Bristol & West Deliver 7 Wins in a Spectacular Weekend
The first two weeks of the 2024/25 season started with a bit of a stutter. With our men's 1s seeing out a couple of draws and our newly promoted teams struggling for victories against tougher opposition - you might think that Bristol & West Hockey Club was under pressure.
Pressure... what pressure? Pressure is for tyres!
Roll on gameweek 3, where the club had an incredible Saturday, notching up 7 wins across 11 games, with a total of 30 goals scored. From the Men’s 1s thrilling 3-2 victory over Cheltenham to the Women's 3s high-scoring 7-4 triumph against Avonmouth, every match showcased the club's collective strength and fighting spirit.
The Men's 2s secured a confident 4-0 win over Keynsham, and the Men's 4s returned to form with a disciplined 3-0 victory over Westbury. Our Women's 1s thumped North Wilts ahead of our Women's 2s earning their first win of the season with a 1-0 triumph over Chippenham. With standout individual performances, goals, and defensive displays, we were as close as we've been for a while to that prophetic clean sweep and drinks on the chairman!
Women's 1st Team
League: West Women's Division 2 East
Result: Bristol & West Jaspers 1 [6-0] North Wilts 1
Venue: Mangotsfield School
BWJ1 vs North Wilts
After a rundown of the opposition from Clare (their ex-captain!) and a new attack vs defence warm-up, we started a lot quicker than last week! The sun was in our eyes, but we held possession well for the first 10 minutes, switching the ball and finding space on the right. We were clearly the stronger side and spent most of the first half in their half of the pitch. North Wilts had a few breakaways, but great defensive play from Bronwen and Ange kept them at bay.
We had chances, with 2 short corners and a few near-post misses, but it remained 0-0. Then, up stepped Becca, with a lovely slip into the D from Liv into her path, and Becca calmly slotted it in, making it 1-0. Soon after, Becky danced around the players, found herself in a great shooting spot, and buried it through the keeper’s legs to make it 2-0 at halftime.
In the second half, North Wilts created some pressure with early possession and short corners, but we kept them out. A short corner didn’t work, but Meg stayed by the back post, and after a scramble, Sarah got something on it, and Meg volleyed it home to make it 3-0.
Later, Sarah managed a shot that rebounded off the keeper’s helmet and into the net for 4-0. More chances came, and Becca elegantly deflected a beautiful ball from Becky into the top corner, making it 5-0. Clare finished things off with a perfectly timed ball from Meg, slotting it in to make it 6-0.
The final whistle saved North Wilts from further damage as we had found our rhythm and were on fire. It was exactly what we needed—a confidence boost and a great team performance!
POTM: Becca
DOTD: Becca
Goals: Becca x2, Becky, Meg, Sarah, Clare
Men's 1st Team
League: West Men's Premier
Result: Bristol & West 1 [3-2] Cheltenham 1
Venue: Cheltenham - Balcarras School
Men’s 1s get first win 3-2 vs Cheltenham.
After two draws to start the season, another trip to Cheltenham lay ahead, who were top of the league before today. It was a tough first half, which was a complete stalemate ending 0-0 despite some tough chances.
The second half was very eventful. The game went end to end, but B&W’s short corners were fruitful with Jules Inniss scoring a hat trick of short corners and we went 3-0 up. Cruising and feeling good about ourselves, we made the decision to give the crowd some drama and let Cheltenham score a penalty corner, then a penalty flick to get it back to 3-2.
With 5 minutes to go, one more short corner was conceded for some last-minute drama. Luckily, Cheltenham bottled it, and it was a 3-2 win for the boys!
Men's 2nd Team
League: West Men's Division 2 West
Result: Bristol & West 2 [4-0] Keynsham 1
Venue: Mangotsfield School
Men's 2s 4-0 winners vs Keynsham!
For the 3rd week in a row, we were reminded once again by Josh De Skip that Keynsham were a potential banana skin for us in our promotion bid! And for the 3rd week in a row, either the opposition didn’t really step up to the plate, or we actually might be a half-decent hockey team!
The day started with the 1s calling up H, leaving us with a comfortable 4 strikers... but come the starting whistle, there were only 3. Fish was still swimming in booze from the night before, attempting to get himself up from a nap on the kitchen floor!
On top in the early encounters, the lads eventually made the pressure count. Cooper, through on goal, played a one-two off the keeper's face before slotting home. After testing a few short corner variations, Jack got a touch from a Nevin slap to make it 2-0 at half time.
The second half carried on in the same vein: the boys in orange were always comfortable, playing some exciting hockey at times. Two more goals from Matt and Coops made it 4-0. We really should have run away with a higher scoreline, but we’ll take a rare clean sheet all the way to the top of the table!
Onto next week, where we may face more of a test in the form of (potential banana skin) Bridgend.
Goals: Cooper x2, Jack, Matt P
MoM: Wayne
DoD: Fish
Women's 2nd Team
League: West Women's Whitehorse Division 1
Result: Bristol & West Jaspers 2 [1-0] Chippenham 3
Venue: Mangotsfield School
After an unlucky draw and loss, the Women’s 2s stuck with their game plan of "attack is our best form of defence". Yet again, we showed how we deserve to be in this league, having most of the play. Despite fantastic efforts, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. Then Kinger ran the length of the pitch, showing great skill and firing the ball into the goal!
Our first 3 points with a 1-0 win were well deserved.
Goal: Kinger, assist by Jayna
MoM: Emily
DoD: Caddick
Men's 3rd Team
League: West Men's Bridge Division 1
Result: Bristol & West 3 [4-1] Bristol UWE 2
Venue: Lockleaze Sports Centre
A picture is worth a thousand words... Big grins all round are a result of good team hockey and an away win: 4-1 vs UWE 2.
Goals: 2 Field Goals by Josh Tse, 1 Field Goal by Josh Hancock, 1 Penalty Corner by Sam Doe
MoM: Josh T
DoD: George J
Women's 3rd Team
League: West Women's Brunel Division 2
Result: Bristol & West Jaspers 3 [7-4] Avonmouth 1
Venue: Blaise High School
After taking a 5-0 walkover and 3 points last weekend, the well-rested Ladies 3s took to the pitch anxiously this morning to see what Avonmouth had to bring.
Within the first 10 minutes, Avonmouth had scored, but this didn’t put us off, as Morag levelled the game, and this was just the start!
Liv briefly brought us up 2-1, but the first half was tight; every time we scored, Avonmouth appeared to bring themselves back level. After Liv was taken out by the goalie, awarding us a P-flick, Morag took another for the team, ensuring Liv’s tumble was worth it, and got herself a hat-trick at the same time!
We entered half-time up 4-3, but no one knew which way the game would turn from here.
In the second half, we saw a 4th (yes, 4th) goal from Morag and another 2 from Liv, making it now 2 players on a hat-trick. We kept our heads in the game and continued our intensity right through to the final minute. It paid off, and Avonmouth tried unsuccessfully to score any more.
Everyone worked really hard, and the team really worked as a unit. Some superb assists from Sid, Lauren, Molly, Morag, and Liv, with some amazing saves from Shaz Queen. The final score was 7-4 to us. We bagged our first win of the new league and brought home the 3 points we set our eyes upon when we woke up this morning.
POTM: Sid
DOTD: Liv
Goals: Morag x4, Liv x2, Molly
Men's 4th Team
League: West Men's Concorde Division 1
Result: Bristol & West 4 [3-0] Westbury & United Banks 3
Venue: Mangotsfield School
M4s with a drought (or at least a minor dry spell) breaking win 3-0 against Westbury. A particularly disciplined team performance, after soaking up quite a bit of pressure in the first half, we turned on the style with three second-half goals (1 to the incredibly rapid Joe McMahon, and the other two to the chairman finding his 23-24 goalscoring touch—from a combined distance of two metres...).
Excellent performances across the board, but standouts were Blackie for patrolling the midfield, Sam Horner getting a stick on every pass Westbury tried to make, and Joe for terrorising the Westbury left back. MoM, though, in a close-run vote, was A Bryce for a combination of his goals and his non-stop defensive work helping out midfield and the backline.
Women's 4th Team
League: West Women's Brunel Division 3
Result: Redland 4 Dev [2-0] Bristol & West Jaspers 4
Venue: Lockleaze Sports Centre
After losing 7-0 last week, the Ladies 4s turned up to play Redland 4s Dev today with the attitude that we were going out with strong tackles, names on balls, supporting in both defence/attack, and generally ensuring we gave them our best game!
It was a much more evenly matched game this week, as shown with us only losing 2-0. Everyone worked really hard, which was reflected in the spread of votes for POM, with the overall winner being myself and DOD being Eleanor.
Men's 5th Team
League: West Men's Bridge Division 2
Result: Whitchurch 5 [4-0] Bristol & West 5
Venue: Mangotsfield School
The Men's 5s had a tough match against Whitchurch, resulting in a 4-0 defeat. Despite the scoreline, the team put up a valiant effort throughout the game but struggled to break through the opposition’s strong defence. It was a challenging day, but the team will look to bounce back in their next fixture.
Men's 6th Team
League: West Men's Concorde Division 2
Result: Westbury & United Banks 4 [5-2] Bristol & West 6
Venue: Coombe Dingle - Pitch 1
The Men's 6s faced a difficult match against Westbury & United Banks 4s, ending in a 5-2 loss. Despite the defeat, the team showed great determination, with Rob Williams scoring both goals for Bristol & West. The squad put in a solid effort, and standout performances came from Emmanuel Castillo, Jules Pearce, and Matt Hodgkin, who contributed energy and resilience throughout the game.
Goals: Rob Williams x2
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