Argyle Women put four past Lewes at the Dripping Pan on Sunday to pick up a superb away win.
After taking the lead via an own goal, the Greens struck via Ellie Noble to have 2-0 lead at half-time, and this was doubled after the break as efforts from Tianna Teisar and Phoebie Poole made it a comfortable victory.
Early domination from Argyle put them in a good position from the start, and an early penalty shout was waved away by referee Patrick O’Reilly after Roisin Kivel was fouled inside the area but, just a few minutes later, Argyle took the lead.
On-loan Bristol City attacker Teisar, making her first start in green, drove down the left flank, taking on multiple Lewes defenders and succeeded, creating space to deliver into the area. The ball across the box caused issues and was turned into her own net by Lewes’ Ylenia Priest, gifting Argyle the lead in the 10th minute.
The attacking pressure and hunt for more goals continued for Marie Hourihan’s side, with chances from Poole and captain Imy Crawford testing the hosts’ defence and goalkeeper Emily Moore.
Near the half-hour mark, the Argyle advantage was doubled through Noble. After picking up the ball on the edge of the area, the midfielder placed her left-footed finish across goal into the opposite bottom corner, past a diving Moore.
For the remainder of the first half, Argyle held onto their lead, and after the restart, continued to dominate the ball in the opening minutes.
Lewes soon, however, started to win the ball high in the Greens’ half and applied pressure, which Argyle worked hard to deal with over a period of time.
The Pilgrims were still a threat, though, and Noble came very close to a second goal for her and a third for the Greens with a long-range free-kick just before the hour mark, which was pushed away from goal by Moore.
The hosts turned to their bench and it played into their favour, with more possession coming their way and chances being created in front of goal, but Argyle did well to halt any attacking progress and found a third and fourth in the final stages of the tie to break any momentum from Lewes.
Teisar found herself open in the 18-yard box and headed home a cross into the box to score the third. Poole then fired home with her left foot in the final seconds of regulation time after a goalmouth scramble, adding a fourth for the Greens.
With ten points from five games, Hourihan’s side now sit in third place in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division, behind AFC Bournemouth and Watford in the league table.
Argyle: 1 Hermione Cull, 6 Layla Proctor, 8 Imy Crawford (capt) (17 Paris Dalton, 78), 9 Phoebie Poole, 11 Roisin Kivel, 14 Katie Wilson, 18 Caitlin Smith, 19 Ellie Noble, 23 Olivia Francis (7 Charlotte Whitmore, 79), 24 Tianna Teisar (16 Ella Stephens, 86), 26 Arabella Suttie. Substitutes: 21 Eilish Brogan (gk), 2 Katie Dickson, 5 Giota Papaioannou.
Goals: Priest og 10, Noble 31, Teisar 80, Poole 90.
Yellow card: Kivel 37.
Lewes: 1 Emily Moore, 3 Maddie Brant (capt), 4 Sydney Schreimaier (15 Danielle Rowe, 70), 6 Hannah Godfrey, 9 Chelsea Ferguson (10 Olivia Carpenter, half-time), 13 Rebekah Trewhitt (20 Taylor Bell, 57), 14 Paula Howeels, 16 Sarah Harvey, 18 Lois Roche (21 Katie Gilligan, 85), 23 Ylenia Priest, 77 Leah Lane. Substitutes: 26 Sian Woods (gk), 5 Layla Banaras, 24 Lois Edwards.
Yellow card: Godfrey 62.
Referee: Patrick O’Reilly.
