Argyle Women vs Billericay Town Women 23/10/22

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS

RYAN PERKS Managersnotes

Welcome to the Manadon Sports Hub for today’s game and thanks to everyone for the wonderful support we have received.

As a club, all our thoughts are with club captain Zoe Cunningham, who sadly lost her mum Jackie this week. Jackie was a huge supporter of Plymouth Argyle Women and of Zoe’s football career. Our deepest condolences are with Zoe and her family.

Plymouth Argyle Women would also like to pass on our sympathy to the family and friends of Gordon Sparks, a huge supporter of all things Argyle as a brilliant broadcaster and fan.

It was a very pleasing win over MAP last weekend and great to score plenty of goals. The girls played some terrific football and were clinical in their finishing. We did bring in some new faces, perhaps not as many as some would like, but we were conscious that involving too many U23 players would leave them ineligible to play in their Devon Cup competition.

Billericay Town have had a similar start to ourselves and a game

where we are all looking forward to a new challenge. Momentum is so important in football, especially in this tight league, and a couple of wins in succession can make a big difference to your position in the table.

The fixture schedule is fairly favourable over the next few weeks and some winnable games for us in the league and cup. That will certainly be our aim as we build toward the game with Ipswich at Home Park in November.

Winning breeds confidence and the group is certainly feeling a good about their football at the moment.

We are delighted to welcome the Billericay Town staff, players and supporters to The Manadon Sports Hub today.

It is also a warm welcome to our mascots from Lakeside Athletic U14s, we hope you have a brilliant day.

Enjoy the game, Ryan

THE OPPOSITION

Billericay Town will have a new manager in the hot-seat today, as James Gibson takes charge of his first game for the club.

Gibson spoke to the club’s media channels after his appointment: “I am excited and a historic club like Billeicay Town has a good foundation in terms of staff, volunteers and supporters.

“It is a very attractive club to join and I actually started out in women’s football, working

up in Leeds around a decade ago. I then went into Academy boys' football with Luton Town and Watford.

“The team I have seen at Billericay Town likes to play football at a high tempo, wants to dominate the play, with and without the ball, and wants to attack.

“What really drew me to the role was the aspirations of everyone at the club. We want to look upwards and continue the good moment the team

is enjoying right now. Beyond this season, there is no reason why we can’t aspire to play in the Championship.

“The philosophy of the club is closely matched to my own. If I can add and guide the team, we are hoping to achieve the goal of being an exciting football team.”

Best of luck in your new role James, apart from today, of course.

Argyle Women progressed further into The Click Hub Devon Women’s Premier Cup after a stellar performance at home secured a semi-final spot in style.

The Pilgrims took the lead through defender Rosie Train in the tenth minute of the first half, a free-kick won on the edge of the box that flew over the wall and into the net. Lily Greenslade bagged her first goal of three shortly afterwards, from a wellworked piece of play that gave her a one-on-one chance with the keeper, which she tucked away.

Jemma Rose secured Argyle's third goal 15 minutes later with a tidy finish from the edge of the area before

Charlotte Whitmore added a spectacular fourth two minutes later. After dribbling through multiple players to beat the defensive line, she rounded the ‘keeper and slotted home.

Train’s mesmerising shot from distance dipped under the bar and beat the outstretched ‘keeper to make it 5-0, and Kayley Lane rounded off the first-half goals just before the ref’s whistle blew for the break. A well-placed ball found Lane in the penalty area, who put it through the legs of the keeper and fell to the floor in celebration.

The second half saw manager Ryan Perks make all three of his available substitutes early on, but just a few minutes later

full back Train went down with an injury, resulting in the Greens being forced to play with ten players for the rest of the match.

Undeterred, Argyle continued to extend their lead. Greenslade scored her second of the match in the 64th minute, followed by substitute Amber Pollock, whose driven shot across the ‘keeper made it eight.

With less than 20 minutes left on the clock, Greenslade secured her hat-trick after a through-ball from Rose. After receiving the ball and beating her marker, Greenslade looked up from the edge of the area and lobbed the goalkeeper.

Pollock made it double figures, latching on to a

pass from Lane and firing through the keeper’s legs, before substitute Tiana Campbell scored the final goal of the game from a Lucy Hack corner. It was a quality delivery that could potentially have gone in the net from the set-piece itself, however Campbell made sure with a closerange header.

Argyle: 1 Jasmine Read, 2, Sophie Perrin (14 Sam Cox), 3 Rosie Train, 5 Panagiota Papaioannou, 6 Lucy Hack, 4 Jemma Rose, 8 Kayley Lane, 18 Imy Crawford (17 Tiana Campbell), 13 Katie Dickson, 27 Greenslade, 7 Charlotte Whitmore (10 Amber Pollock).

Photo Credit: Hannah Cochrane PL7 Studios

ELAINE DALTON-FYFE APPOINTED WOMEN'S GENERAL MANAGER

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Elaine Dalton-Fyfe as Argyle Women General Manager.

Elaine has been a regular at Home Park since joining the Royal Navy and relocating to Plymouth, and brings a wealth of experience and connections to the role at a crucial time for the club, with ambitions to grow the female game in the region.

The General Manager’s primary role will be to build and develop an infrastructure capable of sustaining the long-term growth and success of Argyle Women, and managing relationships and services provided by key partners.

Elaine will lead on activity to increase exposure and revenue, drive up attendance for first-team games, and support players, coaches and other key personnel in the operations of Argyle's ever-growing women and girls football programme.

Over the past five years, Argyle Community Trust has made significant progress in removing barriers to participation and providing opportunities for female footballers from the age of four.

The region’s potential has already been identified by the Football Association with the FA Talent Legacy Group setting up partnerships in Plymouth to identify and work with young players. Argyle Community Trust was recently confirmed as an official FA Emerging Talent Centre for girls aged eight

to 16 – all positive steps to help grow the sport in the region.

There have been recent call-ups to the England set-up for some of the programme's young talent, including Mia Endacott, Taya Pomfret, Roxy Thomas, with Mia and Mari selected to represent their country following successful trials.

Argyle Women currently play in the FA Women’s National League South under Manager Ryan Perks. Speaking on the appointment, Perks said: “We are so pleased to welcome Elaine to the Argyle family. It is an exciting time for women’s football and the club.

Elaine will bring a wealth of experience, connections, and passion. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

Elaine said: “This is an unbelievable opportunity and a dream come true to make a difference and to leave a legacy connected to women’s football. I have been sleeping and dreaming all things

women’s football for weeks now.

“I am an Argyle supporter, and the facilities and staff are second-to-none and so are the opportunities. We have a pathway in place to grow and develop the girls, hopefully to the women’s first team.

“This is probably the most exciting time since I’ve been interested in football. The Lionesses are inspirational following the Euros success. These are women and girls that have dedicated their lives to football. If we can pass this on to our communities and young women, we can use this as inspiration.

“The Trust work so hard to remove barriers to participation and we will continue to work hard to promote women’s and girls’ football.”

If you are interested in getting involved in the Women's and Girls' football programme at Argyle, or learning more about how you can support our vision, email elaine.dalton-fyfe @pafc.co.uk.

U23 SQUAD

Maddi Curno (GK)

(Sponsor: Darren Swift)

Bethan Cowd (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Sophia Sharpe (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Robyn Hearn (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Izzy Baskett (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Izzy Baker

(Sponsor: Elliot Jarvis Cars)

Grace Perrins (Sponsor: Limegreen Communications)

Katelyn Bell

(Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Katelyn Berry (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Taylor Ford

(Sponsor: Total Produce)

Emily Elliot

(Sponsor: The Great British Confectionary Company)

Fern Orchard (Sponsor: Plymouth Marine Electronics Ltd)

Courtney Staughton (Sponsor: Mark Staughton)

Kristyna Cade (Sponsor: Available for sponsorship)

Scarlett McMahon (Sponsor: PasotiMods)

Rose Mason-White (Sponsor: Nano Interactive)