London Bees 1
Adebowale 71
Argyle Women 2
Wilson 31, Pollock 90+3
Amber Pollock’s dramatic last-minute winner gave Argyle three precious points in a captivating encounter against London Bees on Sunday.
Pollock pounced, three minutes into stoppage time, showing a cool head to clip home a winner that Argyle deserved, although it looked as though the North Londoners had got themselves a point through Juliet Adebowale’s second-half equaliser, after Georgia Wilson had put Argyle in front in a first half in which the Greens dominated. Pollock, though, had other ideas, and it was her late effort that left the home side feeling stung and the Pilgrims absolutely buzzing.
After a long period away from league football, Argyle came back to action with a strong intent to hit the ground running from the moment the first whistle blew. Katie Dickson and Lily Greenslade were a dangerous pairing in the early stages, with Dickson’s persistent breakaways down the right and Greenslade’s constant pressure putting the Bees' defence on the back foot.
Argyle's perseverance was rewarded in the 31st minute thanks to midfielder Wilson who scored Argyle’s opener. It came from a counter-attack that resulted in a Zoe Cunningham cross being knocked down by Greenslade on the edge of the area to Wilson who volleyed the ball into the back of the net, leaving London Bees keeper Mia North rooted to the spot.
Argyle dealt with some subsequent Bees threats superbly, keeping the ball out of any major danger up until the referee blew for half-time.
The second half began with a flurry of chances for the hosts, one of which came very close to levelling the scoreline just a minute after the restart. A corner was redirected goalwards and forced Jasmine Read to a fingertip save that kept the ball just out of the Argyle net.
After a period of London Bees dominance, Argyle got a chance in the 60th minute to double their lead. Greenslade conjured the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble and, although a flag went up from the assistant referee to indicate the ball had crossed the line, the referee had seen a foul, and gave a free-kick to London Bees.
Ten minutes later the home side equalised through Adebowale who received the ball and took her chance, firing a shot into the net from the edge of the area, sending the home crowd into jubilation.
With just 20 minutes left, both teams began to battle to break the deadlock, with each side desperate to come away with the full three points rather than settle for the draw. Substitutes Pollock and Charlotte Whitmore came the closest with a series of chances that were either just wide of the goal or hit towards the keeper, and it looked like the game would finish all square.
But Pollock had other ideas.
With time running out, Argyle pressed the Bees into their half once more and with just seconds left on the clock, Pollock’s run from wide into the area forced North to rush off her line to narrow the angle. Pollock stayed cool, reacted to the situation and slotted the ball past the keeper.
Cue elation from Argyle, with London Bees simply not having time to react to this late development, truly a sting in their tail.
This result now pushes Argyle closer to the teams above in the league, two points away from safety.
Argyle's next match is away once again, this time to Crawley Wasps in the league on Sunday, 12th February.
Argyle: 1 Jasmine Read, 3 Rosie Train, 5 Panagiota Papaioannou, 23 Rosie McDonnell, 13 Katie Dickson, 8 Kayley Lane, 18 Imy Crawford (2 Katelyn Bell), 16. Georgia Wilson, 10 Zoe Cunningham (capt) (7 Charlotte Whitmore), 20 Beth Ireland, 27 Lily Greenslade (11 Amber Pollock).
Photo credit: QuinnKJPhotography
