Report | Oxford United 1-0 Argyle Women
Argyle Women suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away from home to high-flying Oxford United last weekend.
A gritty and determined performance ended in an upset for the Greens. An exciting attacking push over the final 20 minutes nearly rewarded them with a point or more but, ultimately Phoebie Poole’s goal for the U’s in the opening five minutes of the game won the day.
The only clear-cut chance for the home side in the whole of the first half was their goal. Attacking down the right flank, a ball was played across the face of the goal to Oxford’s number 10, who placed her effort into the bottom corner past the diving Lily Felgate.
A high-pressing Argyle side created their chances, but the hosts’ defensive line stood strong and battled to win tackles and clear the ball away from their final third.
Long-range efforts were the key success for Argyle. Oxford defended tightly in and around their 18-yard box but left room on the edge of the area to fire from range. Lulu Jarvis, Georgia Wilson and Charlotte Whitmore all tried their luck from distance, but to no avail.
After the break, Oxford had a near-replica opportunity for their goal in the first half, with the ball being played across goal to Poole once again. This time, however, the forward could not get the ball out of her feet and scuffed her effort wide of goal.
As the game went on, Argyle’s mounting pressure on United continued to grow and caused problems in possession for them. Substitutes Ellie Sara, Katie Dickson, Fern Orchard and Erin O’Shea entered the field of play and helped the Greens find room to shoot from distance and test Beth Howard in the Oxford goal.
Efforts from Ella Stephens, Whitmore and Ava Kuyken came extremely close in the final period of the game, but it was not enough to find the vital goal needed to bring a point home to the South West.
Defender Caitlin Smith said: “It was a really frustrating one. I think we deserved to get a bit more from the game. To lose and concede an early goal is annoying, but I think there are lots of positives to take.
“We had a great team performance and, following on from the recent weeks, I think it's a lot to take into next week. I think in the second half of the game, we pushed on and to be honest, we had more chances than they did. We just couldn't take them.
“Defensively, I thought we were really, really strong. [We] had a couple of mistakes, but managed to cover them well and going into next week, I think we'll look positively and take it into the week of training.”
Argyle: 1 Lily Felgate, 3 Roxy Thomas, 4 Amii Kearley, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford (capt) (2 Katie Dickson, 66), 10 Georgia Wilson (9 Ellie Sara, 58), 15 Georgie Knott, 16 Ella Stephens, 17 Lulu Jarvis (20 Fern Orchard, 72), 24 Ava Kuyken (19 Erin O'Shea, 82), 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 13 Grace Smith, 25 Jess Geach.
Booked: Whitmore 38
Oxford United: 1 Beth Howard, 2 Nic Gibson, 4 Kate Wiseman, 5 Zoe Creaney, 8 Jenna Legg (16 Jaime Gotch, 90+4), 9 Zoe Barratt, 10 Phoebie Poole (24 Issy Bryant, 83), 12 Shaunna Jenkins, 14 Adele Lindback (20 Lucy Trinder, 45), 19 Leah Burridge (capt) (15 Ellie-Mae Richardson, 67), 21 Nicole Barrett (8 Cecily Wellesley-Smith, 67). Substitutes: 35 Liv Smith, 38 Sophie Birkett.
Goal: Poole 4
Booked: Barrett 39
Attendance: 246