Richards 64); Palfrey (Vincent 64), Miller (Fletcher 64), Hall, Lane; Rooney Subs not used: Harvey, Knowles Pompey: Bass; Davies, Field, Nilsen, Haunstrup (c); May, Granger; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Rwakarambwe 75), Chaplin, Haitham (Joseph-Buadi 71); Gill (Sayers 79) Subs not used: George, Saidy Referee: Mark Derrien Attendance: 401 Academy coach Mikey Harris said: "It was an excellent team performance and I'm delighted for the lads. They stuck to the game-plan really well. "It was a real squad effort and all 14 of them that took to the the pitch played their part in a great result. "We don't often get the chance to play in big stadium and on that quality of pitch, so it was different test for the boys, but they dealt with the extra pressure. "We've got another away game in the next round and it will be tough whoever we play, but we'll go there with plenty of confidence after this result."
