Grovelands backs Firebrands
For the past 3 years I’ve played for the University of Bristol Ladies Hockey Club, representing the first team throughout, and captaining the squad last year. We won the South League in 2009 and reached the National Cup Semi-finals in 2010. In the local league for the West of England, we were promoted to the Premier Division in 2010 and maintained a solid mid-table place during our first year in the League.
I moved out of Bristol in July and decided it was time to move hockey clubs too, to play a higher level of hockey and meet new people along the way. I chose to play for Firebrands, a friendly hockey club in the West Conference League (equivalent to the Championship in football). I was accepted into the first team and have enjoyed playing with the squad ever since. The team train and play home matches on a recently laid water-based Astroturf pitch at Clifton College. This is a new venue for fixtures and a wonderful surface to play on.
Despite the many new faces in the team (including mine), we quickly gelled. Both pre-season matches went well, with wins against Bath and Exe, two rivals in the West. The first match in the West Conference League was away against Gloucester City. The match was very close; we had to fight for a 3-3 draw in the dying seconds. This was a very competitive first match and I was delighted to be nominated Man of the Match (or Girl of the Game) by my new team mates.
Having beaten Exe in the pre-season warm up, we were expecting it to be much easier facing them again than it turned out. It was a scorching hot day and in the end we had to settle for another 3-3 draw. Top of the table Buckingham were a different kettle of fish, the following week they showed why they are holding the top spot, beating us 4-1.
Mid-October away at Bath, we really had to win this fixture as points on the table were lacking and the coach was becoming more and more theatrical on the sideline! Some excellent play meant a 4-2 win against our closest rivals and setting us up to give Southampton’s Trojans a good game the following weekend.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, they took away a cheap 3 points but we are determined to present them with more of a challenge at our next encounter! On the same weekend we had a Cup match against the University of Birmingham, this team was fourth in the National Premier League (like the Premiership in football) at the time so we were definitely the underdogs. We picked ourselves up after our poor performance against Trojans and actually managed to give them a run for their money. They won 3-1 in the end but our coach said it was the best we’d played all season, and I picked up a Man of the Match win so I was doubly pleased.
After a weekend off, the next test was away against Swansea. They were second in the table, but if we could pull off a performance like we did against Birmingham Uni, it would be possible to beat them. We had numerous chances but could not put the ball in the back of the net. Swansea managed to sneak one past our keeper, leaving us feeling robbed. The Swansea team are a tough bunch and most team members came away with a bruise as well, so a frustrating day in Wales!
The most recent match was away at Staines. Again, a tough bunch of ladies (I thought I was playing hockey not rugby) but we took no prisoners and romped home with a 6-3 win. One of the girls got a hat-trick which is always a great confidence boost. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Roll on Barnes at home next week!
Charlotte.