Bristol Ladies Union 1st v Wessex Wanderers Women, 27th September 2026.
A last minute fixture reversal gave us a home match against Wessex Wanderers. Within the space of 24 hours we’d lost 3 players to illness and injury, so we only had one substitute available, but we’d brought along our latest signing, Holly, for her debut match for BLU. For once we got a bit of luck, winning the toss and electing to start with the wind behind us, which was a confidence boost if nothing else.
The game started positively. From the outset we had a fair amount of the ball and got on the attack quickly, spending a lot of the first 7 or 8 minutes in the Wessex half. We had a couple of opportunities, but Wessex got a bit of fortune and broke through, sending a looping ball from outside the area straight into the top right corner of our goal. BLU weren’t phased. We reset and got on the attack again, and within 6 minutes Annabelle got the equaliser. Holly was caught in a late challenge from behind with a foot to the Achilles, at first trying to run it off, but around the 25 minute mark she was forced to admit defeat and came off. Lila came on, making an impact immediately by calling for almost every high ball to central midfield and controlling it perfectly. After one attack the ball was coming back towards the centre line and Connie charged in, blasting a shot from at least 30 yards, forcing a save from the Wessex keeper. Winnie had her own moment of magic, chasing a long ball with the wind behind it which everyone thought was a lost cause, but somehow managing to keep it in play only millimetres from the end line.
The second half got underway and the game continued much in the same way, with BLU retaining a good deal of possession, and mounting attack after attack. Holly had come on again after treating her ankle with plenty of ice, but after 10 minutes it was clear that the injury wasn’t going to settle, and had to come off again. Both teams had a few chances on target so both keepers were kept busy. BLU were now looking very comfortable as a team. Annabelle had had a narrow miss that came off the post like a rocket, and then our second goal came from a well worked attack down the left hand side. Annabelle put a cross into the box which came back out, but she was already running onto it. She threaded the ball towards the far post from a tight angle and Evie got on the end of it, sending it past the keeper. 5 minutes later Annabelle steamed in from the right hand side and got our 3rd goal. For the last 15 minutes of the game we had something of a torrential downpour, which seemed to stop only when the final whistle blew.
A fully deserved 3:1 win from BLU in a great game of football, which was testament to the whole team. Everyone put in a brilliant performance. Our Player of the Match was Lila, who you could hear every couple of minutes shout “LILA’S!”, and then the ball would be be at her feet and under control. Jas got the Magic Moment for her own game of pinball against 3 players, trying to nutmeg one it came back off the player, Jas tried again and it pinged back off another, and after the 3rd or 4th ricochet she still came out with the ball and charged up the left wing.
