Bristol Ladies Union 1st v Bishops Cleeve Ladies Dev, 2nd November 2025
Another home game, and another home win for BLU, this time against top of the table – and up that point unbeaten – Bishops Cleeve. In a match that racked up 12 goals between the two teams you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was a game full of defensive mistakes and easy shooting opportunities, but that was far from the case. The first half was a fast paced whirlwind, with quick changes of direction as possession passed from one team to the other. Nobody on either side had a moment to slow down and take a breather. Bishops Cleeve have a strong, creative midfielder who is very good at opening up play for her team, so it was clear that we’d have to keep her covered and force them to use other routes through the pitch, and in that I think we were very effective.
BLU goals in the first half came from Evie, then Molly put in two, and then we unleashed our “Goal Scoring Machine” (I’m not sure who coined that moniker but it was certainly apposite on the day), Annabelle, who also put in two. Quick confession here: I can’t remember if the score at half time was 5-2 or 5-3… somebody will correct me.
Going into the second half we knew that Bishops Cleeve would change their strategy, and that meant the first 5-10 minutes would be about figuring out what had changed and how to react. Things were a bit chaotic during that time and we lost some of our momentum, shipping a goal in the process. But soon we were back up to speed and the Goal Scoring Machine™ was back in action! Frustrations got the better of people when Jas caught one of their players in a late tackle, for which she earned a yellow card, but mostly the game was good natured. Bishops Cleeve dropped one of their central defenders to a much deeper position, but Annabelle still managed to get through on goal. At the other end they made several breaks on goal, and Isobelle was forced to sprint hard and put in last second tackles to avoid disaster. Tia also had plenty of work to do during the game, making some great saves in crucial moments.
The game finished 8-4. A goal bonanza, with Annabelle scoring a whopping 5 and earning herself the Player of the Match trophy. The Magic Moment trophy was awarded to Jas for that tackle, and for standing her ground when their player threatened to lamp her. To be honest, we needed 16 PotM trophies on Sunday. All in all it was a pretty good day at the office.
