BGL u14 Westbury Park Foxes 2 v 0 Wotton Rovers

Bristol's Best Better Gloucestershire's Greatest

in Autumnal Table-Top Tussle

It's that time of year. Multicoloured yet dying leaves on the trees. A slight chill in the air. The clocks going back and the dreary prospect of darkness by 5. A somewhat premature and overlong half term break. Over-sugared kids terrorising old folk while dressed as witches.

But who cares? This was, at last, the game we'd all been waiting for. Yes, Arsenal and Liverpool are looking good, and well done to the Bristol City Vixens for dramatically securing promotion back to the WSL. There was, however, only one football show in town this weekend. The two sides sitting atop the Bristol Girls League, each with 100% records, finally met. Wotton Rovers came to BAWA to take on the U14 Foxes Girls for the first time this season. Irresistible force meets immovable object. Clash of the Titans. Super Sunday...(etc. - insert your own cliché here).

Wotton, the formidable and deserving league and cup double winners last season, arrived early, laid out the training cones and looked good in the warm-up. The Foxes, as is their way, shambled up in twos and threes and sprayed a few shots around the goal. Had a half term of lie-ins, sweets and spoiling by grandparents blunted their edge?

Smart Move!

Emphatically not. From the first whistle, the girls in green and white played with snap, verve and skill. First to every ball, and every second ball, the Foxes were swiftly into their stride. Mara was dominating the left wing with tricksy and fast running, frequently having her marker auf Toast. 'Amelia W No. 2' was a skilful and tenacious presence behind the front line, winning balls and releasing the marauding Zoe and Sim. It didn't take long before the pressure told. Zoe chased down a loose ball in defence, dispossessed her opponent and powered towards the goal to finish from close range.

Amelia Feeds Zoe!

As the first half wore on, the only worry was the lack of a second goal, with Wotton potentially dangerous  on the counter or from the set piece.  But the 2016-2017 Foxes are a tougher proposition. Last season's set piece vulnerability, or occasional outpacing on the break by Wotton and others, have gone. The iron defence of Rhiannon-Abby-Millie-Emily snuffed out all threats with their pace and strength, while also frequently launching counter-attacks with a trick or some skill on the ball. Lulu was made of something even stronger than iron, getting her head, feet and occasionally her face (ouch!) to every ball in front of the back four.

Zoe (About to hit the post!)

Leading 1-0 at half time, the Foxes changed ends expecting Wotton to up their intensity. The visitors did just that, beginning to win a greater share of midfield possession and launching some dangerous breaks down the right. Keeper Betty, despite prolonged quiet spells, showed great hands, feet and coolness when called upon. One perfectly timed challenge by her in the box saved a likely goal, as did a brave gathering of a whipped in ball at the second attempt.

Betty Goes Long!

Then Emily cleared her lines and rampaged down the left wing. When she unselfishly cut in and laid it off to Zoe, it seemed the chance had gone. But with a couple of steps and shimmies past her defender, "Z-Jo" was onto her right foot, and curled what even greengrocers would call an absolute peach into the top corner.

From there on in, despite a couple of minor scares calmly mopped up by the impassable defence, the Foxes saw out the game in relative comfort. Wotton could not break through, and the 'Hoops' were only denied a third when Zoe's shot rebounded off the inside of the post into the keeper's arms. Eventually the whistle blew for a thoroughly deserved home victory in a tough but sporting contest.

Rhiannon plays Amelia in!

There were multiple star performers and performances. As well as those mentioned above, Lauren showed some great touches and composure on the ball despite still recovering from a flu jab and brace fitting double whammy. Georgia, Ella, Molly and Lily all put in lively and valuable shifts coming off the bench. As is so often the way in the best performances, everyone contributed and there was not a single weak link anywhere on the pitch. Thanks also to 'number one fan' and Academy star Daisy for coming with Dad to cheer her friends on.

Top of the table after seven games, the Foxes are looking very strong, but the coaching team will be stamping (not literally) on any signs of complacency or triumphalism. There now follows a brief enforced rest break, after the "decision" (ahem..) of the club hierarchy (not Tamsin) not to enter the U14 girls in the County Cup. Well, it leaves them free to focus on the league, so it could prove an inspired move...

Captain of the Week : Lulu

Girls of the Game: Amelia W and Emily H

U14 Girls Match Report Omnibus Edition!

WP Foxes 9 Portishead Town 1         25/9/16

Wells City U15 2 WP Foxes 2           (friendly) 2/10/16

Emersons Green 1 WP Foxes 6          9/10/16

Whitchurch 1 WP Foxes 4   16/10/16

In what originally looked like a fairly barren fixture period, some clever rearranging and contacts in deepest Somerset kept the U14 girls match fit and in form throughout October. The deep and talented squad has been utilised to the limit, and the girls continue to gel and improve at 11-a-side .

The Portishead game, after a close start, was a surprisingly comfortable win. Our old friends and rivals from North Somerset were perhaps not quite at their best, or at full strength, and once the fifth and six goals had gone in, heads may have begun to drop. That was to take nothing away from the Foxes, who displayed ruthlessness in front of goal, accompanied by some breathtaking build up play and passing on both wings. Goal number 4 in particular was a peach, with the play cleverly switched from right to left before the ball was centred for Mara to finish first time.

Former Westbury Parker and friend Poppy plays for Wells City, who actually play at Wookey. So it was that on an otherwise free weekend the Foxes headed off to Somerset for a friendly with the “big girls” from the local U15 league. This was (by all accounts) a superb performance against a strong side. The Foxes led 2-0 for most of the game, but a late injury to Zoe reduced them to 10 players. The hosts then came back to level the match and salvage Somerset pride, but the result was secondary – it was a lovely day out in a beautiful location, and a genuinely friendly match.

How high Molly?!!

Emersons Green have always been tough opponents, springing a shock victory on the Foxes at home last season. They were, as always, strong but fair, and looked to make use of the long through ball and set piece opportunities at which they excel.

Olivia fires in!

But the 2016-17 model Foxes come with increased steel at the back, courtesy of Abby, and the whole team have upped their heading and clearing ability to deal with the aerial threat. Emily H was tireless at left back, snuffing out countless balls and breaks on her side then launching counter-attacks down the left via the dancing feet of Mara.

Zoe plays it in!

After a brisk start from Emersons Green, in which every challenge was contested and they broke promisingly several times, the Foxes steadied nerves with an early brace of goals. The first was a long range screamer from ‘Amelia W No. 2’, shortly followed by a brilliant solo Zoe effort. But Emersons still threatened, and when excellent stand-in keeper Millie could only parry a cross from the right, they finished from close range to make it a one-goal game. A second Zoe strike just before half time restored the two goal cushion. In the second half, the Foxes’ athleticism and fitness told, as Emersons Green could not quite sustain the pressing and intensity of the first half.

Em clears the line!

New look midfield!

Three further unanswered goals followed, with Zoe completing yet another hat trick, and Sim and Mara deservedly getting on the scoresheet too. The final score did not reflect the closeness of the game, particularly in the first half, and Emersons Green will trouble plenty of sides this season.

And so to Whitchurch away last Sunday. Big squad, no problems, right? Hmm..with a couple of days to go, an unprecedented number of injury, illness, athletics and ‘away for the weekend’ absences threatened to leave the Foxes with fewer than 11 players. With Whitchurch clearly improving rapidly – witness their 2-1 defeat of Bradley Stoke the previous week – it was essential to get a full team out. Thankfully, it was ‘alright on the night’ (or rather afternoon), as new recruit Lily S made her competitive debut this season after a spell of theatrical duty and Ella B got the all clear on a wrist fracture to play with a Vardy style splint.

Denied again!

This was, however, no easy game, particularly with no substitutes available. The home team defended resolutely, with a back 5 and 2 holding midfielders. The strong wind and extremely bouncy ball didn’t help the away team, who were frustrated repeatedly by the home keeper who did well to keep the score down. Two fist half goals from Zoe were matched in the second half by a fine low shot by Sim and a pile-driver from Emily following a fine run to the edge of the box. On another day it could have been 6 or 7……

The Foxes tired without subs and allowed a breakaway consolation goal as the back 3 got stretched, but had more than enough to see out the last few minutes.

BGL u14 Longwell Green 0 v 14 Westbury Park Foxes

Foxes Impress with Total Football!


A somewhat hurried change of kick off time had the Foxes scrambling from lie-ins to make the trip out to Longwell Green.
Sadly Amelia Wyatt didn't get the call in time, meaning that the Foxes would only line up with one Amelia W on the team sheet! With Olivia and Rhiannon missing and Ella carrying a knock, Millie T slotted into the back line and Georgia partnered Lulu in the centre of the park, with Molly starting wide on the right.
Playing on the big LG first team pitch should have brought benefits, but it was badly in need of a cut, reducing the run and bounce of the ball, and there was a true 'premier league' welcome as the away dugout remained locked for the duration!
All that said this was a tremendous performance from the Foxes, who are starting to resemble Man City. Top of the table, tick, Sweeper - Keeper, tick, Manager with number 1 haircut, tick! The greatest resemblance though, was the way in which every single player from front to back was comfortable on the ball, able to turn defence into attack, and seamlessly switch positions as required.
Such was the dominance of the away team, the ball never went out of play behind Betty's goal for either a goal kick or corner. The back line joked she could have done her homework in the second half!
The goals flowed from the first couple of minutes, as Sim opened the scoring. An OG made it 2, before Zoe powered home number 3. The Pep inspired substitution brought Amelia W on to add number 4 with her 3rd touch of the match, before Sim heel volleyed a corner spectacularly for number 5.
Abby, clearly now fed up with feeding the front line, ran from the back before smashing home from the edge of the box for number 6, before the half time whistle.
The second half was totally dominated by the Foxes. Keen to get in on the action, and with Longwell playing with 9 behind the ball, the Foxes back line started to push up into midfield. Lauren fed Ella for number 7, before Georgia crossed for Zoe (8). Lauren then started to take control of the left central channel to score 9 before Zoe hit her hat trick (10).
The Foxes by now had both main strikers on the bench, pushing Abby up front, where she obliged with number 11. Georgia finished off a flowing run for number 12, before Lauren again drove through the defence for 13. The final goal saw Ella slide in at the far post as Emily's shot just failed to fall inside the post after a dizzy run from left back.
There will be tougher tests this season, but it can be difficult when a game turns into attack verses defence. It was fantastic to see the passing and movement that opened up the opposition, and great to see how versatile all the players were, adapting to different positions.


Captain of the week: Amelia W

Girl of the game: Lauren

BSYL Year 11: Foxes 1 - 1 Rockleaze, 10/09

The start of a new season saw the year 11's back at St Bedes and on the very lovely 3G.

After a couple of tricky pre-season friendlies the squad were all raring to go in a competitive fixture.

Last time we met Rockleaze in the League we ended up snatching a point with a very late goal in a game where we dominated, struggled to convert chances and conceded from a relatively rare piece of pressure.

This time round I could almost cut and paste that match report and be done with it.

Overall the game was an exciting and tense. The first half was short of quality but any neutral would probably have enjoyed the effort and the end to end nature of it. The Foxes struggle to find any rhythm, being drawn into a rushed, ball-in-the-air kind of contest which isn't really what we do best. We had the lions share of possession while Rockleaze did hit the bar and so 0-0 at half time felt reasonable outcome.

The second half saw the away team reduced to 10 men due to school rugby matches and this led to the Foxes pretty much being camped in the opposition half. The home team's passing and movement improved and with that came a number of good goal scoring opportunities. A notable feature was the quality of the Foxes' corners from Ollie, Const and Sam but sadly no a single one was converted.

On rare foray into the home team's half, Rockleaze snatched the lead with a goal that said a lot about their spirit. If anything this further spurred us on and Jack equalised almost immediately from perhaps our best move of the day. Despite Sam hitting the bar, three or four clear chances and a good penalty shout we were unable to add to our score and had to settle for a point.

A frustrating start to the season, played in great spirit and with glimpses of better things to come.

Jack was voted players' player and Const, on his debut, coaches player.

 

Putting up the goals (*no Foxes were harmed in the making of this picture)

Foxes win tough battle of the Greens

Westbury Park Foxes U14 Girls 5 Keynsham Town 0

A new era dawned at BAWA, with the girls' first home fixture on the 11 a side pitch parallel to Southmead Road, just yards over the county boundary into South Gloucestershire. The first visitors, themselves all the way (technically) from Bath and North East Somerset, were the formidable and hugely improved Keynsham Town, hosts of last summer's Chinese food-fuelled and sunshine soaked 11 a side tournament. Fresh from a shock heavy opening day defeat of Portishead, they would surely provide a stiff test. They would have to do so in blue bibs, to avoid a green-and-white colour clash with the home side.

The Foxes faced their first big challenge half an hour before kick off - putting the posts and nets up. That service is apparently not included in the annual pitch hire fees. Happily, the groundsman was on hand to provide a brief tutorial. Net on first, corner supports on last, and on no account should more than two people lift the posts into the holes. After only a small amount of faffing, it was 'job done' and we were ready to go.

The Foxes lined up in their now familiar but fluid 4-4-2 formation, and proceeded to dominate the early possession and exchanges. With Lulu winning every first, second and even third ball challenge in the midfield, and lively forays on the wings and through the middle from Mara, Georgia and the strikers, it was only a matter of time before the pressure told. The early goal came at the fourth time of asking, when a goalmouth 'stramash' ended with Sim blasting in from close range. The second followed soon after - by now the transitions (especially from Emily and Abby) from defence to attack were flowing smoothly, and Lulu was released into a pocket of space 20 yards out, from where she buried a low piledriver in the bottom corner.

The 'three Ps' - pressing, possession and passing - actually four, if you add passion..and five if you add 'poise'..anyway ...those were all maintained, and it was not long before Zoe homed  in on goal from the right to finish low for number three. The Foxes went to the break seemingly in control of the game and cruising.

Keynsham were not, however, about to roll over. They came out for the second half fired up, moving the ball well and winning more and more 50:50s. The Foxes, perhaps too comfortable in their lead, sat off and allowed Keynsham to play some nice football, with several dangerous attacks down the right wing. For long spells the ball was in the Foxes' half, and 11-a-side debutante Betty in goal was forced to gather or catch a number of through balls, clear her lines and generally look lively. More than once it appeared that Keynsham were in, but with Betty tipping one high goal-bound effort aside, and Rhiannon more than once dribbling out of trouble in the six yard box, the line remained unbroken.

Somewhat inevitably, and a little harshly on the visitors, the Foxes then struck lethally on the counter attack, twice more. Sim claimed the fourth from an oddly deflected looping shot, then Zoe charged down the right, ignoring shouts of 'cross it!' to find the top left corner with a sweet strike. It was, in the end, a convincing but slightly flattering 5-0 win. Keynsham will trouble most BGL teams this season, and will still consider themselves title contenders despite this setback. They never let their heads drop, and never stopped trying for the elusive goal their efforts deserved.

Strong Foxes performances were too numerous to list in full, but particular mentions are due to Georgia, who impressed with her silky touch and intelligent runs; keeper Betty, for filling the goal and not putting a foot (or glove) wrong; and to the tenacious and skilful Emily H, who time and time again snuffed out real danger on the left side, then usually countered with a strong run or through ball to the dancing feet of Mara.

So it's two wins out of two, and top of the league above (possibly alphabetically, but even so..) the only other team with a 100% record. There have been interesting results all round, in what must be the most competitive edition yet of this league. But the Foxes, with four other good players missing but soon to return, are looking as strong as those goalposts.....

Girl of the Game: Georgia

Goal of the Game: Lulu's scorcher

A chocolate bar, today (match photos not available).

A sweet opening victory, but a few sticky moments

Fry Club FC 2 Westbury Park Foxes U14 Girls 6 : 4th September 2016

The long wait was over. After literally days without football, and long lazy summer holidays seemingly without an end (at least for parents), the Foxes were finally back in action with a tricky away match at league debutants Fry Club FC. They might not make chocolate there anymore, but they still have massive playing fields. Under cool Autumn skies and a strong breeze, a squad of 13 girl Foxes took on a strong side formed from former Boco and Longwell Green teams.

The Foxes had the best of the opening exchanges, and were soon 2-0 up when pressure applied on the Fry defence and keeper resulted in a couple of close range tap-ins from Sim. The Foxes possession, slick passing and movement continued throughout the half. Further chances were narrowly dragged wide or blasted over. But then, just to emphasise the challenge of 11 a side this season, and the need for vigilance at set pieces, a partly cleared corner was volleyed in from distance by a Fry striker to make the score just 2-1 at half time. How would the Foxes respond?

Shortly after the restart, the spectators' attention was diverted by the sight of a lovely old steam train rattling through Keynsham. Luckily the girls' focus was on the football, and Zoe drove through the Fry defence to knock in the third, while many parents were still watching the choo-choo. She added a similar fourth shortly afterwards to make the game safe. From there on, the Foxes' speed and skill began to take its toll. Rhiannon, Ella and Zoe began regularly to run and pass through the Fry defence on the right. A particularly slick combination culminated in a mazy Rhiannon dribble and cut back to the waiting Olivia, who blasted in the fifth. Zoe got her well deserved hat trick from another gallop through the tiring opposition. Further goals could have followed but for the brave Fry keeper and the goalpost. Fry pulled back a late consolation when the Foxes failed to clear a bouncing ball in the box, but overall it was a good win against much improved, battling and always sporting opponents.

There were many positives to take from this opener. New-ish recruits Georgia, Olivia and Abby slotted in effortlessly, with Abby magnificent alongside Lauren and Emily in defence, and especially in the air - we finally have someone who can head the ball! Mara showed a welcome physical edge to her play on the left wing, holding off bigger opponents while regularly going past them. The Zoe/Sim strike force showed at times terrifying pace and power, amply supported by the deft crosses and flick-ons of Ella and Molly. Everyone else contributed fully, on and off the bench - it was as if they'd never been away. And many thanks to our stand-in goalies Amelia, Lulu and Emily. The rumours that Betty has gone out on loan to Serie A in Italy are thankfully untrue, and she will return next week.

Many teams will struggle against this strong Fry team, so an away win and six goals was a good start. Chocolate deserved all round, we think.....

Hat trick hotshot: Zoe

Girl of the Game: Abby