Report | Cheltenham Town 2 Argyle Women 3

Argyle produced a superb second-half performance to claim a precious victory in the FA Women’s National League against Cheltenham Town on Sunday.

As Storm Isha brewed, tempestuous conditions made football difficult at Kayte Lane, and the Greens fell behind to a goal from Emily Owen just before the half-hour mark.

Argyle came close to an equaliser before half-time, with Panagiota Papaioannou hitting the bar, but in the second period, with the wind at their backs and in their sails, the Pilgrims made their mark on the game. They scored soon after the interval, with Fern Orchard seizing upon a loose Cheltenham pass in the penalty area, and slotting home.

Argyle were now on the front foot, and they carried this momentum onwards. Orchard turned provider as she drove down the right flank then crossed for where Charlotte Whitmore was in position to flick home and put Argyle in front.

Whitmore was playing her 50th game for the Greens, and she made it one to remember with another goal shortly afterwards. Whitmore used the conditions to her advantage, shooting from distance and using the wind to help the ball sail into the net and secure a two-goal lead for Argyle.

The advantage was cut soon afterwards, with Phoebie Poole scoring for Cheltenham from a cross into the middle, and the same player had a chance in injury time to grab a point, but Argyle goalkeeper Jasmine Read denied her, and the game was Argyle’s.

“The performance was superb,” said manager Ryan Perks. “The game plan worked.

“The weather was atrocious. We decided to go against the wind in the first half and we knew it was going to be difficult. And we had to just try and limit them to as many opportunities as we could. I think we've done that really well; we were a little bit unlucky to come in 1-0 at half-time.

“Giota hit the bar, Char [Whitmore] had a really good effort in the first half. In the second half we upped the intensity, pressed the life out of Cheltenham, to not let them out of their half. We did that really well; credit to all the players there.

“We know how important this is. We probably haven't got the results we deserved against Chatham and Cardiff in the last two league games, so to come to a difficult place, Cheltenham are a very good side; to come away with three points isn't a given. Fair play to the girls, they've dug in, worked really hard and scored some excellent goals as well.

“I want to give a bit of a shout-out to Georgie Knott. I thought she was superb. At 16-years-old, to come in to replace Gemma [Rose], who's got a slight injury. I thought she was superb today.”

The inclusion of Knott lowered the average age of an already young squad, but Perks is delighted with the development of the group, under pressure, who have visibly grown as a unit during the season.

On top of a campaign in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup, which saw Argyle reach the fourth round, the Greens are attempting to establish a position in the middle of the league table. This victory against Cheltenham pulls Argyle eight points ahead of Chatham, in second bottom place, with the Kent side having played a game more, and gets the Greens into a pack of teams separated by precious little.

Perks elaborated: “We've jumped up above Cardiff, we're level on points with Billericay, we're only a point behind Cheltenham with a game in hand.

“We've had belief in this squad all the way through the season. We're in the most comfortable position we've ever been in at this time - the future's bright here.

“We're going into the main club from next season. We've got some fantastic young players coming through the system and some fantastic players in this dressing room who have been part of the journey.

“Players like Imy [Crawford] and Giota [Papaioannou] have been there from day one of my journey with the club. They can see how it's progressed and it's nice to see them too, progressing with the club.  It’s mad really, when you think about it, they're still both young players. We've got an average age of 18.4 today.

“Credit goes to the players. I'm just really pleased with how they're all developing and how we're progressing as a club.”