Layla Proctor’s four first-half goals helped Argyle emphatically beat Billericay Town 9-0 at Home Park on Sunday afternoon.
The FAWNL Southern Premier Division tie was dominated by the Greens’ scoring and attacking output, with braces from Charlotte Whitmore and Phoebie Poole and a stunning long-range strike from Ellie Noble adding the remaining five goals.
Three of Proctor’s four goals stemmed from set-piece play by Argyle, leaving the number six open at the back post to head home and claim the first hat-trick of her young career.
“It’s something I've never done before,” Proctor told Argyle TV. “I’ve never even had a hat-trick in a game, so to score four, I'm buzzing about it!
“We go through set pieces on a Friday, and we've got one that’s named after me! I think we went into the game and had a plan of what we were going to do, and when we score from one and it’s working, you’ve got to keep going with it.
“The movements by the other girls, it's credit to them because they free me up and get me space.”
Proctor opened the scoring in the eighth minute and by the 25th, her goalscoring for the day was done. The first two goals came from right-wing corners, whipped in by Roisin Kivel, and nodded in by Proctor.
Argyle made it 3-0 when Poole’s shot was parried into space, and Whitmore reacted the quickest to slot in.
Proctor was soon back in the goals, getting on the end of a Whitmore set-piece from the left, essentially bundling home, and then almost immediately, from a shot spilled by the goalkeeper, Proctor was on hand to heave the ball the final few centimetres over the line.
Noble’s long-range strike – a screamer which curled into the top corner, off the post and into the back of the net from 25 yards out - was the final action of the first half for Argyle, but it continued into the second.
Within six minutes of the restart, six became seven. Whitmore, with her final touch of the game, chipped the ball over Tyree Bell in the Billericay Town goal before rearing off in celebration in front of the Green Army, and then off at the sidelines to be replaced.
Poole’s brace followed. Her first saw her latch onto a Caitlin Smith throw-in, spin past defenders and smash home, before the game’s final goal, which was a beautiful team move.
Kivel and Paris Dalton were involved in getting the ball smartly to Katie Dickson, whose early left-wing cross was met by Poole at the near post, and her flicked finish meant the number nine had scored goal number nine.
Proctor added: “I think it's important, come later in the season, to have scored nine goals today, but I have to give credit to all the girls. We had a plan and went out there and executed it.
“It's important to keep clean sheets, as well. We can take this performance into the next game with loads of confidence.”
Argyle: 1 Hermione Cull, 6 Layla Proctor (17 Paris Dalton, 52), 7 Charlotte Whitmore (2 Katie Dickson, 52), 8 Imy Crawford (capt), 9 Phoebie Poole, 11 Roisin Kivel, 14 Katie Wilson (5 Giota Papaioannou, 70), 18 Caitlin Smith, 19 Ellie Noble, 23 Olivia Francis, 26 Arabella Suttie. Substitutes: 21 Eilish Brogan (gk), 27 Sienna Gilbert.
Goals: Proctor 8, 11, 23, 25, Whitmore 15, 51, Noble 34, Poole 56, 80
Billericay Town: 1 Tyree Bell (32 Emily Mackler (gk), 90+1), 2 Emily Venard, 3 Macie Windsor (4 Mollie Roskilly, 67), 5 Aliyat Lambe, 8 Nia Evans, 9 Erika Lempek, 11 Esme Johnson (12 Aimee Cawood, 67), 14 Sophie Hart, 17 Melissa Jones (19 Mayzee Seymour, 87), 21 Tecia Ledwidge (6 Sophie Birkett, 46), 23 Abbi Smith. Substitute: 20 Megan McAniskey.
Attendance: 1,102
Referee: David Sellnes
