Argyle Women suffered a ‘gutting’ 3-1 loss at Home Park to Oxford United in Head Coach Ryan Perks’ eyes, as he felt his team’s performance was enough to warrant a stronger result.
In the first home match of the FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division campaign for Argyle, the Greens were unable to capitalise on their opening goal, scored by Taya Pomfret, in the match's opening stages.
Three second-half goals for Oxford, from Leah Burridge, Zoe Barratt and Vitalia Budaieva, handed the travelling side the three points.
The loss followed the defeat from the previous week, 4-0 at Cheltenham Town, but the circumstances – and performance – were entirely different.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” said Perks after the game. “Well, not disappointed - gutted to be fair. I thought the girls put in an excellent shift. In the first 45 minutes, I thought we were superb and limited Oxford to no chances. I think Lily [Felgate] had to come and claim a couple of crosses.
“We caught them on the break and probably deserved to go in 1-0 up. Oxford had much of the ball but didn't do much with it.
“Then, in the second half, a little potshot goes in, and it's 1-1. We had an excellent chance to make it 2-1 from Ellie [Sara] but the keeper makes a very good save, and they go down to the other end and go up 2-1 themselves, and we get punished after a mistake.
“Overall, however, that was a superb reaction from last week, both with and without the ball. The application of the girls without the ball was superb today. We set up in a difficult shape to try and limit Oxford and frustrate them and I thought we did that for large spells, but good teams punish you for little errors.”
When looking at the opening two matches on a wider scale, Perks is aware of how long the season will be but also wants to secure points as soon as possible due to the league’s competitive nature.
He said: “It's not an ideal start but we've got games coming up thick and fast, and we want to get some points on the board. This league is competitive. Everyone takes points from everyone.
“If you see some of the scores again today from around the league, it's a tough league.
“You’ve got to work for those points and if we carry on from where we've left off today, then I think the points will come quite quickly.”
Home Park saw 726 fans come through its gates to support the Greens on Sunday. Argyle captain Giota Papaioannou is hopeful the performance and determination shown on the pitch today will be an indicator for those in the stands to return and support the squad.
“Hopefully, they'll go away thinking: ‘Do you know what? We want to go and watch them again,” Papaioannou said.
“I've said it before, we never take anything for granted when playing for Argyle, especially after a season of playing at Coach Road, which was like a home away from home last season.
“To have them here cheering us on is a great feeling and, hopefully, we'll see them again soon.”
