Swindon Town U18s were knocked out of the Youth Alliance League Cup after an unfortunate penalty shootout loss after a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth last weekend.
Goals from Jaxon Brown and an own goal from a Miles Obodo effort weren’t enough to see the game off for Town after a last-minute equaliser from Portsmouth saw the game go to penalties, which the hosts narrowly came out on top of.
The first 15 minutes would be difficult for both teams as Pompey and Town would struggle to dominate any possession and break each other’s backline.
There were no other real clear-cut chances in the first half until the last minute of the 45 minutes, where Town keeper Redman Evans produced a brave fingertip save to keep the score line level going into the midway point.
Half-Time: Portsmouth U18s 0-0 Swindon Town U18s
The second half would have a completely different tempo to the first instantly, as Portsmouth would create an immediate chance but Evans again was on hand to deny the Pompey player with an outstretched foot early on in the second half.
It would be Swindon’s turn to attack in response to this chance, and showing their clinical edge, Jaxon Brown opened the scoring with a well-taken finish in the 51st minute.
After displaying a beautiful bit of trickery to beat three Portsmouth players into missed tackles, the midfielder showed composure in front of goal to slot his effort into the bottom right corner and give Swindon the lead.
Evans again was on hand to deny Pompey from an equaliser five minutes after Brown's opener, with two key saves in the following 10 minutes denying the hosts.
Swindon would respond following these opportunities and saw another great move in the 65th minute which was initially created by winger Fletcher Hubbard.
After receiving the ball, Hubbard looked to place the ball into the path of recent first-team debutant Joel McGregor who laid the ball across to forward Miles Obodo, only to see his effort blocked well by Portsmouth, following a great passage of play.
It would be in the 80th minute that Pompey would be given a penalty and would also proceed to equalise from it after a cool penalty from Portsmouth's Koby Mottoh, which unfortunately, gave the Blues an equaliser with 10 minutes of normal time left to play.
However, Town would respond to this setback with a late second as the threatening Obodo impressively used his strength to hold off the Pompey defenders, before firing an effort that took a considerable deflection off the Portsmouth defender and gave Town the lead with just a couple of minutes left on the clock.
Unfortunately for Town, it wouldn’t be enough to see off Portsmouth as another late equaliser from Mottoh saw the game go to penalties, which saw the hosts come out as narrow 4-3 victors and progress to the Southern final of the Youth Alliance Cup at Swindon's expense.
Sean Wood's side will look to bounce back on last weekend's defeat with the opportunity to overcome league rivals Oxford United this Saturday, having previously defeated the U's earlier in the season.
Portsmouth FC U18s: Smith, Quarm, Bosaka, Fox, Laidlaw; Aston, Murray, Mottoh, Clout, Keteku (Staight 68), May
Goals: Mottoh 80 (P), 90
Swindon Town U18s: Evans (C), McGregor, Chard, Stewart, Hart, Adams, Britchford-Stanley (Keyes 72), Brown, Obodo (Alston 90), Hubbard (McCormick 78), Ameen
Goals: Brown 51, Own Goal 88
