Argyle moved up to second place in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division Table on Sunday afternoon, with a confident 3-0 victory over Real Bedford.
Ellie Noble’s superb set-piece ability was on show again, finding the back of the net twice, once with an impressive free-kick finish, the other with a penalty. Both were earned through fouls on Tianna Tiesar. A debut goal for Una Lue rounded out the Greens’ goalscoring efforts in what was a very professional showing.
Lue, a new signing for Argyle who was announced prior to kick-off, scored from within the six-yard box, tapping home an Olivia Francis cross late into the game, whilst Noble secured her brace in the first half.
Speaking with Argyle TV swiftly after the full-time whistle, Head Coach Marie Hourihan expressed her delight with Argyle's performance, offered positive words for Lue and Noble, and discussed the position it leaves the team in heading into 2026.
She said: “I thought in the first 10 minutes we started brightly and established a good foothold in the game, but probably didn’t create as many clear-cut opportunities as we’d like to have. In terms of a start to a game, it's probably the best that we've been for a few weeks.
“When you've got Tianna on the pitch driving at defenders, we're going to draw fouls and that creates an opportunity for us and for Ellie [Noble] to score what is now probably her trademark finish.
“On the counter-attack, Bedford had a couple of moments where they got in behind us, but didn’t cause us any sort of serious problems, and I think we managed those situations pretty well.
“I thought the first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half, we weathered that storm a little bit without Hermione [Cull] being overly tested. When we do kick into gear and play, we can cut through teams, and you saw that with the third goal. It’s very pleasing to see Una score on her debut, as well.
“She’s a player we are really excited to get on board. I think she's going to add something different to us. She’s a natural finisher. You can see it in her movement and the positions that she takes up. We’re all really excited to get her in with us now.
“Ellie sets the standard every single week. We are seeing the best version of her. She’s a natural leader in our team, and her confidence has grown massively. You’re seeing that with not just the goals, but also her performance levels, which have been consistently high. It is a credit to her. Her mentality, desire and want to win is infectious, and certainly the team is massively benefiting from that.
“Over the last three or four weeks, we've been disappointed with the manner of some of the goals that we've conceded and have probably been a little bit too reactive, and that's what's caught us out. Today, the focus and attention, certainly from the back four and Hermione, was very much a Plymouth Argyle performance that we've become accustomed to.
“I thought Layla [Proctor] was excellent as well, marshalling that back four, and was very dominant in her duels, which helped us immensely.
“We’ve been on a journey this first part of the season. The performance level today was a replica of what we've seen across the first half of the season. I continue to encourage that the more supporters we can get in, the better the players benefit and thrive from it.
“Going into the new year, we've got some big games coming up where that support from the Green Army will be incredibly important.”
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