Bath placed equal 4th
The annual 5 a side indoor tournament for the Womens clubs is a competitive affair, despite the fact there are no league rankings at stake.
Bath put out a squad of 7 for the day, and on paper looked a handy group of players, all quick and able to handle under pressure.
The league and the G1 Leisure centre in Gloucester had got their wires crossed somewhere and instead of having two basketball courts to play on they found themselves with only the one space; the other court being occupied by a professional wrestling show (lots of loud music and grunts0.
After some hasty readjustments, the pitches ended up being long and thin, plus the pitch teams were reduced to 4 a side.
This is a frantic version of the game at the best of times, but the confined space, meant those with a calm head and the handling skills certainly had the advantage.
12 teams showed up, and the format was round robin with points for wins, ties and goals. Bath came out with a very good record of 5 wins and 3 losses. And the losses were tight (two of them by a single goal).
Against Bombers 2 Bath were unlucky, having Victoria Westwood sent off for a dangerous tackle (the only sending-off of the day, and having a goal disallowed despite the crease violation being after the ball entered the net losing the first game 4:3 was a tough result.
After the initial game Bath began to come into their own, some great link up play between Tania Coxan, Tora Joicey and Beth Carey created a lot of chances. Great defence from Harriet Gosden and Sarah Bibby made quite a difference to the structure of the team. Great aggressive ground ball from Victoria Westwood and Izzy Dudley meant plenty of possession.
Highlights of the day
Tania body checking a girl into the wall, men’s box style and Vic missing an open goal from 4 feet out, soon redeemed by tackling anything that remotely moved.
Big thanks to the organisers who kept the flow of the tournament going all day, not easy after the far from ideal conditions.
Scores
- Bath 3:4 Bristol Bombers 2
- Bath 4:3 Plymouth
- Bath 6:0 Bristol University
- Bath 4:1 CSM 1
- Bath 7:2 CSM 2
- Bath 6:1 Oxford
- Bath 3:4 Seagulls
- Bath 2:4 Cheltenham
Placings
- Bristol Bombers 1 – 58pts
- Seagulls – 43pts
- Bristol Bombers 2 – 40pts
- Bath – 35pts
- Cheltenham – 35pts
- CSM1 – 27pts
- Plymouth – 25pts
- Oxford – 20pts
- CSM 2 – 16pts
- Bristol university – 15pts
- Exeter Uni – 11pts
- Exeter university 2 – 9pts