Argyle Women travel to Real Bedford to play their final FAWNL Southern Premier Division league game of the season this Sunday.
The match in Bedfordshire has little meaning for the table, with the Greens having already claimed second place and a play-off place, but that does not mean Argyle intend to take their foot off the accelerator.
A win for Marie Hourihan’s side on the weekend will continue much-needed momentum and confidence after a run of several weeks without a competitive fixture, whilst also taking them over 50 points for the season.
Hourihan understands that factors may come into the latter stages of the game in order to prepare well for the final, but wants to come away with another important victory in Bedford.
“Firstly, we're delighted to be in this position, going into the last game, knowing that we have that play-off position secured,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “Maintaining momentum and rhythm are going to be really important now into the lead into the play-off final, especially with it only being just over a week away on the Bank Holiday Monday. We must maintain that consistency and rhythm, but also want to break 50 points, if we can, and finish the league season on a high note this weekend against Real Bedford.
“Off the back of the FAWNL Cup Final and then a difficult game against Oxford, which we came through and performed really well in, it was important that we gave the players a little bit of downtime. We had had a really tough and hectic four-week period, with some intense games within that, so I think there were some tired bodies and tired minds.
“We've got a lot of players that don't live in Plymouth, so this gave them the chance to go home and refresh as well, which was very important. Since then, we've come back in and looked at the lead-in to the final stretch of the season, had some training games and lots of time on the training pitch, which has been really beneficial.
“Everyone has been positive, energised and excited, but we’ve looked at ensuring everyone refocuses their minds and gets back into the mindset that we have our final league game first before anything else. We need everyone to be mentally focused on this game and then what comes after that, and the lead-in to the play-off game, we can take care of.
“As for Bedford, they are in a rich vein of form and had some really good performances in their last couple of games. With it being their last home game as well, they're going to be going all guns blazing and looking to finish off the season on a high. I think it's a good game for us in that regard.
“It’s going to give us challenges, which will be important to make sure we don't just switch off and go through the motions. We are going to have two or three things that we want to hone in on and refine in that game and continue that free-flowing football that we've played consistently across this season, but we also want to be brave and try some different things as well, to ensure we are going into that play-off game fully armed with everything at our disposal.”
