Bristol Ladies Union 1st v Andoversford Women, 22nd March 2026.
A warm and sunny Spring day, and we were back on our home ground after weeks of driving up and down the M5. Also for the first time in months we had a full squad, so plenty of substitutes to help manage energy levels.
Andoversford have a very strong player up front, so part of the game plan was to keep her covered at all times, for which Izzy and Daisy shared duties very effectively during the first half. For the first 5-10 minutes we got a bit trapped in our own half, but the team were dealing with it well, and then it started to open up and run end to end. Despite the speed of play it remained deadlocked at 0-0 for almost 30 minutes. A couple of changes were made during that time, but then Evie came on at RW and scored within 60 seconds of touching the grass!
The half-time talk was fairly straightforward. We were 1-0 up and while that’s not a cushion, the game felt pretty comfortable for us. We’d picked up a couple of knocks along the way, and the ice packs were already being handed around (at this point I feel like we ought be sponsored by Koolpak), but nothing permanent.
The second half got started well, and with a strong midfield, plus Annabelle up front causing some panic amongst the Adoversford defence, it was no surprise when she scored next. We had a some rocky moments for 10 minutes… a few mistakes made and Adoversford capitalised. Isobelle suddenly had to come off because she rolled her ankle, and poor Liv – who was just being readied to come back on in the midfield – was forced to come on as centre back for a minute while we figured out how to fix the back 4. Annabelle got her second goal of the match, and we conceded a second when Andoversford found the back of the net from 30 yards out. As their defence got more accustomed to Annabelle at centre forward, we switched things around by bringing Sarah back on in that position and Annabelle took over the left wing, which lead to the hat-trick.
At the final whistle the score was 4-2, and those 3 points put us back up to 3rd place in the table. Player of the Match went to Izzy Bennett for her fast pace and strength dealing with their number 10, and Daisy deserves an honorable mention for sharing duties there. The Magic Moment was Annabelle… not for the hat-trick, but for a blinding run all the way up the left touch line with the ball at her feet.
