Report | Argyle Women 0-3 Stoke City
Argyle’s special FA Women’s National League Cup run ended with a 3-0 defeat against Stoke City at Home Park.
In Sunday’s semi-final, the Potters’ domination of possession and chance creation was too much for the home side, despite a positive end to the tie in varying weather conditions at the Theatre of Greens.
Goals from Shannon Stamps and Tamara Wilcock, after a Katie Dickson own goal, handed the Staffordshire side passage to the competition's final, where they will face Nottingham Forest.
Head Coach Ryan Perks was forced to make two changes to his starting 11 against Watford the week before due to minor injuries. Ellie Sara and Georgie Knott came into the side for Imy Crawford and Georgia Wilson.
Stoke City started the game on the front foot, pressing high and forcing Argyle to play long which, in turn, won them possession back on multiple occasions. Within two minutes, Molly Holder’s headed effort had already bounced off the bar and luckily out of play, but the early attacking phases showed Stoke’s intent from the get-go.
Argyle did manage to hold strong, however. Attacking wave after wave crashed into the defensive line but quick feet, confident tackling and strong saves from Lily Felgate halted the visitors from finding the back of the net.
Stoke won several corners, but Argyle managed to hold on and clear the ball away, even after the second, third or fourth crosses into the box on some occasions.
Just before the half-hour mark, Stoke took the lead following a miscommunication between Dickson and Felgate. The defender’s pass back to the goalkeeper was misplaced and slowly rolled into the back of Argyle’s net.
For the remainder of the half, Stoke continued to pile the pressure onto the home side but gaps soon started appearing, allowing Argyle to play forward and worry the visitors as the interval loomed.
Chances fell to both Ella Stephens and Ellie Sara in the 45th minute but quick defending and blocks stopped the attacking opportunity before the whistle was blown for the break.
Immediately after the restart, Argyle pushed forward and won their first corner of the game after some strong link-up play between Charlotte Whitmore and Ava Kuyken.
Whitmore’s ball towards the back post was headed back into the area but a free-kick was awarded to Stoke for a supposed foul in the six-yard box, ending Argyle’s hopes of finding an equaliser.
Soon enough, Stoke had their second goal of the game. A ball over the top of the Greens’ defensive line caught everyone out, with Stamps latching onto the pass and slotting home.
Perks turned to his bench, bringing on Crawford and Wilson for inspiration, but a third goal for the visitors soon followed. Argyle gave away a free-kick in their defensive third, with the ball from Stamps being forced home by Wilcock, all but sealing victory for the Potters.
The Greens did not drop their heads, however, playing some nice, attacking football for the remainder of the tie after Roxy Thomas, Erin O’Shea and Grace Smith, making her return from a lengthy spell away through injury, entered the field of play.
Head Coach Perks said: “We’ve had a good cup run to get to the semi-final and beat some tough teams along the way, but we’ve come up against a very well-organised side here versus Stoke. We knew they would have a bit more of the ball, but I think we limited their opportunities.
“It looked like we could be going into half-time at 0-0 but a bit of a lack of communication and the pass from Katie has gone into the back of our net. It’s an unfortunate mistake. We went down to the other end and had a couple of opportunities to get a shot away but Stoke defended well.
“I've mentioned before that we need to be better once we win possession back. In the first half, we regained possession in an organised structure 22 times, but we only secured possession on seven. That's not good enough. That needs to improve, and I think it did in the second half.
“We’ve played with some freedom in the cup games, with probably less pressure. I've not hidden the fact that the bread and butter is the league, but we were in the semi-final and we wanted to win today, so it is disappointing.
“We’ve got to build confidence from the results. We've beat Billericay Town and Watford along the way, and given a very good Stoke team a good game today. We need to take confidence from that coming into the League. It’s going to be an interesting eight or nine weeks towards the end of the season, but it's down to us to apply ourselves. I think the energy and work rate was better today and that's what we're going to need.
“We're going to need to fight for every point and every minute on the pitch. That's what's going to get us over the line.”
The Greens return to FAWNL Southern Premier Division action on Sunday, 2 February, with an important home tie against Lewes.
Argyle: 1 Lily Felgate, 2 Katie Dickson (19 Erin O'Shea, 65), 4 Amii Kearley (3 Roxy Thomas, 60), 5 Giota Papaioannou (capt), 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 9 Ellie Sara (10 Georgia Wilson, 51), 15 Georgie Knott, 16 Ella Stephens, 17 Lulu Jarvis (8 Imy Crawford, 51), 24 Ava Kuyken (13 Grace Smith, 80), 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 20 Fern Orchard, 56 Comfort Erhabor
Booked: Papaioannou 89, Stephens 90+5
Stoke City: 1 Lauren Bracewell, 3 Lucia Molinari, 5 Olivia Cook (16 Sophie Tudor, 88), 6 Molly Holder (8 Monique Watson, 68), 11 Roisin Kivel (C), 14 Evie Priestley (9 Delphi Cole, 68), 15 Tamara Wilcock (7 Erin Nelson, 78), 17 Shannon Stamps, 23 Millie Ravening, 26 Arabella Suttie, 41 Jess Reavill, 2 Sophie Thompson, 21 Liz Hobson
Goals: Dickson (OG) 29, Stamps 48, Wilcock 60
Booked: Ravening 90+2
Attendance: 633