Goals Galore for Development
Plymouth Argyle Development 13 Exeter & Tedburn Rangers 0
ARGYLE’S young Development team are gradually beginning to gel in this latest victory their third in a row, with an impressive record of 29 goals for and just three against.
Credit must go to Exeter & Tedburn Rangers, who never gave up the fight. Argyle showed early intent as they pushed the ball around confidently and were soon making inroads in the Exeter danger areas.
Despite the pressure, Argyle passed up numerous chances and it was Nicola Champion who had the first opportunity but fired straight at goalkeeper Saskia Hendy. Hendy then denied efforts from Kiara Robins, Lucy Solloway, Maisie Williams and Champion.
Eventually, the Pilgrims opened the scoring when in the 28th minute Beth Cowd picked out Champion who got the better of her defender to fire home. The second followed five minutes before half time when Jodie Randall's effort struck a post but the alert Champion followed up to score. A minute before the break, Williams produced a delicate lob over the goalkeeper to make it 3-0.
The second half started with Argyle playing at a higher tempo and within a minute of the restart, Williams played a one-two with Solloway to fire in from the edge of the penalty area. lt was now one-way traffic with Exeter hardly able to get out of their own half.
Pilgrim pressure told when Steph Beck made a great run down the right before squaring the ball back to Nelinha Barros to fire high into the net. Within a minute, the lively Beth Everson became the provider when she cut in from the right and fired a hard low cross into the six-yard box to find Solloway sliding in at the far post.
Williams was the next to score when she fended off a number challenges before firing in for her hat-trick. Three minutes later, Beck became the provider when another smart one-two was fired home by Solloway. Despite being constantly on the front foot, the young 16 year-old back three consisting of Leah Johnson, Maddy Leppard and debutant Isla Brumhead were dealing admirably with any sporadic attacks.
Next on the score sheet was the impressive Everson who got her deserved goal after she received a pass off Champion. Double figures was reached when a ball into the six-yard box caused panic and an unfortunate defender turned the ball into her own net.
Not taking their foot off the gas, Ellie Bishop found space on the edge of the penalty area to hit a fierce shot over the goalkeeper and into the net. Two minutes later, teenager Beth Cowd received the ball off Hannah Brock before hitting an absolute scorcher into the top corner of the net.
Goalkeeper Maddie Walsh then made a superb save from a well-struck free-kick to keep a clean sheet. Steph Beck finally got on to the score sheet after playing a part in a number of goals, as she received the ball on the right-hand side and cleverly floated the ball over Hendy's head into the far corner of the goal via a post to complete the scoring.
“We started reasonably well but we lost our way after fifteen minutes and players stopped working off the ball, and started to take too many touches,” said manager Rob Bonney. “Second half, we played with a lot more tempo, but, despite the goals, the performance was far from perfect. We will work on and keep drumming into the girls what we expect off them.”
Argyle squad: Maddie Walsh, Jodie Randall, Leah Johnson, Steph Beck, Beth Everson, Kiara Robins, Ellie Bishop, Maisie Williams, Hannah Brock, Lucy Solloway, Nicola Champion, Beth Cowd, Maddy Leppard, Isla Brumhead, Nelinha Barros, Scarlett Williams.