The girls faced a long trip to Gosport for the re-arranged league match at the weekend. Once again Michaela Phillips was in goal, with a back four of Chelsea Easton, Charlie Carter, Kate Hine and Nat Bavister. In midfield was Aoife Aherne, Leah Brooks, Laura Perrett and Becky McMullin. Rachel Javan partnered Tash Knapman up front. Starting on the bench were Rhianne Parsons , Sophie Drake and debutant Chloe Richards.

Before the game there were presentations in the dressing room for Nat who, sadly, was playing her last game. She had been a welcome addition to the squad early in the season and had become a popular member of the team. She leaves with our best wishes and Laura's chocolate cakes !!

The match started with Argyle playing down a slight slope with the breeze at their backs. Early signs were encouraging, with the girls pushing foward to good purpose. As early as the fifth minute they were awarded a free kick in a central position about thirty yards out. Aoife Aherne, Argyles influential midfielder, stepped up and struck the ball firm and true. The ball dipped under the crossbar beating the home keeper to give the Pilgrims an early lead, to the delight of the visiting fans. Havant fought back strongly and on thirteen minutes they grabbed an equaliser. A corner from their right side evaded all the Pilgrims defenders and was headed into the net by a home forward.
Ten minutes later and the home side had the lead. Again a corner from the right caused problems in the Argyle defence. Laura Perrett got a toe to the ball which looped over her head and bounced on top of the bar. Keeper Phillips got a hand on the ball, but it fell to a home forward who prodded it into the net.
The game was end to end , with the girls giving as good as they got , despite having to endure a physical battering from their opponents without any protection from an inept referee who seemed reluctant to blow his whistle in favour of the Pilgrims.
In an attack Perrett went close with a shot that went just wide, and shortly after picked up a yellow card for a seemingly innoccuous challenge. Another example of many refereeing decisions ( or lack of decisions) that incensed the team and supporters alike. The girls kept their composure and continued to press for an equaliser, but were unable to set up a clear cut opportunity, and trooped off to regroup in the dressing room.

Three minutes into the second half and the referee awarded the home side a penalty, another decision he got hopelessly wrong. Some justice was done, however, when Michaela Phillips dived smartly to her left to push the ball to safety.
This spurred the girls to greater effort and they pressed hard for an equaliser. Rachel Javan sped down the left side and cut into the box. She slipped the ball inside to Laura Perrett who applied the finishing touch to tie the score at 2 - 2.
Immediately after the goal Rachel was substituted by debutant Chloe Richards, a product of the Cornwall Centre of Excellence. At this point in the game it seemed the Pilgrims were on top and testing the home defence with some excellent attacking play. Their hopes were dashed on sixty four minutes, however. Kate Hine chased back with an attacker on her heels and played the ball toward keeper Phillips. Unluckily Michaela sliced her kick and the ball spun back towards the goal, giving the home attacker an easy tap in for their third goal.
Despite this setback Argyle continued to press , but in the seventy third minute were caught out again when they failed to deal with a long throw in and Havant scored their fourth and decisive goal.
Shortly after, Laura Perrett and Becky McMullin were subbed in favour of Rhianne Parsons and Sophie Drake, but were unable to change the course of the match.
This was a match that could easily have gone our way, but defensive lapses and the aforesaid weak refereeing combined to foil the girls efforts.

After the match Rhys Sullivan comented, " Though we have lost the match, I am very proud of my players. They did all I asked of them today, they kept their composure and kept playing their football despite extreme provocation from the opposition and lack of protection from the referee. There are however some aspects of play that need to be worked on in training ".