Argyle Women were defeated in their first away game of the season, losing 2-0 at Watford on Sunday.
Madison Perry’s strikes either side of the interval were enough to hand the Hornets all three points, with Argyle struggling to cause Watford major problems in front of goal.
The Greens seemed to start on the front foot but, soon enough, the hosts were creating chances of their own in a back-and-forth affair in the sun.
Isabella Fisher and Perry, for Watford, and Olivia Francis and Caitlin Smith, for Argyle, all found opportunities to break the deadlock, but none of their efforts at goal caused any issues for either goalkeeper, with Hermione Cull and Watford’s Chloe Sansom saving any shot comfortably.
Minutes after Argyle nearly tapped the ball into the back of their own net, Watford took the lead. A cross-field ball found Florence Fyfe open on the right, with the winger whipping a ball across the face of goal to Perry, who was unmarked at the back post to tap home.
Charlotte Whitmore, Katie Wilson and Phoebie Poole all had great chances of their own to bring the game level just before half-time, but their shots were either saved by Sansom in the Watford goal or missed the target.
Head Coach Marie Hourihan made one change at the break - Ellie Noble replaced Paris Dalton – but, just six minutes after the restart, the game was 2-0. Perry drove towards goal on the left, cut onto her right foot and fired a high strike past Cull and into the back of the Argyle net.
Argyle: 1 Hermione Cull, 6 Layla Proctor, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford (capt), 9 Phoebie Poole, 11 Roisin Kivel, 14 Katie Wilson, 17 Paris Dalton (19 Ellie Noble, 45), 18 Caitlin Smith, 23 Olivia Francis, 26 Arabella Suttie. Substitutes: 21 Eilish Brogan (gk), 2 Katie Dickson, 5 Giota Papaioannou, 27 Sienna Gilbert.
Booked: Francis 54, Kivel 75
Watford:13 Chloe Sansom, 3 Grace Garrad (2 Niamh Peacock, 87), 5 Anne Meiwald, 9 Madison Perry, 10 Annie Rossiter (8 Ava Kuyken, 65), 11 Isabella Fisher (14 Eva Gray, 87), 15 Andria Georgiou, 17 Megan Chandler (capt), 18 Poppy Wilson, 21 Florence Fyfe (24 Soraya Walsh, 75), 23 Coral Haines (99 Freda Ayisi, 78). Substitutes: 1 Rebekah Dowsett (gk), 22 Maya Kendall.
Goals: Perry 22, 51
Booked: Fisher 83
Referee: Nigel Freelove
