Argyle Women conceded two late goals to Oxford United on Sunday, in a 2-1 defeat, which ended their FA Cup run.
Ellie Noble’s penalty gave the Greens the lead in the opening 15 minutes, but goals from Ruby Sealey and Emma Thompson stole the victory away from Marie Hourihan’s side.
The Argyle Head Coach was frustrated with the result but still found time to credit Argyle’s determination and fight to the full-time whistle, after an Olivia Francis red card saw the Greens reduced to 10 for the majority of the second half.
“It’s gutting,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “We put ourselves in a really good position, but the game changed in the 47th minute. The message at half-time was to manage the game, and after a refereeing decision, we went down to 10 players quite early on, and then we’ve got to ride the storm.
“Overall, to a player, I thought we did very well. At the end of the game, to be hit by two sucker punches in the 87th and 94th minute, it's a hard one to take. I do have to take the positives, though, in terms of the reaction of the players that were on the pitch.
“The desire and determination, bodies on the line, defending the box, I can't fault them in that respect. We have to take the positives in that situation, but we must learn from that. It's two red cards now that have hurt us, so we've got to take that on board.
“We came in with a clear plan. Our goal came through Tianna [Teisar], really, because of how we set up. We've won the ball back, and she's won us the penalty. I thought we managed the game really well. We probably could have done a little bit better in situations on the ball, but this was always going to be a game about small margins.
“In general, we managed their rotations and what they were looking to do made play pretty predictable. Coming in at half-time, we were pretty comfortable.
“The result doesn't take away from the effort and the intent of the players, which was fantastic.”
Argyle’s attention will now turn to their final game of 2025 – a FAWNL Southern Premier Division clash at Home Park against Real Bedford.
Hourihan and co. understand the importance of returning to winning ways, and maintaining their unbeaten record in PL2, and are highlighting the week ahead as a chance to ensure all are ready for battle against the Bedfordshire side.
She said: “Our focus now turns to next week, which is just as big and important a game for us. We take it on the chin this weekend. We're all extremely disappointed, but we've got to refocus now and be ready for our game with Bedford next week.
“We are where we are. I think the beauty of it is that we have that game next week, so we can refocus and look forward. The priority for me now is to get the recovery, get the players back in on Tuesday, and make sure our mindset completely switches to Bedford.”
