Plymouth Argyle Women v Milton Keynes Dons Women

After a long winter break, due to postponements and forced time off, Argyle Women return to Home Park to face Milton Keynes Dons in FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division action.

The clash on Sunday, 5 January, which kicks off at 2pm, will be the Greens' first action of the New Year. Argyle concluded 2024 with a superb 1-0 win over Watford in the FAWNL Cup, to reach the competition’s semi-final.

Assistant coach Jon Dawe believes that the squad's individual work during their time off, and as a group upon their return, is a strong indicator of how a positive result can be gained on the weekend.

“I’m excited to get back into it,” Dawe told Argyle TV. “Obviously, we've had quite a prolonged period off because of the winter break involved in the women's game, so it’s nice to be back at it and we’re looking forward to the game on Sunday.

“We probably didn't want the break to come, if I'm honest, after such a positive win against Watford in the quarter-final. It's a shame we couldn't continue the momentum, but it is what it is.

“The girls have been set a fitness programme over the winter break where they've been doing a series of set runs and we’ve been back in training this week so they will have plenty of football-related practice before Sunday, and we’ll go over the key messages from the Watford game.

“Ahead of the game, the squad needs to recap the things that we did really well against Watford. For me, it was our best out-of-possession performance of the season against a strong side. I think it's vitally important that we continue in that same vein and go with a clean sheet mentality for the weekend, and then if we can achieve that, I'm sure what we can do with the ball can hurt MK Dons.”

The Buckinghamshire side sit below Argyle in the league table this season, picking up just one point through their opening 13 games. Dawe is aware of the expectations for the game at the Theatre of Greens but also knows that Argyle must stay grounded and not get ahead of themselves to achieve a result.

He said: “Ultimately, we need to respect any opponent that we come up against. We've analysed their last three matches and within those, there's certainly a counter-attacking threat which we need to be wary of.

“There’s no room for complacency whatsoever, and we've just got to approach it with the same determination as we did against Watford.”

Argyle Women started their 2025 calendar year with an important 2-1 victory over bottom-of-the-table Milton Keynes Dons at Home Park on Sunday afternoon.

First-half goals from Ella Stephens and Taya Pomfret handed the Greens a comfortable advantage after the first 45 minutes. However, MK Dons were able to cause a scare with a late goal through Mollie Knox.

The Pilgrims held on for the final 10 minutes and secured a vital three points, propelling them out of the relegation zone and ahead of Gwalia United in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division table.

A scrappy affair was seen through the first 15 minutes at the sodden Theatre of Greens. Neither side could control possession and create clear-cut chances through the opening attacking phases, but the Greens’ luck turned with two goals in three minutes.

After some quick build-up play on the right, Georgia Wilson’s cross, via Charlotte Whitmore, set the ball to Stephens and Argyle's number 16 rifled a long-range effort into the back of the net.

Argyle won the ball back quickly from the restart and drove down the pitch, winning a corner after a spillage from MK Dons’ goalkeeper Margot Farnes. Whitmore was, once again, the assister, pinging the ball deep to the back post and onto the head of the open Pomfret, to head down and home through several bodies on the line.

The Home Park crowd continued to get behind Argyle, rallying them on for the remainder of the first half, but the visitors did enough to deflect any forward progress and halt attacks in and around their box.

The Dons came out of the break with energy and a press that surprised Argyle, but it was the Greens that found the back of the net first in the second 45 minutes – in a sense. Fern Orchard drove into the area, after picking up a forward ball, and slotted the ball past Farnes, but soon heard the referee's whistle and saw the offside flag raised, keeping the game at 2-0.

MK Dons were soon forced into a change after Sydney Wootton picked up an injury attempting to collect a spillage from Comfort Erhabor, but this worked in the Buckinghamshire side’s favour. Substitute Knox came onto the pitch and added an energy and buzz that Abdoullah Kheir’s side had been missing through the opening hour.

Neither side were able to create any major chances in front of goal through the next 15 minutes, but soon enough the Dons found themselves back in the game. Knox ran onto the end of a throughball, rounded Erhabor and calmly slotted home into an open goal, from a narrowingly angle.

Despite renewed confidence for the Dons, Argyle were able to regroup and neutralise any chance from MK Dons for the remainder of the game, until the final whistle blew and all players, staff and fans involved could relax with three points in their hands.

Argyle travel to Hashtag United next weekend, Sunday, 12 January, looking to build upon the victory at Home Park and push further up the league table.

Argyle: 56 Comfort Erhabor, 4 Amii Kearley, 5 Giota Papaioannou (capt), 6 Taya Pomfret (2 Katie Dickson, 65), 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford, 10 Georgia Wilson, 16 Ella Stephens (19 Erin O’Shea, 88), 20 Fern Orchard (9 Ellie Sara, 70), 24 Ava Kuyken (15 Georgie Knott, 82), 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 1 Lily Felgate, 3 Roxy Thomas, 25 Jess Geach.

Goals: Stephens 22, Pomfret 25

Booked: Crawford 86

MK Dons: 1 Margot Farnes, 6 Favour Omenazu, 11 Annalese Jacovides (10 Tyana Chambers, 74), 12 Alice Curr, 20 Poppy Beverly, 23 Sydney Wootton (28 Mollie Knox, 63), 26 Ugomma Ekendu-Obi (4 Amelie Timon, 67), 30 Giuseppina Carnevale (14 Madeline Welham, 74), 40 Amelie Sarll, 41 Olivia Oshodi, 46 Erin Creedon (9 Sophie Byrom, 67). Substitutes: 99 Maddy Woolgar, 3 Olivia Welham

Goal: Knox 78

Booked: Beverly 88

PLY Argyle Women

MK Dons