Argyle put five past Gwalia United on Sunday afternoon at Home Park to pick up an important three points to start November.
The 5-1 victory over the Welsh side came courtesy of goals from Tamara Wilcock, Tianna Teisar, Ellie Noble, and two from Charlotte Whitmore.
With the win, the Greens move up to third place in the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division, ahead of Real Bedford and behind just AFC Bournemouth and Watford, who are both unbeaten in league play.
Even with the comprehensive victory, Head Coach Marie Hourihan is striving for high standards, and felt like her side needed to step up from a first-half performance that saw them go into the break 1-0 up.
The win followed a facile victory over Maidstone United the previous weekend in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, and a midweek draw with Exeter City.
“With this being our third game this week, I think you could see it out there today in terms of a bit of fatigue,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “I actually think in the first half we were disappointing, for us. We were a little bit flat, lacked a bit of energy, and weren't at the races in that respect with doing the basics well, but still went into the break 1-0 up.
“We had to reiterate some points about how we wanted to exploit Gwalia in the second half, and I felt we played with better intensity, got more runners in behind to stretch them, and scored four more goals, so that’s pleasing.
“The goal we gave away was pretty cheap on our part, and it's something that we need to be a little bit more diligent with, so it's disappointing to concede in that way. Overall, off the back of a three-game week, we've got to be pleased that we've taken the three points today.
“I said to the team at the end, it shows how far this team has come with our expectations and our standards that we set ourselves, that we're disappointed to not have scored more, or the fact that we conceded. Like I said, the result is pleasing, but the performance level is the bit we’re looking at.
“We're going to go into a block of fixtures now where we're getting into the last stages of competitions, and it’s going to really matter. We need to have that consistency and that little bit of ruthlessness. We want to be at the top end of the league and be competing in all these competitions, and are aiming to win these competitions, so we need to set those high standards for ourselves.”
Argyle’s goalscoring has been a key component this season to the side’s success, and with four different players on the scoresheet today, Hourihan was delighted to see multiple names, in multiple positions on the pitch, find the back of the net.
She said: “You want goals spread throughout the team. I thought the substitutes came on and also impacted the game really well, similar to Wednesday night. It’s good seeing your forwards score goals, but we've got goals coming from the midfield area now with Tamara coming back from injury. It's been a real boost, and her getting off the mark today is another pleasing outcome.
“We're starting to get into a good place on that front and have healthy competition in those areas of the pitch. For me, having those challenges in terms of who to select is good, but also then knowing that we've got those impact players coming from the bench helps a lot."
