City Of Bath Ladies 4 Bretforton Ladies 1
West Clubs Women’s Hockey League Premier Division 2A
THIS game had an air of inevitability about it before a ball had been struck as Bretforton were only able to field ten players and had three of their usual defenders away.
What was always going to be a tricky fixture had become even harder and the visitors returned to the Vale empty-handed.
City of Bath always attack strongly from the start and Saturday’s game was no exception. Although Bret were defending stoutly, the home side were soon 3-0 up and looking to score more.
If you play in pink though, you never give up, and the Vale girls kept going. A great ball out of defence found Lisa Workman in midfield who drove forward and her perfectly timed ball found Hayley Whitehouse who coolly smashed the ball into the corner of the net.
Bret started the second half with renewed vigour and – in all honesty – probably could have got at least a draw from this game, but constant defending by Bath and a couple of missed chances by Bret saw any points slip away.
Bret’s second half display was brilliant and the scoreline does not reflect it, but they really had Bath rattled. The visitors played some good hockey and their fitness was superior. It really was a case of being one player short, leaving them to rue what might have been.
Tess Lewinton and Emma Lowe were played massively out of position in defence but stuck to their task admirably and Andrea Cole’s dedication to the club was again evident.
Thanks to Karen for travelling down and umpiring superbly and also Harry and Stefan for their support.
Player of the match was Whitehouse and plonker was Workman.
Bret host Cheltenham 2nds on Saturday.
Bretforton Ladies 2nds 0 Gloucester Ladies 3rds 6
Severn Division Two
THE SECOND league game of the season brought another defeat for the Vale side against a Gloucester team who were relegated from Division One last season.
Bretforton were under pressure from the start and, despite some great defending from Lesley MacKinnon, Nat Benwell, Jemima Hutchison and Megan Betteridge, Bret found themselves 2-0 down in the first 20 minutes.
Despite this, Bret played some lovely hockey with excellent passing from the back from Betteridge to Holly Hutchison on the right wing, up to Jess Hyde and Jess Eaves up front.
Alice Cook and Ness Dufty in midfield kept the Gloucester attacks limited and some incisive passing from Lucy Cole to Cook in the D saw Cook’s shot go just wide of the post.
Dufty and Hutchison on the wing linked up well but the Gloucester defence remained solid and Bretforton just could not find a way through.
The second half saw Bret concede two soft goals at the start of the half but they remained undaunted and continued to press forward, frustratingly without any reward for their efforts.
A further goal from Gloucester in the last ten minutes saw their tally go to six, but the scoreline does not reflect the amount of possession Bret had or the effort put in.
The match was kindly sponsored by Goodflex Rubber Co of Honeybourne.
Bret 2nds host Cirencester 2nds in their next league game on October 18.