Ladies Preview

ARGYLE Ladies are hoping for good weather for their visit to Chichester City in the FA Women’s National League Southern Division – their first for three weeks.

The Pilgrims don't have a good record against Chichester. In the 2016/17 campaign, Chichester completed the double (5-4) and (3-0) to win Division One South West with Argyle second.

The following season Argyle beat them 3-1 in the Premier League Cup before going down 3-0 to Coventry United in the quarter-final. Unfortunately, last season saw Chichester complete the double again (3-0) and (2-1). Chichester may be bottom of the league but they only went down 3-2 at home to league leaders Watford last week, so Argyle will not go into the match looking for an easy win.

The Greens are currently enjoying a seven-match league and cup winning run and manager Dave Leonard is looking for his first ever points against Chichester. “We had a full complement at training, so we will be taking a fully-fit squad to Chichester,” he said.

“We are looking forward to the game and getting back to our league form. I have never beaten them, never taken a point off them. We had them watched last weekend (against Watford) and, on their performance, they are in a bit of a false position.

“We are under no illusions and they don't deserve to be bottom of the league and form tables have a habit of kicking you up the backside, so it’s not going to be an easy game. It's not a game I would like to have had having not played for the last three weeks.”

There has been a big turnaround at Chichester who find themselves at the bottom of the league with just one point from nine league matches but they have suffered two very close single-goal defeats, so will not be taken lightly.

Leonard was delighted with the National League Plate draw where they will host AFC Wimbledon in the second round. The tie on Sunday, November 24 has been moved to Marjons for a noon kick-off.

“I am absolutely delighted,” he said. “I don't care who we have, we just needed a home draw. We are looking at this and thinking we can do something in this cup and it’s something we are going to try and win. All we want now is a nice home draw in the FA Cup on Monday.”

Argyle squad: B Kyle, L Burridge, E Dover, B Jackson, L Huntley, F Ivall, J Jones, A Pollock, K Lane, B Dandridge, S Beck, Z Cunningham, N Knapman, H Bleazard, K Middleton, M Taylor.

The Development team also face a difficult match in the FA Women’s South-West League Western Division when they travel to Plympton.

In the 2017/18 season, Plympton won 2-1 and drew 1-1, while last season, despite Argyle winning the Division, Plympton won 3-2 and the Greens had to fight back from 3-0 down to draw the home match 3-3, with Plympton finishing the season as runner-up.

Once again, Plympton beat Argyle 2-1 at the beginning of the season. Fans are advised that the match has been switched to Bull point for a 2pm kick-off.

Manager Rob Bonney is trying to keep the team grounded. “This is still a team in transition but the expectation levels are rising, game by game,” he said. “The results are there for people to see but what we (Coaches Scott Robertson and Dan Tecza) want to see is a rise in our performance levels.

“There is still more to come and it is a case of instilling even more confidence and getting the players to perform to the maximum of their capabilities.”

Development Squad from: Maddie Walsh, Rachel Javan, Isla Brumhead, Hannah Brock, Rachel Heron, Beth Cowd, Maisie Williams, Ellie Bishop, Beth Everson, Lucy Solloway, Nicola Champion, Dani Wyatt, Kiara Robins, Dee Newman, Maddy Leppard, Chardonnay James, Scarlett Williams.