Report | Argyle Women 1-5 Exeter City
Argyle are out of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup following defeat at Home Park against Exeter City.
The Grecians went into half-time 1-0 up through Mollie Taylor’s goal, following a half that the Greens largely had the better of, but after the break Exeter pulled away, with Sophie Gillies and Sarah Stacey giving them a strong position in the game.
Late on, Stacey added another, and Georgie-Marie Barbour-Gresham scored a fifth, before Charlotte Whitmore scored an Argyle consolation.
Ahead of the game, there were three changes for Argyle, two enforced. Ella Stephens was missing through suspension, and Ellie Sara only fit enough to make the bench, so into the team came Fern Orchard, Giota Papaioannou and Roxy Thomas, with Amii Kearley the other payer to make way.
Other than the fact that his team did not score, Perks would have been delighted with everything his team did in the opening stages. Given the result when the teams last met, the Greens were in no way overawed, and played some tody football as they took the game to City from the outset.
From the first of two early corners, Caitlin Smith and Papaioannou got their heads to the ball in the area, but Exeter defended well and cleared their lines.
Soon afterwards, Whitmore broke away down the right-hand side, and the cross was only just cut out before reaching Orchard, before Georgia Wilson got into a similar thing, temporarily going round goalkeeper Abbi Bond, who recovered in time to block the ball out.
Exeter worked their way back into the game, and noticeably had more of the ball in better areas as the mid-point of the opening period arrived. At this stage, an effort by Amber Pollock, having been laid off by Stacey, was brilliantly saved low to her right by Lily Felgate.
The best chance of the half came for Argyle, and began with a good tackle by Thomas, who read the play and got a foot in, which allowed Orchard to drive forward. Her ball in behind the City defence was well timed, as was Whitmore’s run. The latter whizzed round the goalkeeper, and clipped an effort on target, only to see defender Bow Jackson made a superb recovery run to clear from the line.
Argyle kept the pressure up, with more corners yielding chances, including a Wilson header from close range which went just over, but it was City who took the lead on 39 minutes.
After a free-kick was deflected out for a corner, Exeter delivered it from the right, to the head of Taylor, who met it powerfully and, with a slight deflection, guided it into the net.
The Grecians’ tails were up. Stacey had an effort pulled wide of the post and Emily Toogood shot wide from range as the team in red and white looked the happier as the half-time whistle sounded.
They were even happier when they doubled the lead shortly after the interval. It was another corner, from which the ball cannoned around the area, at some point being pushed goalwards by Gillies, and took a couple more diversions before trickling over the line.
Exeter’s third, not that long afterwards, put the game to bed. Pollock crossed for Storey to thump home, and that was essentially that. The scoreline felt harsh on Argyle given their first-half dominance, but a fusion of not taking chances and being dispirited by falling behind coupled to allow Exeter to take control of the game and coast to victory.
Stacey added a fourth – seemingly from an offside position – with 14 minutes remaining, before Barbour-Gresham headed in, with her first touch after coming on as a substitute, to make it five.
Whitmore scored a superb late goal to get Argyle on the scoresheet, spotting the City substitute goalkeeper off the line and sending in a precise lob to give the Home Park something, albeit a consolation, to cheer.
There is more cup action at Home Park on Sunday, 1 December, when the Pilgrims meet Watford in the quarter-final of the FAWNL Cup. Kick-off is at 2pm.
Argyle: 1 Lily Felgate, 2 Katie Dickson (17 Lulu Jarvis, 67), 3 Roxy Thomas, 5 Giota Papaioannou (capt), 6 Taya Pomfret, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford, 10 Georgia Wilson (15 Georgie Knott, 74), 20 Fern Orchard, 24 Ava Kuyken, 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 56 Comfort Erhabor (gk), 4 Amii Kearley, 9 Ellie Sara, 19 Erin O’Shea, 25 Jess Geach.
Goals: Whitmore 90
Booked: Papaioannou 70
Exeter: 1 Abbi Bond (22 Olivia Giles, 87), 2 Bow Jackson (capt) (7 Phoebe Baker, 80), 3 Emily Toogood, 4 Jaydee Seaman (12 Courtney Jones, 86), 8 Beth Ireland (14 Georgie-Marie Barbour-Gresham, 80) , 10 Sarah Stacey, 15 Ishbel Zuurmond, 16 Zoe Watkins (7 Zoe Cunningham, 65), 19 Mollie Taylor, 21 Sophie Gillies, 23 Amber Pollock.
Goals: Taylor 38, Gillies 50, Stacey 58, 76, Barbour-Gresham 83
Booked: Seaman 53, Taylor 73, Cunningham 90
Attendance: 904
