Young guns blast Peterborough United into the second round of the EFL Cup for the first time in six years.

It was a first Posh win in the competition since 2016 and revenge for the 4-0 drubbing the Pilgrims inflicted on Darren Ferguson’s side at the same stage last season.

Young strikers Ricky-Jade Jones and Joe Taylor scored the goals that saw Posh through to a second round tie at a Stevenage side managed by former Posh boss Steve Evans. Jones’ 28th minute goal was his first for 19 months and a first for Posh in the competition since 2017.

Taylor added gloss to the scoreline with an injury-time strike – his first goal in senior football.

Posh boss Grant McCann made clear his priorities for the season with his line-up, making eight changes from the side that beat Morecambe 3-0 on Saturday. Only goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom, centre-back Josh Knight and midfielder Hector Kyprianou retained their positions.

Posh stuck with a back three with Joe Tomlinson and David Ajiboye lining up as wing backs with Joel Randall in behind a strike partnership of Jones and Taylor.

Ajiboye and Taylor were joined by young defender Charlie O’Connell in making their first starts for the club. Teenage striker Gabe Overton was also handed a seat on the bench for the first time.

Plymouth joined their visitors in making wholesale changes, with seven new faces coming in from their weekend defeat at Fleetwood.

As could have been expected with two second-string sides, the game started slowly with both lacking sharpness in the final third. Posh largely dominated the bal,l but rarely troubled an organised Plymouth side who were happy to let their opponents have the ball out wide.

A speculative Ajiboye shot from range was the only real moment to speak of before Jones gave Posh the lead after 28 minutes.

He tucked the ball well into the right corner of the goal after Joe Taylor’s lay-off. The real creator of the goal was Jeando Fuchs though, sending Taylor through with a crunching slide tackle on halfway.

That seemed to wake Plymouth up and they were getting some joy out of O’Connell on debut but Knight and Nathan Thompson were there to cover for their young colleague to stop the hosts creating a chance of note in the half.

They created one immediately in the second half after Niall Ennis drifted away from his marker in the six-yard box and headed towards the bottom left corner, the home fans had already begun to cheer before Lucas Bergstrom threw out of his remarkably large arms to save.

The momentum of the game then began to shift and it was firmly in the favour of the home side when they brought on Finn Azaz in the number ten role just before the hour.

From that point on, Plymouth began to take control of what was a scrappy game largely devoid of any quality and the roles from the first half were reversed.

Azaz came close to equalising on four occasions, three times from long range shots and once with a curling shot from a short corner routine that had to be tipped round the post by Bergstrom.

He tormented Posh, but thankfully a finish was lacking. Morgan Whittaker lashed when well placed 15 minutes from time before Posh should have sealed victory after taylo sprang the offside trap and teed Jones up, but he shot straight at Plymouth ‘keeper Michael Cooper.

Posh survived a couple of half chances but wrapped the win up in the final stages after defending a Plymouth corner. Cooper ventured forward and had no time to get back when Posh cleared and Taylor expertly rolled into an empty net from just inside the home half.

Not a bad way to score a first senior goal.

Posh: Lucas Bergstrom, Joe Tomlinson, Josh Knight, Charlie O’Connell, Nathan Thompson, Hector Kyprianou (Jack Taylor 67 mins), Jeando Fuchs, Joel Randall (Ben Thompson 77 mins), David Ajiboye (Joe Ward 67 mins), Ricky-Jade Jones (Gabe Overton 77 mins), Joe Taylor

Unused subs: Will Lakin, Ronnie Edwards, Harrison Burrows, Jack Marriott, Jonson Clarke-Harris

Plymouth: Michael Cooper, Brendan Galloway (Macaulay Gillesphey 63 mins), James Wilson, Nigel Lonwijk, Jordan Houghton (Danny Mayor 72 mins), Joe Edwards, Matt Butcher (Adam Randell 45 mins), Jack Endacott, Niall Ennis (Ryan Hardie 72 mins), Morgan Whittaker, Luke Jephcott (Finn Azaz 58 mins)

Unused subs: Callum Burton, Dan Scarr, Bali Mumba, Caleb Roberts

Goals: Posh – Jones (28 mins)

Cautions: Posh – Knight (foul)

Plymouth – James Wilson (foul)

Referee: Alan Young

Attendance: 6,089 (220 Posh).