Argyle 3
Sara 13, 75, 90+4
Cheltenham Town 2
Poole 29, Owen 82
Ellie Sara’s late, late winner gave Argyle Women their first win of the season in dramatic style on Sunday afternoon.
The goal, four minutes into stoppage time, was Sara’s third of a game the Greens led three times, most crucially right at the very end.
Sara gave Argyle a 13th-minute lead but her goal was cancelled out by Phoebe Poole equaliser just before the half-hour mark. Another Sara goal restored the Pilgrims’ lead, but Cheltenham’s Emily Owen equalised from a corner eight minutes from time.
There was still time for a final twist, though, as Sara secured her hat trick with an injury-time penalty to secure all three points.
The game could have gone another way had Cheltenham taken a chance early on. Poole nearly gave the visitors the lead 24 seconds into the half, but her shot blazed over the bar.
Cheltenham continued to pressure the Argyle defence, with shots either being blocked by defenders or stopped by goalkeeper Jasmine Read, but Argyle slowly found their way out of their half following the period of pressure and secured their first goal through Sara who blasted the ball into the top left corner following Rebecca Dandridge’s pass through the defence.
The visitors’ chances continued to pile up despite being a goal down. Allen struck the post, and then shortly afterwards, a scramble in the area saw Poole force the ball home, levelling the game.
Argyle had Read to thank for keeping the game at 1-1 at half-time. Ryan Perks made one change as the players came out for the second half. Newlywed Jade Berrow (formerly Widdows) made way for Republic of Ireland Under-17 international Erin O’Shea, who returned from international friendlies this week.
The tempo of the match stayed in Cheltenham's favour, despite a long-distance effort from Dandridge, as the match resumed, with Charlotte Whitmore making a goal-line clearance as Argyle defended heroically.
Argyle began to turn the tide Sara, O’Shea and Dandridge all had chances to regain the lead, although Poole almost pout Cheltenham in front after breaking through the Argyle back-line. Her first shot in the area was blocked by the slide of Panagiota Papaioannou, whilst her second was denied by the palms of Read.
Argyle took back their lead minutes later through Sara, whose emphatic finish from the edge of the area flew into the top right corner of the net, beating the outstretched Watson with 15 minutes left on the clock.
Cheltenham retaliated quickly and took the chance to level the scoreline once more from a corner ball that found the head of Emily Owen at the far post.
The Robins looked for a winner, but incredible defensive efforts from Papaioannou, Lucy Hack, Taya Pomfret and Katie Dickson kept them out.
The game continued to crescendo; a shot from Dandridge in the 87th minute rattled the crossbar and in injury time when the draw seemed inevitable, the game had one final twist in store.
A Jemma Rose free kick into the area found Dandridge, who was brought down, and a penalty awarded. Sara stepped up to the spot to take it and, as the referee’s whistle broke the silence of the crowd, the number nine slammed the ball into the bottom right corner, and Coach Road erupted with celebration.
The Greens will be looking to continue this form into their next league fixture this Sunday, as they take on Oxford City in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division away from home.
Argyle: 1 Jasmine Read, 3 Katie Dickson, 4 Jemma Rose, 5 Panagiota Papaioannou, 6 Lucy Hack, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford, 9 Ellie Sara (20 Fern Orchard), 10 Rebecca Dandridge, 11 Jade Berrow (19 Erin O’Shea) 18 Taya Pomfret.
