The first weekend of January was scheduled to be a gentle ease-in to the new year after shaking of the Christmas hangovers (and excess turkey weight). Apparently this wasn't to be! Instead there were 8 rearranged games to be played from all corners of the club. In an action-packed hockey weekend, Bristol & West Hockey Club brought their A-game across various divisions. The Men's 1st Team clashed with Taunton Vale 1, resulting in an intense 4-4 draw that added excitement to the overall club performance.
The Men's 2nd Team stole the spotlight with a much-needed 5-2 triumph over Clifton Robinsons 4. Lus's incredible four-goal show earned him the well-deserved Man of the Match title. The team continued their momentum with a 3-3 draw against Keynsham 1 on Sunday, contributing to an impressive four-point weekend.
In the West Men's Bridge Division 1, the Men’s 3rd Team faced a formidable Old Bristolians 2, resulting in a challenging 9-2 defeat. On the women's side, the 3rd Team dominated against South Gloucestershire 2, securing a convincing 4-0 win, and Morgan claimed the Player of the Match accolade.
The Men's 4th Team and Men's 6th Team squared off, with Bristol & West 4 clinching an impressive 11-0 victory.
The Men’s 5th Team faced a challenging 6-1 loss against Clifton Robinsons 7, while the Bristol & West Badgers celebrated a superb 3-2 win against NS1. Additionally, the U14 Boys had a stellar festival, securing two wins and showcasing exceptional performances.
Zooming out to the overall club performance, Bristol & West Hockey Club demonstrated a dynamic range of results, highlighting the depth and dedication of each team. The weekend encapsulated the club's passion for the sport, creating a vibrant and competitive atmosphere across all teams.
Men's 1st Team
West Men's Premier
Bristol & West 1 [4-4] Taunton Vale 1
(Venue: Mangotsfield School)
An unlucky end to a fantastic game of hockey. Bristol & West controlled the game throughout scoring some fantastic goals along the way. The boys led 4-1 in the second half, but Taunton proved their pedigree with a flurry of late goals to steal the draw.
Women's 1st Team
West Women's Division 1 North
Chippenham 1 [1-0] Bristol & West Jaspers 1
(Venue: Chippenham Sports Club)
A devastating 1-0 loss for the Ladies 1’s yesterday.
A half court press from Chippenham for the whole first half, allowed lots of attacks and some lovely hockey, but sadly no goals. The second half they full pressed and the game was even. Short corners came and went for the Jaspers ladies, but a top of the D strike in the 68th minute from Chippenham cruelly claimed the 3 points for the home side 😭
POTM - Ange: strong tackles, great distribution and organisation at the heart of the defence 🤩
Men's 2nd Team
West Men's Division 2 West
Bristol & West 2 [5-2] Clifton Robinsons 4
(Venue: Mangotsfield School)
A much needed victory to start the new year following a shaky few weeks for the 2s pre-Christmas. Turned up the heat against a Robbies team who didn't fancy a game in the cold before the break.
Great work-rate on and off the ball overwhelmed the opposition in the second half and deservedly bagged the 3 points.
Goals: Lus x4, Joe
Cards 🟩: JDW, Lus, Joe
MOM: Lus 🤩
DOD: Joe 🤦🏻♂️
Sunday Game...
West Men's Division 2 West
Keynsham 1 [3-3] Bristol & West 2
(Venue: Bristol - Wellsway School)
2nd game of the weekend for the 2s. End-to-end game with some good moments, but got caught too many times on the counter to bring home the points.
Top-bins drag flick and Lus and a nice deflection from Coops put us 2-1 up at the break. A couple of through balls got Keynsham in front before we pushed on to secure the equaliser before the end.
Frustrating not to take home the win, but tired legs from yesterday's efforts maybe showed a bit today. Still, 4 points from the weekend sees us climb up the table.
Goals: Lus (x2), Josh.C 🥅
Assists: Gaz, Lus, Josh.C 🏑
Cards: 🟩 Charlie 🤬
MOM: Gaz
DOD: Rob
Men's 3rd Team
West Men's Bridge Division 1
Old Bristolians 2 [9-2] Bristol & West 3
(Venue: Old Bristolians)
Tough day at the Astro against a top of the table OB 2’s and it was clear to see why they are unbeaten, a well drilled team which were a step above us on the day.
Although the scoreline might not reflect it our performance was not a bad one, the boys stayed positive and kept pushing.
The score would have remained at 8-2 had Patch not made a committed sliding tackle in the D in the last 2 minutes. Unfortunately it was a little too committed as he wiped out the player getting himself a yellow and them a P flick!
Mentions have to go to Duncan for being immense between the posts and Josh for handling the pressure really well up front, making them look rather silly on more than one occasion!
Goals - Alex, Si
MOM - Duncan/ Josh shared honours
Defender bonus - Duncan
DOD - Jules - many reasons but strolling up to the pitch 10 mins before pb did not help his cause 😂
Cards - Browner 🟢, Patch 🟨
Women's 3rd Team
West Women's Brunel Division 3
Bristol & West Jaspers 3 [4-0] South Gloucestershire 2
(Venue: Mangotsfield School)
Ladies 3's ruled the hockey turf against South Gloucestershire 3's, sealing the deal with a 4-0 win! Anna and Sophie kicked off the scoring party in the first half – first Anna with an assist from Sophie, and then Anna again, this time with an assist from Hannah. Teamwork at its finest!
Hannah and Aymie kept the momentum going, combining forces for another goal, making it 3-0. And guess what? The second half was just as awesome! Franny joined the goal parade, courtesy of a slick assist from Sophie.
Talk about a fantastic match to add some confidence for our next two very important games – Bristol and West Ladies 3's, we’re nailing it! 🏑🎉
Player of the match - Morgan! Who also as a defender gets our Defender of the Day 😍
Goals - Anna x2, Hannah, Franny
Assists - Sophie x2, Hannah, Aymie
Men's 4th Team & Men's 6th Team
West Men's Concorde Division 2
Bristol & West 6 [0-11] Bristol & West 4
(Venue: Mangotsfield School)
Today the M4s played the M6s. We didn’t let the abundance of Christmas dinners and lack of exercising bring us down as we start the new year playing as well as we did the last.
Goals: Edd x3, Phil x2, Matt G x1, Matt S x1, Ben x1, Mike x1, Andy x2
Assists: Edd x3, Mark x1, Ben x2, Mike x2
Everyone played very well today and many names were suggested for PoM and Defender of the day, the voting was very close!
PoM: Edd Wood (honourable mention to Ben)
Defender: Phil Brocklehurst
Men's 5th Team
West Men's Bridge Division 2
Clifton Robinsons 7 [6-1] Bristol & West 5
(Venue: Badminton School)
6-1 loss for the 5s against Robbie’s.
Special shout out to Clive for buying himself some shin pads on the way to the game and making it just in time for pushback
Bristol & West Badgers
Badgers v NS1 3-2 win
Superb game for the Badgers today.
We took an early lead 5mins in and added another shortly afterwards. By half time we were 3/0 up.
The opposition came back in the second half making the result 3/2, despite a superb save from Micah which unfortunately dropped at his feet hidden from his eyesight.
We played with great confidence, retaining possession and passing rather than running into contact, which shows in the result.
Thanks again to Thom for umpiring.
Coaches MoM Leo
Goals Joe, Barnaby, Ben
U14 Boys
Boys’ U14 Festival
Two wins and two losses with great performances by all. Thanks to Arthur & Ben H for rearranging schedules to attend. A great pleasure to watch the team on a beautifully sunny morning ( for a change!).