Club captain Joe Edwards and striker Owen Oseni gained valuable game time after recent injuries as they both played the first half of Plymouth Argyle’s 3-2 defeat by Cardiff City at Home Park in the Premier League Under-21 Cup

A clinical finish from Oseni gave the Pilgrims a half-time lead but Cardiff hit back in the second period with three goals between the 56th and 64th minutes to take control of the Group B game, although Tashall Sandhui did get a second for the hosts deep into added time.

Argyle’s under-16s goalkeeper Tom Armytage started the match and made an excellent one-on-one save from Cardiff’s Herbie James in the early stages after an under-hit back pass from Joe Mwaro.

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Oseni looked about to get a shot in during the 13th minute from just inside the City penalty area until Bluebirds’ captain Thierry Katsukunya made a very good covering tackle.

Paul Moreno, Jake Davies and Troy Perrett all failed to get attempts on goal as Cardiff had the better scoring opportunities before Oseni put Argyle 1-0 up in the 43rd minute.

City gave the ball away in their own box and the striker strode forward before firing it high into the corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Jake Dennis no chance of saving it.

Edwards and Oseni were substituted at half-time, replaced by Jovan Wamani and Frankie Maund respectively. Cardiff then drew level in the 55th minute with a shot into the bottom corner of the net by Isaac Davies.

The visitors then netted twice in as many minutes shortly after the hour mark. Troy Perrett scored with a simple tap-in before Jake Davies fired a low shot past Armytage after breaking down the left.

When Freddie Issaka was replaced by Billy Devlin before play restarted Argyle had effectively become an under-18s team and Cardiff’s under-21s were well on top for the rest of the game but they could not add to their goal tally and Sandhu then reduced the deficit in the seventh and final minute of added time.

ARGYLE: Tom Armytage; Joe Edwards (Jovan Wamani h/t), Joe Mwaro, Sam Hayman, Jared Rendle (Dylan Williams 89 mins); Freddie Issaka (Billy Devlin 66 mins), Seb Campbell, Joel Tolcher, Tashall Sandhu; Owen Oseni (Frankie Maund h/t), James Sharpe (Harry Locke 89 mins). Substitutes (not used): Leo McCormick, Toby Maclean.

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