Argyle Women won their fourth consecutive FAWNL Southern Premier Division match on Sunday afternoon, beating Cheltenham Town 3-0 at Home Park.
A deflection off Tianna Teisar, from an Olivia Francis strike at goal, put the Greens ahead before the break, with goals from Ellie Noble and Paris Dalton rounding out the afternoon’s scoring in the second half.
Despite coming away with a clean sheet, three goals and as many points in the league table, constant attacking pressure from Argyle created several chances in front of goal, but struggling conversion halted the chance of a higher scoreline.
Tamara Wilcock and Francis both struck the bar with efforts from inside the visitors’ penalty box, whilst Layla Proctor had to watch her header across goal bounce off the post, before being cleared away from danger.
Head Coach Marie Hourihan agreed the Greens could have been more clinical in front of goal, but emphasised the importance of picking up three points in the ongoing promotion battle.
Argyle travel to Bournemouth next Sunday, in a game with huge ramifications in the race to go up to the second tier. Then, the following weekend, the sides meet again, in the FAWNL Cup final.
“Three points today - that was the priority coming into the game,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “We are just boxing off these games now as we go into the home straight. I thought we started the game very well, on the front foot, but I think they were a little bit more open than we anticipated. We created some really glaring opportunities, and we need to be more clinical in those moments.
“They grew into the game a little bit on the transition, but that was more through us being a bit ill-disciplined on the ball at times and giving away cheap turnovers. We took the lead at the end of the first half with a deflected effort. Overall, I think we should have been more comfortable in the game, certainly by the break.
“Going into the second half, the message was quite clear - we need more composure in front of goal and be more clinical with the types of finishes that we are looking for.
“We did end up scoring two good, well-worked goals, despite having a similar story to the first half, but the main thing was to come away with three points and another pleasing performance, which we did.
“The slight frustration is that we've spent a lot of time looking to refine the decision making and our finishing in front of goal, but the pleasing thing for me is that we're creating these opportunities and we continue to do so.
“Paris [Dalton] has been phenomenal since she's come in. She's not necessarily starting as many games as she'd like, but every time she comes onto the pitch, she impacts the game in a positive way and brings composure to the team. I’m really delighted for her today that she got her moment and the goal, because she's still got a huge part to play in the rest of this season.
“For me, momentum is key at this stage of the season. It brings confidence, which fundamentally leads to performances, and that's what we need to maintain going into two high-profile games now, with big stakes on them.
“These are the games you want to play, and this is why we work so hard for the past seven or eight months to get into this position, and now it's the opportunity that we've got to take.
“We know what we're going to need to do across these two games and feel like we're in a good place with the squad that we have available, so we will go into both those games in a confident mood.”
