Dominant Pilgrims cruise past Bude


A rejuvenated reserve side produced a confident display against Bude Town at Callington Community College on Sunday, come away with a deserved 4-0 win. The game marked the debut of three new recruits for the home side; Argyle Centre of Excellence graduate Emily Sleeman, recent signing from Saltash Ladies FC Caitlin Lower and Cornish Centre of Excellence striker Chloe Richards.


Argyle started brightly with Kat Marment going close after just five minutes of the game. Seven minutes later the home side went close again, Ruby Lovell and Faye Hankinson combined well down the left, before the latter set up Emily Sleeman who's drive from twenty yards sailed narrowly wide. With almost twenty minutes of the game gone Argyle we're dominant, the tempo and quality of their short passing game was so high that the away side we're at times simply chasing shadows.


With twenty four minutes gone the home side took a deserved lead. Another move that started down the left - with Ruby, Vicky, Emily and Faye all involved - resulted in the ball finding its way to Kat Marment inside the penalty area, and with one defender to beat she chip the ball over the left backs head and confidently lobbed the keeper from eight yards out. The goal did not see a letup in the Pilgrims pressure. Goal scorer Kat - who was causing huge problems down the right with her pace and skill - beat two covering defenders before floating a cross into the box for Faye who saw her header well saved by the Bude goalkeeper.


On the half hour mark the home side made it two, another positive move starting from Caitlin Lower and Kay Lewis unleashed Kat down the right flank who then cut inside and powered a shot at the onrushing goalkeeper, the ball then rather comically rebounded of a Bude defender leg and into an empty net. The away side offered little in the way of an attacking threat, the sporadic attacks that they did manage to put together we're calmly and effectively defended by the home sides back four of Caitlin, Gemma Farley, Julie Okeefe, and Amy Caylor. On the single occasion that Bude broke through, Argyle's goalkeeper Louise Galway pulled of a brilliant one-on-one save to ensure the home side kept their two goal advantage.


With nine minutes to go before half time centre back Gemma Farley increased the Pilgrims lead scoring one of her trade mark "Beckham-esk" free kick, a looping drive from over twenty five yards out that left Bude's goalkeeper flapping fresh air.


As the half drew to a close Argyle put an impressive phase of 16 passes together, the move highlighted the sides controlled and patient approach to the game; with a strong goalkeeper and back four providing the foundation, Emily, Vicky and Kay could spray passes left and right to the impressive Ruby and Kat on either wings. Loan striker Faye was also impressing, showing good strength and awareness to hold up the ball and bring supporting midfielders into play.



The Pilgrims started the second half rather sluggishly, with the three goal cushion obviously on the players minds and a Bude side seemingly rejuvenated after a few hard words at half time. With ten minutes of the second half gone recently appointed player/manager Kay Lewis came off for youngster Steph Beck, who slotted into an advanced midfield position. As the half wore on the home side started to increase the tempo levels again, with quick movement off the ball from the attacking players. Kat continued to cause a headache for Bude's weary looking left back, the defenders cause was not helped by the more advanced role that Argyle's right back Caitlin began to take in the second half. She confidently combined with the ever hard working Emily and Vicky in midfield and overlapped Kat to good effect on several occasions. Argyle came close to scoring a fourth in the sixty third minute, but striker Faye was unlucky to see her powerful volley rebound off the crossbar.


On the sixty fifth minute Faye and Ruby made way for debutante Chloe Richards and winger Danii Moody. The latter two made positive starts, with Danii testing the Bude right back for pace with almost her first touch of the ball and Chloe unleashing a powerful shot from twenty five yards.


The home side put the game beyond any possible doubt on the seventy second minute when a well worked corner between Emily and Chloe - the Cornish striker floating a perfect cross into the box - allowed Steph Beck time to control well before striking a half volley low into the left hand corner of the goal.


On reflection: Kay and myself have been extremely please with the way that the squad have been training over the past few weeks and we're keen to see them transfer that form into Sunday's game. The recent additions of Caitlin, Chloe, Emily and Steph (as well as the unavailable Hayley Fowle) to the reserves have definitely been a major factor in raising the moral, tempo and the competitive edge of every player in the squad.


What we saw on Sunday was the players ability to dictate a games tempo by the quality of their passing. They had a patient approach in the build up to attacks that meant for large parts of the game we controlled the majority of possession. The other pleasing aspect from an attacking point of view was the players hunger to move off the ball and support in open spaces. From a defensive aspect the players we're alert when we lost the ball and recover into a solid defensive shape to support our back four. There are of course areas of development which we will both look at, but the big positive is that any improvement on this display will make the reserves a huge force in the leagues final few months.


Player of the Match: Caitlin Lower - Kat and Emily ran her close, but in the end Caitlin's all-round defensive display and second half attacking exploits gives her the award.