The day finally came for the 2nd team's pre-Varsity Varsity against the newly relegated UWE 1s. The Bristol weather gave us false hope during the warm up, however, as soon as we entered onto the pitch the heavens opened and we were hit by sideways rain and winds worse than you could ever imagine.
We started off slowly, trying to keep the ball on the floor due to the wind. UWE were pressing straight away, sneaking an early shot on target but Millie wasn't even stressed, calmly collecting it and redistributing to Anna in midfield. The wind was clearly affecting the ability of players to stay upright - as proven by UWE's keeper falling over thin air during our first attack. Unfortunately the weather got the better of us and UWE managed to sneak the ball into the back of the net, 1-0 UWE. But don't worry, what seemed to be a clearance by fullback Ellie resulted in an assist to Yas upfront who tapped it round their goalkeeper and slotted it into the back of the net, 1-1. The goal picked up our spirits and we were finally showing UWE what we are made of. Our centrebacks (Lotte and Hollie) were confidently stopping any UWE attacks and passing it onto Alice and Chloe in midfield who were driving it into the opposition's box. Our strong attacks soon landed us a corner. Ffion beautifully whipped it into the box, directly to Yas, but it was tapped just over the crossbar. We were still looking confident and staying in the attacking half, with some amazing through-balls by Chloe and Molly for Bea to run onto, however the line-o wasn't having any of it and kept calling offside (bit sus if you ask me). Soon Bea's time came for an onside shot on target, however the keeper managed to actually catch this one. A strong run up the left wing by fullback Serena saw Ffion get the ball on the edge of the box and send a screamer into the top corner, 1-2 Bristol. We kept up the pressure, with striker Annie making some lovely runs into the box, however nothing came from it.
Despite us looking strong, somehow UWE managed to score 2 goals before half-time. I can't really remember what happened (probably wiped it from my memory due to the trauma) but it left us entering the 2nd half down 3-2.
Our spirits were unfortunately a bit low at half-time, emotionally scarred from the abuse the UWE fans were screaming at us, traumatised from the weather and physically scarred (e.g., Hollie spending most of her time lying on the ground due to being slide-tackled every 2 minutes).
Imagine the worst weather possible, rain that hurt like hail stones and wind that was on the verge of giving us frost bite, well somehow at half time this managed to get 10x worse. The second half of the match is a bit of a blur. Unfortunately we definitely did not display the level of football we usually play, however we live and we learn. We made some good runs in the second half, Noa came onto the pitch with fresh legs and we were looking like we could bag ourselves an equaliser. Positions were changed with midfielder Alice having a go on the right wing, but nothing came from the crosses and shots. Right before the whistle blew, UWE grabbed themselves a final lucky goal (assisted by the wind). Final score 4-2.
POTM: Yasmin Moorehead for carrying the team and having an endless supply of energy.
Written by: Ellie Haines
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