By Sean Lawrenson, Sports Deputy Editor
Bristol Women’s football first team have just had their first game of the new season, against the always challenging Hartpury University. It was a cold, slightly overcast Wednesday evening which saw Bristol (eventually) cruise to a convincing victory.
The start to Bristol’s first game could not have gone further from what was likely the plan. Having never seen the team play before, I was slightly worried when one minute and twenty seconds into proceedings, Hartpury’s number nine latched onto a miscommunication between goalkeeper and defender to calmly tap the ball into an empty net. Quite surprised at just how quickly everything had seemingly gone out of the window, I was stunned to see just how calm all the players kept. There was no blaming, no anger, just focus.
Then, Bristol asserted control. Deploying a balanced 4-2-3-1 formation with a considerably higher line than that Hartpury, by the end of the 11th minute Bristol were level. A lovely ball down the left flank was picked up by Gloria Kelly, who, with a few superb stepovers, weaved in and out of two Hartpury defenders and blasted a strike past the goalkeeper. These first ten minutes set the pace for what would become a tense back and forth in the first hour. For just a few minutes later, Hartpury once again had a big chance, their winger rounding our keeper, with the chance cut out just in time.
Bristol had the fairer share of possession in the first half, and it was this calmness on the ball which forced the Hartpury team into difficult positions. Taking their time, keeping heads up and finding the right pass made it so much easier to cut through their opposition. A lot of the plaudits here must go to midfielder Freya Gordon, who skilfully feinted players out on three occasions in the first half, creating space to move into in the process.
There was a small period after the first goal in which both teams were even. They’d had a couple of set pieces which had led to nothing, and there was difficulty creating any real key chances, so to speak. However, this all changed in the 32nd minute, when a lovely team move down the right channels led to a ball into the box, which was again powered past the Hartpury keeper, this time by Anna Williams. It was a testament to the resilience of the Bristol team that despite the setback within ninety seconds of the match, they had completed a turnaround before the end of the first half. Though there was still work to do, you would have felt a lot better heading into the dressing room as a Bristol player when the whistle blew on an engrossing first 45.
Before you knew it, the whistle had blown again. The second half was under way, and Bristol wasted no time applying more pressure to Hartpury, with a brilliant cross from Ocean Latto narrowly headed wide by Kelly. Less than a minute later, Kelly had another half chance when a mistake from Hartpury’s defender led to a snapshot opportunity inside the box, which just whistled into the side netting. This really was a signifier for how dominant Bristol became once they had overcome the early deficit. It could have been 4 or 5, with a golden opportunity taken away with the raising of the flag from the linesman.
Once more, I should stress how Bristol never seemed in doubt of victory from the second half onwards. Whilst they only had the one goal cushion for the most part, it was comfortable viewing, with no major chances coming the way of Hartpury. Towards the end of the game a third was added, when in the 82nd minute, after a mistake from a defender pushed the ball into the path of substitute Ffion Robinson, who took the ball in her stride and placed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner passed a helpless Hartpury keeper.
Of course, the final result brings about a wave of optimism as to what the new season could hold for UBWFC 1’s, but it is the manner in which they have gone about obtaining the first win which will give them the most confidence. To have gone a goal down, inside two minutes, and remain fully composed, and then not only comeback, but look assured in almost every position on the field. That is what makes this such a promising result.
Featured images: University of Bristol Women's Football Club
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