Cup finals do not come around often, and no matter the result as the full-time whistle blows, memories are forged.
For Argyle, the memories will be bitter in the immediate, but unforgettable in years to come.
AFC Bournemouth came away on top at MATRADE Loftus Road on Saturday afternoon, defeating Argyle by a goal to nil in the FAWNL Cup final, with the goal being scored by Kenni Thompson, direct from a corner.
After the game, sadness was visible from the Pilgrims, but the roars, cheers, and claps from the Green Army in the East Paddocks proved the love of all for their players.
Not all is over, though. Promotion is still on the cards, and everyone is hungry to succeed after the result this weekend, led by Head Coach Marie Hourihan, as she has all season.
“The result is gutting, devastating, everything you can think of right now,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “It was a tale of two halves. We were nowhere near the levels that we've been consistently at this season in the first half, and we need to give Bournemouth credit. They came out of the traps really quickly and scored the goal early on.
“We did a lot of work on set plays and defended them well in the previous week, in the league fixture, so to go down so early, I was disappointed. You’ve got to factor in the elements of the occasion and bits, but at half-time we made a couple of changes and came out with a lot more intent, started to play a lot more and moved the ball a lot quicker, which was a problem in the first half.
“We got into higher areas of the pitch with quick, fast combinations and created three or four good opportunities, hitting the post and having the goal disallowed, but we just ran out of time and didn't manage to get that equalising goal.
“It’s disappointing to lose in this way, but still, for me, we've got to look back on the journey we had to get here and take a lot of pride in that. We still have two massive games in the league to look forward to.
“We need to make sure that we finish off the season in the right way. We will recover from this and regroup. It will be sore for the next couple of days, but when we come back into training on Tuesday, our full attention turns to Oxford.
“Sometimes with football, games like this happen. It’s about the character of the group to show now after this. We've done it before, and I’m more than confident in this group of players to do it again next week.
“The Green Army were phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. Considering the logistics with us being in London, to have that amount here and hearing them consistently is a credit to the football club because that was fantastic.”
