Bristol Bombers 2 v Bath 2
Cotswolds League D2
Date: 17 November 2018
Final Score Bristol 2:4 Bath
Bath 2’s get first win of the season
It’s been coming, Bath 2’s first win of the season; helped by the fact that all the new players are improving by the hour and players are coming back from injury. Each game has seen a marked improvement in all departments, particularly in handling and ground ball; player positioning, when looking for the next pass and defensive coordination are also starting to see the fruits of a lot of hard work.
Bath are still yet to get a full-strength squad out to a game though, and this game saw Bath travel with very little experience in attack, but with an abundance of long poles (six out of the twelve players on show to be exact).
This win was built on solid defence, Bristol had the ball in attack for long periods of the game, and the defenders worked well in keeping the home team at bay. Bath used D poles Oliver Walker and Fin Bichan as short sticks in order to balance the team out and utilise Shaun Peacock as a backup face man with the long pole. This left 17-year old keeper Will Tilson with the daunting task of bossing a defence that’s combined age amounted to well over 100 years. This experience proved invaluable, Steve Mooney, Rich Bowen-Ashwin and Paul Bown weren’t in the mood to give the home side any space.
In attack and midfield the new players put in an excellent shift, Oluwatoke Akinsaye, Alex Blackwell, James Parrett and Josh Passey chased every ball, gaining crucial possession.
The game started with a bang for Bath, Parrett winning the face and Walker coming up with the ground ball, 10 paces later and a neat roll dodge put Walker in front of goal for a shot which he duly converted, Bath 1 nil up in less than a minute. Bath had a lot of the ball in the first quarter, but could not convert the possession into more goals, at one stage hitting keeper, bar and upright in a frantic passage of play. At the other end all Bristol’s possession was snuffed out before it could develop into anything threatening by the Bath defence.
The second quarter saw more of the same, although Bath tended to be more run and gun compared to a more settled approach by the Bristol team. A good burning run across the front of the defence with a well-placed shot by Blackwell bagged a second for Bath midway through the quarter. And a lucky deflected shot from Nik Roberts put Bath into a good 3 goal lead at the half.
The third quarter saw Bristol press much better in defence, and but for good knock downs by the Bath poles and great saves by Tilson, Bristol could have been up by the end of the quarter, Bath weathered the storm to go into the last period of the game 3:1 up.
In the fourth quarter the game became much more even, both teams having chances, Bristol drew first blood make the game 3:2 and put some jitters in the Bath ranks. The 4th goal for Bath, and some relief from the pressure came via a second goal from Roberts, batting the ball into the net from a rebound.
This proved enough to see the visitors run the game out and take the win.
This was a battling win, players are still finding their feet as to their natural positions and other players had to play out of their comfort zone. The team is starting to get an understanding of each other’s strengths and an awareness of where the next phase of attack or defence is going to be. This team is going from strength to strength.
MVP James Parrett – ran tirelessly and faced well.
Quarter Scores
1st quarter Bristol 0:1 Bath
Walker
2nd quarter Bristol 0:2 Bath
Blackwell, Roberts
3rd quarter Bristol 1:0 Bath
4th quarter Bristol 1:1 Bath
Roberts
Final Score Bristol 2:4 Bath
Scorers
Oliver Walker 1
Alex Blackwell 1
Nik Roberts 2
Referee
Tav Yung (Bristol)