Bristol Ladies Union 1st v Winchcombe Town Ladies 1st, 26th October 2025
Another home game, this time in near perfect conditions. It was a little cold, but mercifully the heating was on in the changing rooms, so smiles all round. Winchcombe had been struggling to fill their team for the match due to injuries and illness, but managed to get a couple of match-day signings so that they could play, albeit with a 10 player team. As is often the case though, a short-handed team will play some of their best football, and Winchcombe were definitely not going to make it easy for us.
Over the last few games we’ve settled into a formation that really seems to work for us, and on Sunday we hit our stride pretty quickly. We played a strong possession game, finding gaps through the midfield and working well to win back the ball when we lost it. Sarah opened the score-line in the first half, and then goals seemed to come about 10 minutes apart, with both Lila and Evie-Jean getting their names on the score sheet.
A quick thaw-out in the heated changing room at half-time, and a team talk from Martha and I which went along the lines of: keep doing what you’re doing. The referee commented that he had yet to award a free kick (other than a couple of offsides, which don’t really count).
The second half was a bit different, with Winchcombe shifting their positions around the pitch every few minutes, giving Martha a difficult task of trying to figure out what formation they were playing at any given moment. Openings were few and far between until Lila – from outside the 18 yard box – spotted the keeper out of position and put in a looping shot over everybody’s heads and into the back of the net. The fifth and sixth goal for BLU came from Evie and Rosa, and at the final whistle the score was 6-0.
Throughout the game Winchcombe had a few moments where they looked like scoring, and credit to our back 4 and Tia for staying calm under pressure, and confidently winning the ball back when it mattered. A few comedy moments of note: Evie-Jean weaving her way around the keeper right by the post, only for the ball to gently trickle over the line to the right of the goal. Then Connie gearing up for a big throw into the box and then pulling out at the last second, somehow managing to catch it just as it slipped from her hands.
Player of the Match was awarded to Connie for her unflappable defending and link-up with the midfield players, and the Magic Moment trophy went to Hollie for her tenacious battling to regain possession from one of Winchcombe’s strongest players, winning the ball and then adding insult to injury by nutmegging her.
A well played game against a friendly opposition who, even after defeat, sounded like they were having a party in their changing room! We look forward to the away match with them in February.
