Argyle Women picked up another three points in the hunt for FAWNL Southern Premier Division promotion, with victory over AFC Wimbledon on Sunday afternoon.
The Greens’ trip to the Cherry Red Records Stadium started slowly but soon became a dominant and easy clash, with long-range strikes from Ellie Noble and Tamara Wilcock giving Argyle the 2-0 outcome.
As for the table, Argyle still sit in second place, a point behind Watford, but the Golden Girls still hold a game in hand. AFC Bournemouth sit in third, five points off the top spot, but are two games behind Watford and three behind Argyle.
Long story short, the top-of-the-table battle and promotion clash can still go any way, but Argyle will have to rely on opposition results to see where they sit with five league games to go.
Head Coach Marie Hourihan was delighted with her side’s performance at Wimbledon and pleased that a maximum number of points was gained from a double-game week.
“Two games, six points, two clean sheets, four goals. Overall, I’m really pleased,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “Off the back of an intense game on Wednesday, with the volume of crowd and supporters that we had at the game, it took a lot of energy to get that performance level this afternoon, but I thought the players reacted really well.
“We exuded control really early on, despite having passages of play in the first half where the consistency wasn't there with the final pass or the ball speed again, but it was the perfect time really to get that goal towards the end of the first half, which did settle us down.
“In the second half, we had complete control and scored another good goal through Tamara [Wilcock]. My slight criticism is that there could have been more, but, in the context of how demanding this week has been, we need to be pleased with the two results.
“We're in that business end of the season now where every game and every goal matters. I think the players reacted well to the Gwalia result when we were disappointed. We're putting ourselves in a position to keep us in the mix, so let’s wait and see where we are at the end of the season.
“I think you can factor in the slow start to the game with both teams having a mid-week game. There's going to be an element of a lull at the start of the game, but I did think we injected quite good energy midway through that first half and started to get into the pockets well to drag and disjoint their back line. Then that 36th-minute goal came, and finally, our passing behind and the final ball were a lot better.
“I thought our control was a lot better after the break because we got our structure and distances a lot better. I thought our movements were more coordinated, and you could visibly see Wimbledon tiring. We stepped it up a gear, and our counter press was excellent today, so that was another pleasing thing for me.
“We have international players going away, so next weekend we don't have a fixture, but that doesn't change anything in terms of our approach over the next few weeks. We've got some important games coming up, against Lewes and then beyond that, the two Bournemouth games, with the FAWNL Cup final being one of them.
“Now, it is a bit of time to decompress a little bit and refine a few things on the training pitch because we've not had that time, but it’s majorly important that we don't take the foot off the gas and relax too much ahead of the big upcoming fixtures.”
