Argyle’s busy campaign continues this Sunday with their second FAWNL Cup tie against Bridgwater United.
This quickly follows their first group game, on Thursday night, which meant they started in the best possible way.
The Greens picked up a comfortable 5-1 victory over Marine Academy Plymouth, thanks to a Phoebie Poole strike and an own-goal in the first half, and goals from Roisin Kivel, Charlotte Whitmore, and Olivia Francis in the second 45.
Head Coach Marie Hourihan was delighted with her side’s performance in the opening game of the cup, and believes a further three points can be gained against Bridgwater on Sunday afternoon at Home Park.
“It’s been a three-game week, so we rotated a little bit,” Hourihan told Argyle TV. “It took us a little bit of time to get our rhythm and consistency. They went 1-0 up, which was more through our poor play, but we got ourselves into a two-one lead at half-time, had a few words over the break and I think that was a better representation of the team that we are and the standards that we expect from each other in the second 45.
“You saw the clinical edge on Sunday against Billericay Town, and I think we did lack that a little bit in the first half, but we played with much better intensity in the second half. We switched the ball really well, our combinations were a lot more clean, we created more opportunities and were clinical.
“A pleasing aspect for me was the response. I think the players took on board the information really well and went out and got a comfortable victory.
“Our attention now turns to Sunday. We've got our preparation session [on Friday] and we've done our analysis on Bridgwater, so we will go through our game plan for the weekend. The short turnaround is not ideal because it limits the time on the training pitch, but the beauty of it is you're playing 90-minute games, so players are getting lots of minutes.
“We're able to give exposure to other players as well, so everyone's up to speed – in that aspect, it is a benefit. As we said, it's another game on Sunday where we're going to look to continue our good home form at Home Park.
“It’s a bit of a cliche, but winning breeds confidence and is a really good habit to have. However, to maintain that, you've got to maintain those high standards. Hopefully, we take those second 45 minutes of Thursday’s tie into Sunday and go and get a positive result.”
Hourihan made four changes to her starting 11 that faced Billericay Town on the weekend, with all playing key roles in Argyle’s victory, but it was the debut of Sienna Gilbert, off the bench, that the Argyle Head Coach had nothing but praise for.
She said: “It’s a great thing for Sienna. She’s only 16 years old and has done really well since I've come in. I think she's taken on board information really well and you see she's got a really positive attitude, and deservedly came on in the second half. I thought she applied herself really well in the 15 minutes that she was on the pitch.”
