Report | Argyle Women 2 Hashtag United 2
Argyle Women conjured a sensational comeback on Sunday, to earn a superb point against second-placed Hashtag United.
The Tags found the net twice in the first half, through Wiktoria Fronc and Valentine Pursey, who capitalised on defensive errors made inside the Argyle 18-yard box. Despite being down by two goals, the Greens dominated both halves, and created numerous chances throughout the match, but were unable to find the back of the net until the last 10 minutes, when strikes from Ellie Sara rescued a point at home.
“I thought we were superb today and got what we deserved from the game,” said manager Ryan Perks after his side’s valiant comeback. “Fifty-five seconds into the game, we’ve had a howler and conceded, but the girls have shown great character to get us back into the game. We almost nicked it at the end as well, with Ellie’s shot across goal. In the end, we’ve worked hard and improved on last week’s performance which has helped us get another point on the board.”
Despite conceding seconds into the game, Argyle picked their heads up and took the match to the visitors. Midfielders Jemma Rose and Imy Crawford played a crucial role in creating Argyle’s chances, clipping balls in behind the Tags' rearguard and threading passes through for forwards Charlotte Whitmore and Sara, but both were unable to find the target.
As the half approached its end, Hashtag took their chance to double their lead from a corner that the Greens struggled to clear, resulting in Pursey bundling the ball home.
Argyle’s final chance of the half came just before it ended, through Whitmore’s hard-fought run into the Tags area. The skilful striker found the foot of Jade Berrow, who fired a shot towards the bottom-right corner of the net, but keeper Frankie Angel tipped the shot onto the post, denying the Greens a goal before the halves end.
The Greens continued to cause issues for the Tags up until the 68th minute, where the referee sin-binned skipper Panagiota Papaioannou, putting Argyle down to 10 players and giving the visitors a chance to control the match. Chances came thick and fast for Hashtag as Sammy Rowland and Macey Nicholls both came close to scoring. However, Rowland’s strike flew over the bar, whilst the latter’s effort flew directly into the palms of Lily Felgate.
As Papaioannou returned to the pitch, Argyle began to rally once again and in the 83rd minute won a penalty following a strike from Whitmore from range. Her shot ricocheted off the crossbar and into the path of Sara who tried to divert the ball into the net with her head but was caught by the hand of Angel who attempted to punch the ball clear.
Sara dispatched the penalty, and that ignited Perks’ side. Spurred on by Sara’s strike, Argyle scrambled to find another.
A high ball forward from Taya Pomfret four minutes later found the run of Sara. Under pressure from Angel, Sara headed the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper and slotted the ball into the net on the angle.
With the scoreline now level and time running out, both sides searched for a winner. Argyle came the closest, in the eighth minute of injury time, through Sara, who almost completed her hat-trick from Dickson’s pass, but the ball skimmed the far post seconds before the referee blew for full time.
Argyle now head into a week's break from action on 17 points in the league, needing either one more win, or another defeat for eleventh-placed Chatham Town, to confirm the Pilgrims' safety in the FAWNL Southern Premier Division. Argyle will return to action, away to London Bees, on 31 March.
Argyle: 42 Lily Felgate, 2 Katie Dickson, 4 Jemma Rose, 5 Panagiota Papaioannou (c), 6 Lucy Hack, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford, 9 Ellie Sara, 11 Jade Berrow (20 Fern Orchard), 15 Georgie Knott, 18 Taya Pomfret.
Photography Credit: Lucy Arscott
