AEK BOCO Red 1 v 1 Westbury Park Foxes

Foxes Rally to earn a point in the final fixture!

The Foxes finished another strong league season with a battling draw against a committed and physically imposing Boco side. 2nd place in the League was secured by last month’s away win at Wotton, then confirmed when Portishead clinched the title with a 7-0 away win at Bradley Stoke.

The girls and their entourage travelled to a windswept and bumpy Page Park for the first time. Most, but not all, found it successfully and on time. With Martin on call, Graham away biking and coach Mark delayed, John and Christoph kindly took the reins, with Ewan persuaded out of his camping chair to be a linesman.
The high wind and fast surface made for challenging conditions, with particular danger from long balls and throw ins. The Foxes struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, despite having the wind at their back and the slight slope in their favour. Boco were breaking up most Foxes attacks and winning the second balls, although Sim and Lulu came close with long range shots. A slight defensive hesitation on a through ball then let Boco in to open the scoring midway through the half.

Things got tough for the Foxes as poor Mara limped off injured, although by this time Ella had arrived and could take her place. It got even tougher shortly afterwards, as close to half time Betty was injured making a typically brave 50:50 challenge at the feet of a striker. She had to leave the field in pain, leaving Lulu to don the magic gloves and silver shirt. That left the Foxes down to just 10 girls, with a Lulu-shaped gap in midfield.

Thankfully, in the second half the rest of the squad responded magnificently to the challenge. Daisy broke down the left, then turned and lofted a speculative shot into the wind. The opposition coach said (very generously) "that's in" as soon as it was struck, and he was right - top corner!

Young 'uns Millie, Ella W and Lily were all thrown into the fray for long periods, and battled their hearts out, sometimes tenaciously winning challenges against players who towered over them. Boco stepped up the pressure and forced a number of defensive clearances from through balls and well-taken set pieces, but the Foxes were equal to the task.  Gradually, they began to get their passing game together, and threaten down the right wing with the mazy running of Rhiannon and Ella.

The Foxes withstood further Boco pressure, and a high number of corners (most of which were repelled by the head of Daisy), to force further chances in the final minutes, culminating in a brilliant through ball to Sim. She expertly rounded the keeper but was forced agonisingly wide of the goal. The whistle blew and it was a hard-earned but fair draw, with both teams reasonably happy. The Foxes then got even happier with the help of a) ice creams from the van at Page Park (thanks Martin!) and b) end of season pizza at Amici later on...

Girl of the game: Daisy (for her wonder goal, and many headers!)

Captain of the week: Lulu (and for taking over in goal)

14/03 - BSYL Year 9 - Golden Hill Sonics 0 - 4 Foxes,

The Foxes travelled the short distance to play Golden Hill Sonics and came home with a deserved three points. For the second league fixture in a row it was a second versus third clash and while both sides were determined and committed, it was the Foxes that dominated the day. Mixing up their style of play, passing with accuracy and defending with discipline it was a very good performance from the away side, with only their finishing letting them down, as they should have had more to show at half time than two goals from in-form Omar and one from Dom.

The Sonics had the slight slope at their backs in the second half and although they had more possession than in the first half they struggled to find the right final ball. Owen  in the Foxes goal made one great save and a couple of brave interventions to snuff out the rare threats on his goal. Throughout the Foxes continued to impress going forward and Rauf completed a well deserved hatrick with a minute to go. 

With two regular defenders missing, the Foxes keeping a clean sheet was a great achievement with the back four of Jacob, Alec, Tom and man of the match Nick deserving great praise.

BGL u12 Wotton Rovers 3 v 4 Westbury Park Foxes

Foxes survive late scare to secure runners up spot!

A drizzly day and sloping pitch awaited the Foxes as they made the trip up the M5 to Wotton, knowing that a win was required to ensure there would be trophies on the mantlepiece at the end of the year!

With squad withdrawals, and players carrying knocks, the depleted Foxes called on India to make her seasons debut, and she took her place on the bench with Ella W as the Foxes kicked off up the slope.

Wotton had the best of the early running, as the Foxes afford them too much time and space, culminating in a pile driver from Amy that was well wide, but struck from 30 meters out!

Soon though the Foxes had the lead as Molly broke on the right before sliding a perfectly weighted pass around the oncoming midfielder that Sim took off the toes of the defender to lash home.

Sim opens the Scoring!

1-0 was soon 2-0 as the Foxes worked it well on the left and Lulu fired in to beat the keeper at the near post.

With the 2 goal advantage, India replaced Ella B and picked up where she left off last year, with strong tackling, pacy running and quick closing down!

Lulu plays India in!

The Foxes were in the ascendency, although Mara had to be withdrawn following a knee injury, with Ella returning and India switching wings. A series of corners to the away team just before the half ended saw Lulu add to her tally as she picked up a failed clearance to rifle the ball into the far corner.

Lulu fires in number 3!

So 3-0 at half time and the benefit of the slope to come. Surely this was in the bag…..

Wotton had different ideas as they looked sharp from the off and recycled the second phase ball well, catching the Foxes defence. As the cross came over it skidded awkwardly in the difficult conditions under Betty's arm, and as the keeper turner to reclaim 2 Wotton players were there to bundle the ball home.

The Foxes were spurred on and went straight back from the kick off to restore the 3 goal cushion, with Sim blasting in.

That how to beat the offside trap!

From there it was a pulsating end to end contest. The only difference being Wooton's chances went in whilst the Foxes hit the woodwork twice and then narrowly missed past the post, as the home keeper made some great saves.
So relief when the whistle went at 4-3, knowing that the Foxes would finish in the top 2 for the third successive year!

Captain of the Week: Sim

Girl of the game : India

BGL U12 Westbury Park Foxes 2 v 0 Bradley Stoke

Wonder Goals fire Foxes back into the Buffet Places!

The return leg of the North Bristol Classico saw the Foxes gain the advantage over Bradley Stoke, following a thrilling away match, earlier in the season, when we had managed to claw back 3 goals to salvage a point.
There was a steely determination that, this time, we would not allow the opposition the time and space to play.
The plan was to simply pass the ball well and get the ball early to Sim to use her pace behind the defence.

The game started well with the Foxes quickly on the offence. Good wing play from Mara and Ella, mixing up running wide with early infield passing set up a couple of early chances which were well dealt with by the away keeper.
Soon though Bradley Stoke started to fire and gain some territorial advantage, forcing a couple of corners and testing Betty in the home goal with some long range shots.
The first half ebbed and flowed, with the Foxes forced into a change as Izzy took over from Ella B, who was carrying an injury into the game.
 0-0 at the break, and a confident Foxes team talk, meant the girls started the second half feeling that a break through would come.
With Ella B pulling up again, Ella W came on in defence and Rhiannon pushed into midfield. The Foxes went on the offensive, and a delightful through ball was well taken by Sim who beat the defender and unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that flew into the net. 1-0 to the Foxes!
With the breakthrough the home coaches reinforced the need to close down the opposition quickly as we knew that Stoke would come back at us. Sure enough, the away team pushed up and again were caught by a through ball from Lulu, which Sim dispatched in a similar fashion to the first goal, this time with the help of the far post.
From there on the Foxes did a magnificent job of harrying and closing down Stoke to prevent any danger.
So 2-0 at the end and a fine result that pushes the Foxes back up to second in the table.

With only 2 games left it is tight at the top, and the season is still far from over!

Captain of the Week: Rhiannon

Girl of the Game: Sim

BSYL Yr 9 - Thornbury Town 0 - 4 Foxes, 28/02

The Foxes travelled to Thornbury, with the two teams level on points in second and third place in the table. To add extra spice to the game, Thornbury had thoroughly deserved their win earlier in the season where they played the better football and ran out 6-2 winners. The Foxes were determined not to allow a repeat performance.

Almost from the first whistle the away side dominated the play, and it was hard to work out how some of the chances, created through high quality passing football, were not been converted. After about 20 minutes, Ollie S, fresh on as a substitute, coolly slotted away a through ball that split the Thornbury defence. Not long after the same player made it two as Thornbury allowed the ball to run into the box. 

2-0 at half time, but with the home side taking the advantage of the slope there was all to play for.

As expected Thornbury came out intent on narrowing the gap but the game was put beyond doubt when Nick curled a great shot into the corner of the goal from the edge of the box. This was followed by a deserved goal for Sam, and only some very good keeping kept the score to 4-0. 

Another encouraging performance from the Foxes with all of the squad making a significant contribution against a very good side. Omar contributed one of his most complete games, causing the Thornbury defence trouble all game. Sam put in a captain's performance. Nick, Joe and Dom dominated midfield and the back three were excellent.

Man of the match, however, went to Owen for an outstanding display at the base of the midfield.

Year 9 BSYL - Bishopston 2 - 2 Foxes, 07/02

The top of the table clash ended with points being shared after an absorbing and competitive 70 minutes. The frosty morning meant that the pitch at BAWA was tricky, with the ball bouncing and skidding through, but in many ways this just added to the spectacle.

Bishopston started with the advantage of the slight slope and had the best of the first half, although Archie was rarely troubled, really only being called on once to make a fine one-on-one save. After 20 minutes, however, the home side did take the lead when our marking for once let us down. Reassuringly, we carried a threat throughout the half, with Omar, supported in particular by Ed and Jack, working hard to create a couple of decent chances but we just could not find a good enough finish. 

The second half half was a completely different story as we dominated possession, carving out a succession of chances from both open play and set pieces. Omar took his two goals very neatly, one from a fine pass from Ed  and the second from a great run by Harri. Owen took a string of threatening corners, none of which quite got the necessary finishing touch.

To Bishopston's credit, they never game up and, on a rare foray into the Foxes half, a scrambled passage of play led to the equaliser with only a couple of minutes to go.

A great game, with all of the Foxes contributing but Danny was named as the man of the match for a great performance in centre midfield.

BSYL Year 9 - Foxes 2 - 2 Rockleaze, 31/01

An entertaining game of football, played in a very good spirit, ended with the points being shared. The Foxes had the best of the first half and goals from Ollie S and Omar took them into a 2-0 lead. Further chances were created but not taken, either through the good work of the Rockleaze keeper or inaccurate finishing, before Rockleaze pulled one back.  

The strengthening wind gave the away side a definite advantage in the second half and Rockleaze scored again from a long clearance from their own half that bounced into into the Foxes' box. The game turned scrappy as the conditions worsened and Rockleaze could have grabbed all three points but for the intervention from the woodwork and a great save from Owen.

Man of the match, for the second week running, was Tom for a great effort in man marking Rockleaze's danger man.