Bristol & West were back with a bang this weekend, delivering an impressive array of performances across 11 games, showcasing not just skill and strategy, but also an indomitable team spirit. The club's collective effort was evident in every match, whether it was a nail-biting draw or a decisive victory. In total, our teams amassed an astonishing 46 goals, a testament to the offensive prowess and relentless determination that define our club.
From the Men's 1s securing a gritty 1-1 draw against Swansea University to the Ladies 4s demonstrating their dominance with an 8-0 victory, each game was a chapter in the story of our club's passion and commitment to the sport. The Men's 4s extended their lead in their division with a resounding 7-1 win, while the Ladies 3s contributed significantly to the goal tally with an awe-inspiring 11-0 triumph, signalling their formidable form as they gear up for the season's pivotal matches.
The weekend's matches were a true showcase of resilience and teamwork. Players overcame various challenges, from battling through illnesses to navigating intense physical contests, all while displaying commendable sportsmanship and an unwavering drive for excellence. Exceptional performances were plentiful, with players earning well-deserved recognition, be it for scoring crucial goals, crafting pivotal plays, or standing firm in defence.
Every match, every goal, and every moment of teamwork contributed to the weekend's success, epitomising the ethos of Bristol and West Hockey Club.
Men's 1st Team
West Men's Premier
Bristol & West 1 [1-1] Swansea 1
Venue: Mangotsfield School
1-1 draw with Swansea uni, a real hard battle of a game from start to finish, a very well worked team goal put us 1 up midway through the first half, tugs calmly flicking the ball over the keeper, only for Swansea to level the score from a well worked short corner. Chances both ends came and went, some good saves and missed opportunities. But probably a fair result in the end.
Goal x 1 tugs
Dod - Luke (air shot amongst other things)
Mom - Gaz (solid in defence as ever)
Women's 1st Team
West Women's Division 1 North
Team Bath Buccaneers 3 [2-1] Bristol & West Jaspers 1
Venue: Bath - University Of Bath (V) - Pitch 2
A bitter 3:30 fixture up at Bath Uni, saw the Ladies 1’s battle hard for possession and have some close opportunities in the D. Despite these first half efforts a dangerous short corner was conceded and we were 1-0 down going into the second half.
An unstoppable reverse stick strike from Buccs put us 2-0, but that provoked some fire and we battled on. We found the pockets and worked well together, at last a short corner and a goal from the captain 🤩
We had momentum and if only there was another 10 minutes of play the result could have been different 🥹
Goals - Sarah 🏑
POTM - Sarah ⭐️
DOTD - Meg 💩
Men's 2nd Team
West Men's Division 2 West
Swansea 2 [3-3] Bristol & West 2
Venue: King George V Playing Fields
Early start for the long away trip to Swansea 😣. An ill Madge and a sleeping Lus 🤨 left a depleted squad of 12 with a good few of those nursing sore heads!
On the back foot for the first 10 minutes, with some great saves from Wayne to keep us in it. Got into our stride with a brace from Jack, followed up with an outrageous 3D goal from Fish.
We were 3-1 up but Swansea are solid outfit and put pressure on us throughout the 2nd half and they added 2 more short corner goals. Always disappointed with a draw, but probably fair on the day and a point is something to bring back from the 3 hour+ round trip!
Goals: Jack🤴🏻 (2), Fish 🐡
MOM: Wayne 😻
DOD: Lusmore 😴
Women's 2nd Team
West Women's Berkeley Division 2
Bristol & West Jaspers 2 [3-3] Wotton-Under-Edge 2
Venue: Mangotsfield School
2s came away with a 3-3 draw from WUE.
We had some beautiful moments and were a goal up most of the game, with many poorly players, but they countered well and ended up scoring towards the end of the game 🥲
Potm /- jayna!
Goals - dibbs, katie and Liv
Assists - Jayna, caddick and undisclosed
DOD - their coach …
Men's 3rd Team
West Men's Bridge Division 1
Bristol & West 3 [4-2] Cardiff & Met 5
Venue: Mangotsfield School
Men’s 3 vs Cardiff Met
Skipper Si Florio deservedly earns himself a weekend off and asked myself, Patch to step in. His final words before the game to me was “be creative”. With special guests from M2’s, Ben and Gary joining us, they started the game in the attacking front line, as our front line missed the warm up :)
First 5 minutes saw us play good M3 hockey and attack the baseline with opportunities created out of the training ground. This was shortly lived, as the play slowly turned into a ‘Game of Thrones’ scene….
They quickly got under the skin of Doey, and the first round of cards came out for himself and his opposite number. Early special mentions to the umpires who come out and make our games possible, as was a tough day in the office for them, more so from the opposition. Shortly after then saw their keeper given a green for “foul mouth”.
We couldn’t capitalise on the advantage and when both teams back to full 11; lost our shape, discipline and on our back foot as they came out charging, and took them 1-0 up.
Tackles were coming in hard from all angles, Josh was hit in the knee and walked off the baseline. Without us thinking we swapped another player on. But as it was a PC, we were wrong to add a player on following the rules, did the opposition mention it a nicely manner? Absolutely not! Put them back in their box with a slotted PC, brings us back 1-1. Heading to half time level pegging.#
Second half, they came out even physically harder, winning a PC to take it 1-2.
More stoppages, and unfortunately scenes I wish not to see again ever on a hockey pitch, saw the oppositions getting more cards, mix of yellow and greens, for pushing players, over reactions, throwing sticks; we as a team kept our heads not to drop to their level saw us capitalise the B&W M3 style of play and earnt ourselves a few more goals.
A Leo bobble back hand to be finished by Alex. A Josh baseline and a 90 to Doey to slot it home. And wow, Matt to kill the game with a controlled reverse to beat the keeper, takes us to 4-2 up.
The pressure never eased up as MoM goes to Duncan who made awesome saves and to stop one on ones multiple of times, with Oli getting defender bonus for goal line clearing.
I for myself (Patch), massively proud for the team to keeping our structure and shape in a disruptive game, wishing for the full time whistle to go, especially as Alex took a few trips and blow at the end. Looking forward to SinF to take the baton back, I’ll be rolling the red carpet out!!
Final result: 4-2
Goals Patch, Alex, Doey, Matt
Assists Josh x2 , Leo
MoM Duncan
DoD Jules, mainly for being late, not doing a warm up stretches and saying being cold whilst on pitch warm up.
Cards Doey green
Defender bonus Oli
Women's 3rd Team
West Women's Brunel Division 3
Thornbury 2 [0-11] Bristol & West Jaspers 3
Venue: Bristol - The Castle School (V)
In an absolute goal explosion, Ladies 3s dominated Thornbury 2s with an outstanding 11-0 victory. The match showcased relentless offensive prowess and stellar 🪐🚀 teamwork.
The match unfolded with a slow start in the first half, but the pace escalated swiftly - transforming into a dynamic display of skill and teamwork that left the opposition exhausted and struggling to contain our relentless offensive onslaught.
The scoring spree began in the first half with Sophie scoring assisted by Aymie. Molly extended the lead with a goal assisted by Hannah, and Aymie contributed again with a goal assisted by Sanjana.
The second half saw an even more impressive performance from Bristol and West with a further 8 goals. Sophia scored with an assist from Hannah, Anna found the back of the net with support from Laura, and Molly continued her excellent form with a goal assisted by Esther. Hannah added to the tally with a solo effort, quickly followed by another solo goal by Sophie - while Sophia scored twice with assists from Laura and Hannah, respectively.
In the closing moments, the final goal almost belonged to Hannah, but Molly ensured its success by skillfully tapping it past the last defender with a cheeky move, sealing Bristol and West Ladies 3s' impressive 11-0 triumph over Thornbury.
The 3s displayed a well-rounded and dominant performance, showcasing their teamwork and individual skills to secure a convincing win over Thornbury.
Bring on next week, our most important game of the season against Lydney where a win will secure us as top of the league!
Goals ✨Sophie x2, Molly x3, Aymie, Sofia x3, Anna, Hannah
Assists⚡️Aymie, Hannah x4, Sanjana, Laura x2, Esther
POM ⭐️ Laura
Defender 👑 Sophie as CDM
Doughnut of the Day 🍩 Molly for the finishing tap on the final goal
Men's 4th Team
West Men's Concorde Division 2
Westbury & United Banks 4 [1-7] Bristol & West 4
Venue: Bristol University - Coombe Dingle (V) - Pitch 1
Mens 4’s won 7-1 at Westbury to extend the lead at the top of our division.
Goals: Brycey & Joe 1 each; Wingey 2 & a hat-trick of drag flicks for Matt Gimmo Gimson 🚀🚀🚀
MoM - Matt Gimson (for the three goals and a 65m aerial assist for Brycie's goal) with honourable mention to Blackie as part of a dominant midfield. DefotD - Jordan
Women's 4th Team
West Women's Berkeley Division 3
Bristol & West Jaspers 4 [8-0] Stroud 3
Well the Ladies 4’s , had a cracking game today with 8 goals scored and none conceded - I think that pretty much shows how excellent everyone’s game was, both in attack and defence.
We were 4:0 up at half time and then went onto score 4 more goals in the second half.
( I’m glad our half time team photo didn’t jinx the end result 😅)
The stats for our match were:
Stef: 3 assists, 3 goals
Sid: 1 assist, 1 goal
Gabbie:2 assists, 1 goal
Erin: 1 assist
Meg:1 assist, 1 goal
Sian: 2 goals
Absolutely Amazing 🤩
And some firsts as well for people with regards to goal scoring : Sian and Gabbie 🙌🙌🙌.
Finally we had lots of votes today but PoM goes jointly to Erin and Stef and DofM goes to Manoji . Well done ladies , and a huge well done to you all.
Pity it was a friendly as the goal difference would have been great for the league table!
Men's 5th Team
West Men's Bridge Division 2
University Of Bristol 5 Dev [5-1] Bristol & West 5
Venue: Bristol University - Coombe Dingle (V) - Pitch 2
5s lost 5-1 to uni of Bristol 5s.
We had only 10 players but were 1-1 at 30 mins in thanks to a goal by Nathan.
Good effort by all
Women's Over 35s
Women's Over 35s Championships
Bristol & West O35 [5-1] Old Bristolians O35
Women's O35s faced off against Old Bristolians O35s today with bare 11 due to injuries following league games yesterday. Our strategy was to hit them hard in the first half while we all had fresh-ish legs! We got off the mark with a slick left slip short corner, flicked in by Han. The next goal was a well-worked team effort with Katie passing it across the face of goal from the right post to Leanne who committed to a floor dive and snuck it in past the keeper. We were 2-0 up at half time.
They came out wanting it in the second half and we relaxed a bit too much, conceding a short corner. We still had more to give and Mia put away our next short corner with a beautiful deflection on the right post. We were on a roll and our next 2 goals were scored by Katie with a couple of left post crackers.
Final score 5-1 and into the final 16!
Player of the match: Mia 😍
Bristol & West Badgers
Badgers League
Bristol & West Badgers [2-0] Yate
2-0 win
Goals Arthur & Ellis
Assists Charlie & Sam
MOM Micah
DOD (not a usual for us but asked for by the kids) x2, Matthew for eating a whole bag of chocolate buttons at half time and feeling sick & Rishi for running off the pitch when it started raining, to put his phone in his shorts pocket!
An awesome performance from all today. A couple of great saves from Micah. The defence not only cut out most attacks but also spread the ball from side to side looking to start our forward drives. The midfield and forwards created excellent opportunities with their keeper pulling off numerous saves.
Yate had 3 adults playing for them who turned up the tempo in the final quarter to no avail.