Report | Watford v Argyle Women
Argyle Women lost 5-0 at Watford on Sunday, after a bruising opening to the game took its toll.
Four first-half goals, all scored in the first 23 minutes, from Jessie Gale, Florence Fyfe, Bianca Baptiste and Lucy Lyon, put Argyle in an impossible position, before Madison Perry’s 80th-minute finish ensured the Hornets' three points in front of a record attendance at Vicarage Road.
After starting on the front foot, Argyle created some chances in front of goal, with the best coming from Charlotte Whitmore’s shot from the edge of the area. However, this early push and momentum soon shifted, as Watford took the lead in the seventh minute.
A ball through the Greens’ defensive line, and a slight misjudgement from Giota Papaioannou, handed Arsenal and Watford dual-signee Gale a one-on-one opportunity which she took advantage of and gave the hosts the lead.
Soon enough, one became two and two became three. Fyfe, after quick build-up play from the hosts, tapped Perry’s cross home at the back post, with Baptiste pushing forward and firing an effort home past Lily Felgate just a minute later.
Watford applied continuous forward pressure on Argyle, winning the ball high in the Greens’ half and creating chances in front of goal, which forced Felgate into many a save. However, in the 23rd minute, the hosts added a fourth. Gemma Davison’s corner was headed home at the back post by Lyon, much to the approval of the 2,019 fans in attendance.
As the half went on, Argyle slowly found a bit more joy and created chances in front of goal, but it was not enough to find a breakthrough before the half-time whistle.
Second-half substitutions helped Argyle cause some problems for Watford, but the Hornets continued to apply strong pressure and create key chances in front of goal.
The Greens came closest just seconds before the 80th-minute mark. Great play on the right from Whitmore nearly resulted in an own goal from Watford. The Argyle number seven's whipped ball across the box was almost turned home by a player in yellow, but Hermione Cull recovered and dove on the ball, ending the attacking chance.
Perry claimed her goal just a minute later, slotting home and sealing a game that was already in the bag. Argyle had a few chances in the final 10 minutes of the tie, but the roar of approval came from the home crowd as the referee blew for full-time.
Head Coach James Bradley said: “I didn't think we started the game well. I think we gave them too much respect, gave them too much space to play in, and they've got some talent at the top end of the pitch which can really hurt you. After the first 30 minutes, I thought we grew into the game, created a few good chances ourselves and I didn't think there was much in it.
“I think Watford were super clinical in front of goal. I think the first three shots they had on goal all went in. For us, the distances between the units were too big, which gave them too much time and space. When you give time and space to good players, they're capable of hurting you.
“I don't know if we want to forget about this game because there's going to be lots of learnings from it that we're going to need to take into next week. We’re going to have to start the game a lot better. We can’t give teams like Watford and Ipswich a leg-up to start the game, and it was far too easy for them to break us down, especially in that first 20 minutes of the game, when you want to get a foothold away from home, in a stadium with a big pitch.
“I think next week, in terms of training, we'll be working on being nice and compact, much more resilient and tough to beat.”
Watford: 33 Hermione Cull, 3 Lucy Lyon, 5 Anne Meiwald (27 Chloe Tambula, 64), 7 Gemma Davison (8 Lachante Paul, 82), 9 Madison Perry, 10 Annie Rossiter, 17 Megan Chandler (capt) (19 Daisy Hind, 75), 21 Flo Fyfe (25 Melis Mehmet, 82), 23 Coral Haines, 24 Jessie Gale, 40 Bianca Baptiste (11 Isabella Fisher, 71). Substitutes: 29 Maddison Millington-Stanbury, 12 Ellie Head.
Goals: Gale 7, Fyfe 13, Baptiste 14, Lyon 23, Perry 81
Booked: Gale 85
Argyle: 1 Lily Felgate, 2 Katie Dickson, 3 Roxy Thomas, 5 Giota Papaioannou (capt) (20 Fern Orchard, 77), 7 Charlotte Whitmore, 8 Imy Crawford (15 Georgie Knott, 67), 9 Ellie Sara (10 Georgia Wilson, 58), 16 Ella Stephens (19 Erin O’Shea, 67), 22 Lois Edwards (6 Taya Pomfret, 45), 24 Ava Kuyken, 26 Caitlin Smith. Substitutes: 23 Freya Weeks, 13 Grace Smith.
Booked: Pomfret 74
Attendance: 2,019
Referee: Elora Hardstaff
