Argyle Women extended their unbeaten run, in all competitions, to 16 games on Sunday afternoon, with victory over Hashtag United in Essex.
The Greens led via an Ellie Noble strike, but Honor Norton equalised soon afterwards, taking the game in level at the break. Argyle came out strongly, though, and Noble scored again, directly from a free-kick, for what turned out to be the winning goal.
Head Coach Marie Hourihan felt that her side’s performance in the first half was not what it could have been, but their reaction after the break got the job done.
“They were two very contrasting halves,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “I thought we were poor in the first half, and through the first 15-20 minutes of the game, we were very reactive, and our intensity on the press was off. We allowed them too much time to try to gain a little foothold in the game.
“We scored a very good goal, but it was disappointing in that we could have implemented some of the key patterns of play that we'd looked at in the week a lot better. We got into some good positions, but again, the quality of the final pass was poor.
“Credit to Hashtag, though. I thought that, certainly during the transition, they were really effective, aggressive, and forced us to have some stern conversations at half-time about what our expectations and minimum standards are as a group.
“The second half was a much more dogged performance, and we settled a lot better on the ball, got into some good pockets of space in the final third, and were a lot more effective. We created two or three very good opportunities, and then Ellie Noble scored a fantastic free-kick to put us ahead.
“We managed the game very well, took the sting out of it and, most importantly at this stage of the season, saw the game through to get the three points.
“The real positive for me now is the real squad collective that we have. We're able to manage different situations and have got different profiles of players to be able to cope with those.
“Overall, that was a really pleasing thing. Sometimes you’ve got to show a different side and win the game a little bit ugly at times. We did that to good effect today.
“[Ellie’s] been a breath of fresh air since she's come in. I think she's really established herself now. Ellie brings fantastic energy, is a leader in this team, and an important part of what we are doing. She's delivering.
“For me, she's bought everything that I thought she would bring, and now it's just a case of trying to push her more, because she's got that capability to score 10, 15, or even 20 goals in this league.
“We're trying to push her to get into those positions where she can be so effective, so it’s so pleasing to see her get those two goals today. It’s a reward for a lot of hard work that she's put in.”
