Tough opening weekend of the year for Bath Men and Women

Club struggle for numbers over the first weekend of the new year

Both the Men and Women struggled for numbers on the first playing weekend of 2025. The Men travelled to Cardiff with 9 players on Saturday for the Cotswolds D1 clash and the women only managed 7 to play in the Invitational cup at St Mary’s Calne.

It seems availability and injury are the main culprits

At Cardiff, the Harlequins lent players to make the squad 13, and, although they were players new to the game, they made a huge effort and complimented the Bath side very well.

The actual game itself was very even, Mike Carey did well at face and, had the Cardiff keeper not been so hot on one-on-one situations, Bath could have had several more goals, something for Simon Griffiths and Nik Roberts to work on.

The final score of 14:3 to Cardiff is a fair reflection of the game

For the Women the 7 players ran their hearts out, but numbers and a well drilled senior school side played a significant part. Although the score line of 21:7 looks on paper to be a bad result, it wasn’t, and a full Bath squad would have been closer. Sadly Katie Price, the Bath Keeper sustained an injury which may take her out of contention for games going forward.

From Abi Chel – Women’s Captain:

Bath headed to Saint Mary’s school in Calne to play our rescheduled Invitational Cup game – the first in the group stages. Faced with fewer numbers than a full team, we knew it would be a tough match especially against some very energetic youngsters. Nevertheless, we pulled together well as a team and put up a strong effort.

We played with 7 players in an 8-a-side match. We started well and figured out our strengths quickly against SMC. We pulled the game out wide and worked on our communication from the beginning. SMC had a very full squad, however, meaning that our energy levels were not up to match our opponents, ending in a scoreline of 21-7 to SMC.

Key mentions go to Ellie Chalk for some great shots on goal and to Liv Collett for finding space and great cuts off the ball. A big welcome back to Ellie, Liv and Alice Pearman, who join us after a little while with no matches – so it was great to have them on the team. Bonus points too, for getting out in January and having a great game.

Pictures on Facebook CLICK

Some stats for the Men’s game

Quarter scores

1^st quarter Cardiff 3:0 Bath

2^nd quarter Cardiff 4:0 Bath

3^rd quarter Cardiff 3:2 Bath

Griffiths, Guest

4^th quarter Cardiff 4:1 Bath

Dexter

Final Score Cardiff 14:3 Bath

Scorers

Simon Griffiths 1

Tom Dexter 1

Cardiff guest 1

Referee

Cork (Cardiff)