Preview | Argyle Women v Cheltenham Town (A)
Argyle Women travel to Kayte Lane this Sunday, 21 January in their first FAWNL away fixture of the year, to face Cheltenham Town.
After three months of home fixtures where the Greens have gone from strength to strength, securing a further four points to their league campaign alongside an exciting Adobe Women's FA Cup run, Ryan Perks looks forward to being back on the road as well as back to league action.
“We’ve had a good spell of form at home following two great performances against Portsmouth and Hashtag United,” said Perks. “Although they were defeats in the end, the girls showed huge character and that’s only continued to grow from then on. We had a great run in the FA Cup that sadly ended last week but the staff and players are really proud of our run this year, and it’s now time to look ahead and put our full focus back on the league.
"I’ve missed the travelling away, to be honest. It’s a great opportunity for the players to bond as well as the coaches and thankfully thanks to Tally Ho it’s a comfortable journey. Being where we are in the country, we’re always clocking a lot of miles for the majority of our away fixtures, Cheltenham being one of the shortest distances, but we make the most of the time we have on the coach, and it only helps towards the team bonding.”
Cheltenham host Argyle in their return to league action this weekend after already playing the Greens earlier in the season. Argyle's home fixture against The Robinesses began with Ellie Sara netting in the 13th minute with a terrific strike from the edge of the area but was cancelled out by Phoebe Poole before the half ended.
Argyle's perseverance paid off in the second half, through Sara, with 15 minutes to spare, but Cheltenham equalised again from a late set-piece. The tightly contested match dramatically ended with a penalty for Argyle in additional time that Sara put away comfortably, confirming the Greens' first league win of the season.
Tom Davies’ Cheltenham currently sit seventh in the league after amassing 14 points from 12 league fixtures whilst Ryan Perks' side remain in 10th following their 3-3 draw with Chatham Town two weeks prior. A win this weekend would not only see Argyle extend their gap to the drop zone to eight points but would allow the Greens to move up into ninth, past Cardiff City, as well as narrow the gap to eighth place Billericay Town.
“It’s an element of both at the moment,” said Perks when looking at the team’s league position. “The gap to the relegation zone is only five points and although we have two games in hand, we have to win them. If we don’t turn them into points, they mean nothing, so we must turn up and be on our A game on the day.
"We know we can get three points against Cheltenham because we’ve already done it once this season. But it will be a tough game regardless and we have to earn the right to come away with the win this Sunday.”
The game will be held at Kayte Lane, Cheltenham. Kick-off is at 2pm, tickets cost £6 for adults, and £3 for under-18s. If you cannot make it to the game, then updates are available on social media @ArgyleWFC.
