Sunday morning at Northwood Park, Trench Lane, saw St Mary’s Old Boys RFC host a fantastic Bristol Junior Combination under-16s cup game against Clifton, a match that had a lot riding on it.
The two teams had met before in the final of the Gloucester Cup last season, so the home side were ready to dish out revenge, something they were rather successful in doing as they beat the talented Clifton side 5-0, winning the game by a single try.
A high pressure match was watched by many as the two sides went hammer and tongs to make it to the final. Only one could prevail however, a first half try from Mike Green was the crucial score that won them the game.
Several scrums within the game were dominated by St Mary’s, but some errors here and there allowed Clifton to break with the ball although they weren’t able to make it through the strong St Mary’s defence, who held on to punt the ball out of play at the final whistle and to give them their first win over the Clifton side since the two squads were in the under-8s age group.
St Mary’s captain Rhys James said there were lessons to be learnt coming away from the game, adding: “However, we have learnt from the best of them”.
Football: Bradley Stoke Youth FC Under-11 Girls
The BSYFC Under-11 Girls have had a fantastic start to the season; they were unbeaten for most of the 2013/14 season and only recently suffered their first defeat of the season to a strong and spirited Portishead side.
On Sunday, they played AEK Boco Red at home, a team they had beaten 4-0 away last week, and the visitors made up for last week’s defeat by coming from behind to grab a point.
The home side took the lead nine minutes into the second half when some great work from Olivia Hood was capped by a lovely cross into Zoe Jones, who powered home the finish from close range.
The first half had seen a sleepy performance from the home side and AEK Boco Red were thwarted by some excellent saves by Annabelle Thomas in the Bradley Stoke goal. Despite going a goal down the Reds kept pushing, but strong defensive performances from Leah Powell, Emily Hulbert and Millie Eveleigh kept them at bay until a corner seven minutes from time was crossed in which Bradley Stoke failed to deal with and a Boco Red attacker was unmarked at the back post to rifle home the finish and steal a point.
Reflecting on the game, BSYFC team manager James Eveleigh, said:
“We seemed off colour in the first half but our second half performance made up for it. We had enough chances in the second half to finish the game off including hitting the post but we need to start a game with the sort of tempo we showed in the second half and really get into teams more.”
“It’s still a point in the bag but it feels like two points lost rather than a point gained. Next up is a long trip to Wotton, where a win, and results elsewhere, could see us go top.”
 | Article by Connor Summers |
If you would like to see your club’s news and/or match reports appear in future editions of the Bradley Stoke Sport Report, please email your contribution to our newsdesk by 6pm on a Monday.
