Bristol Ladies Hockey 1’s hold on against Leeds to reach quarter-finals of BUCS cup

In this weeks #FocusMatch, Bristol Ladies 1’s held on in dreadful weather conditions to progress to the next round of the BUCS cup, and have given themselves a real shout of winning the coveted tournament.


The Bristol ladies hockey 1st IX reached the quarter-finals of the BUCS Cup on Wednesday with a 2-1 victory against Leeds at Coombe Dingle. The team went into the game off the back of a confidence-boosting win against South Premier champions Exeter two weeks previously but were aware that they faced tough opposition in the first knock-out round. Despite finishing bottom in the North league, Leeds have been involved in many tight games throughout this season and had shown ominous promise.

The hard work the girls put in during training clearly paid off

Bristol started brightly and held the majority of possession during the first fifteen minutes. Leeds, however, were strong in defence and the game remained goalless. Multiple chances to take the lead came and went, including a contentious disallowed goal by Lucy Preston who was proving to be a real handful. The Bristol girls persevered, despite the worsening weather conditions, and were rewarded with a goal when Lucy McKee produced a brilliant reverse-stick finish after excellent build-up play between the forwards. They remained on top for the rest of the half – even when down to 10 players after central-midfielder Rhian Richardson received a yellow-card – and prevented the strong Leeds midfield from dictating the game. Consequently their opponents were unable to create many notable goal-scoring opportunities.

Leeds had no answer to the fantastic team effort the girls put in

Bristol cemented their lead on half-time when a short-corner, which initially broke down, was played back into the circle by Charlotte Watt and eventually found the goal. Lucy Preston claimed the final touch.

The second-half was more tense and closely-fought, with the Leeds midfield having a greater influence on the game, but Bristol carved out chances to extend their lead. At one stage, two yellow cards in quick succession  left Bristol with only nine players on the pitch, but this did not deter the  girls and they controversially had a Rachel Bradshaw deflection from a short-corner disallowed when she was deemed to have encroached on the defender beforehand.

At one stage the game looked to be descending into farce, when Leeds then took off their goalie, hoping to capitalize on their numerical advantage, only to bring her back on when two of their own players were sent off. They did however pull a goal back, and Bristol were relieved to hear the whistle after a nervous final ten minute period.

They will now play Loughborough away on the 26th of February for a place in the semi-finals.