Report | St Austell 1 Argyle Women 5
St Austell Ladies 1
Johanning 54
Argyle Women 5
Greenslade 18, 21, Own Goal 23, Ireland 47, Whitmore 57
Argyle started their FAWNL Cup campaign in style as they beat AFC St Austell Ladies 5-1 in this season’s cup/plate deciding round.
Three goals in a five-minute first half spell, with two from Lily Greenslade followed by an own goal, gave The Pilgrims an advantage they never looked like handing back. Beth Ireland scored soon after the break, and although St Austell pulled one back, Charlotte Whitmore quickly restored The Greens’ four-goal lead, which they retained until the final whistle.
Argyle made a fast start to the game, with early chances for Greenslade, Kayley Lane, Amber Pollock and Whitmore who all tested the keeper with well-placed efforts. St Austell would get their first chance of the match early on, but keeper Jasmine Read kept the score level.
On 18 minutes, Greenslade scored her first Argyle goal with a tidy finish into the bottom corner after beating her marker and it was not long before Greenslade would double her tally. Rosie Train’s corner found the head of Greenslade, who secured her brace just 21 minutes into the match.
It was another Train corner that led to Argyle’s third, this time the ball took a diversion off a defender in her attempts to clear St Austell lines.
Both teams continued to test one another in the final stages of the first half. Dickson and Whitmore challenged the Saints’ keeper after well-worked passages of play. St Austell, for their part, had two huge chances that just failed to trouble the scorers. One from the penalty area after beating the Argyle defence, and another from a corner that resulted in a mis-hit strike.
With the Greens comfortably in the lead and the half-time whistle blown, Manager Ryan Perks opted for some second-half changes. Pollock and Lucy Hack would make way for Beth Ireland and Sophie Perrin before the second half got underway.
Ireland’s impact was also immediate. A quality run and finish from her extended Argyle's lead even further just a couple of minutes after the restart.
St Austell would grab their first goal of the game four minutes after Argyle's fourth. A deflected shot at the edge of the box from midfielder Chevonne Johanning would find its way into the top corner of the goal, and with that Argyle's clean sheet hope was shattered.
Argyle would respond to St Austell’s goal shortly after. A cross into the box found an unmarked Whitmore, who with a quick change of feet found the back of the net to claim her second goal of the season, and Argyle's fifth of the game.
Greenslade had a chance to claim a hat-trick, but after winning a penalty, she stepped up to take it but was denied by a very good penalty save.
The final stages of the second half were packed with chances for the travelling Pilgrims. Substitute Kaitlyn Morgan-Hemmens would be denied her first goal for the Greens after a shot in the box rattled off the upright in the 70th minute, and afterwards Whitmore, Katie Dickson and Sophie Perrin all could have added to the total.
The win secures Argyle’s place in the FAWNL Cup. The Greens now return to the Southern Premier Division to face Gillingham at the Waterways Stadium next Sunday.
Argyle: 1 Jasmine Read, 3 Rosie Train (17 Tiana Campbell), 5 Panagiota Papaioannou, 6 Lucy Hack (2 Sophie Perrin), 14 Sam Cox, 18 Imy Crawford, 13 Katie Dickson, 8 Kayley Lane, 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 27 Lily Greenslade (9 Kaitlyn Morgan-Hemmens), 11 Amber Pollock (20 Beth Ireland).
