Argyle Women lost 5-0 at Home Park to AFC Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.
Jenna Markham opened the scoring for the Cherries in the 28th minute before an own goal and former Pilgrim Caitlin Smith’s header made it 3-0 heading into the break. Markham netted her second of the afternoon just four minutes after half-time, while Clarabella Hall added a fifth deep into added time.
Argyle Head Coach Matt Green made three changes from the team that started against Cheltenham Town last weekend, with Chloe Ingrouille, Cadi Rodgers and Sienna Gilbert replacing Kennedy Garside, Farrah Ambrose and Ciara Magee.
A back four of Khloe Reed, Ali Lambe, Rodgers and Ellie M Bishop lined up ahead of goalkeeper Liv Giles. In midfield, a double pivot of Gilbert and Ingrouille were behind Brooklyn Brothers, leaving a front three of Shana Dolbel, Laura Curnock and Kiesha Walker.
The early exchanges were tightly contested as Argyle’s defence managed to keep the Bournemouth attack at bay. Lambe and Rodgers made several important blocks and tackles as the Pilgrims battled away.
The home side’s best chance came 18 minutes in after Dolbel won a free kick on the right wing. Walker hit a left-footed strike that curled goalwards, forcing Katie Scadding to make a good save and parry the ball out for a corner.
Argyle continued to defend well and also won a flurry of set pieces in a short period of time after that chance, but they were unable to find the back of the net despite coming close.
Shortly before the half hour mark, the Cherries scored their opening goal when Markham met Hall’s free kick with a superb header to beat Giles.
Bournemouth’s lead was doubled in the 42nd minute as Issy Bryant’s cross was redirected into the back of the net, unfortunately bouncing in via Gilbert.
Smith then made it 3-0 on the brink of half-time with a looping header following Elena Cole’s corner.
Within four minutes of the restart, Markham had doubled her tally for the afternoon with a right-footed curler into the top corner of Giles’ net.
Argyle continued to battle hard and compete for the rest of the match but were unable to find a reward for their efforts.
Dolbel arguably had the best second-half opportunity to score for the Greens, when she attempted to catch Scadding off guard with a disguised free kick shot, but the Bournemouth keeper was quick to scurry across and keep the ball out.
But it was Bournemouth who scored next as Hall found the back of the net with a well-timed header deep into stoppage time.
Head Coach Green was frustrated with the result and manner of the goals conceded but found positives from the overall performance.
He said: “I was really pleased with the first 35 minutes, I thought we played really well in that period. We frustrated a very good Bournemouth team, so I was really happy with that.
“But then, we conceded some goals that we’re disappointed with to be honest, and we’ve spoken about that as a team. We’re just a bit annoyed with that 15-minute period either side of the break.
“We spoke at half-time and regrouped, and I thought that for large periods of the second half we showed good resilience to frustrate Bournemouth again, even though they scored at either end of the 45.
“But we will regroup and be strong again next week in a game that we have to get a result in to get through to the next round of the FA Cup.”
Argyle will be looking to bounce back when they return to Home Park next Sunday to face Millwall Lionesses in the first round of the Women’s FA Cup – a fixture that Green and his side are looking forward to.
He said: “The FA Cup is great; it’s a historic competition that all players get up for. It’s one of those games where people will look at it on paper and say that we should win because of the differences in leagues. But there is nothing certain in football so we will prepare well this week and set a plan out.
“Hopefully, we will get a few players back from injury. We probably have three or four out at the minute, but we’ve got a great medical department at this football club so hopefully we can get them back out on the pitch.”
Tickets for Argyle’s FA Cup opener are still available and can be purchased here.
Argyle: 1 Liv Giles, 4 Ali Lambe, 5 Ellie M Bishop (capt) (30 Lily Coaker, 80), 9 Laura Curnock, 11 Cadi Rodgers, 14 Shana Dolbel, 15 Kiesha Walker (24 Ellie J Bishop, 69), 16 Sienna Gilbert, 19 Brooklyn Brothers (23 Phoebe Bettey, 64), 21 Chloe Ingrouille, 25 Khloe Reed.
Booked: Lambe 27
AFC Bournemouth: 1 Katie Scadding, 2 Abby Jones, 4 Scarlett Williams (5 Sophia Leonard, 64), 6 Freya Meadows Tuson (28 Charlotte Harris, 68), 7 Issy Bryant (26 Anya Lucas, 64), 9 Jenna Markham, 10 Georgia Wilson (11 Tia Young, 64), 14 Katie James (capt) (8 Kyra Robertson, 64), 15 Elena Cole, 16 Clarabella Hall, 24 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 21 Ella Stowell (GK), 27 Issy Watts.
Goals: Markham 28, 49, Gilbert (og) 42, Smith 45+3, Hall 90+3