Hockey Ladies 3s Reach Dingle Cup Final

A brilliant cup run has taken the UBLHC 3s all the way to the final. Their coach talks The Tab through their roller-coaster journey.

“As the season started a threadbare UBLHC squad travelled to Plymouth, a team just below them in the league. Victory was eventually earned in extra time; little did we know this was all part of the road to Dingle.

The next round saw us dispatch Swansea 3s 19-0 in a spectacular game, with Laura Yell scoring a double hat-trick, and Frankie Johnson and Sophie Knight each bagging four as well. This monumental win was perhaps the first sign of what the side could achieve.

Aberystwyth, leaders of the parallel league, were the next victims to fall to Bristol’s campaign, setting up a quarter-final tie against Cardiff Medics.

Second in the league above us, the Cardiff Medics had already beaten the Bristol second team. This wouldn’t be easy.

However, in a team meeting before Christmas the squad had decided to really target the cup, and no stone was left unturned in preparation, even if Bob Reeves, vice president of the RFU said it was over-ambitious!

After a team meal and inspirational speeches Bristol were ready. Cardiff Medics were not.

A close fought game saw Bristol come from 1-0 down to head into the break level at one all. As the game wore on Cardiff couldn’t keep up with Bristol’s pace and fitness. Clearly those 0730 starts on a Monday for strength and conditioning were giving Bristol the edge.

With five minutes to go, Bristol pounced. The Medics had been beaten 2-1. The underdogs were heading into the semis.

Just a few Mondays later and the team once again gathered for a pasta meal, knowing all that stood between them and a home cup final was Swansea’s 1st XI, a team who were top of the league above, and had yet to be beaten in a Wednesday fixture.

However, when the day came Bristol were the better team, going 1-0 up early on, to the delight of the crowd of supporters.

Swansea though weren’t finished and fought back to lead 2-1 until Bristol recovered with a far post deflection of Laura Yell’s reverse stick cross: a quality goal.

The game plan was simple, stick with them until 10 minutes to go, then punish them. As with Cardiff, Bristol left it late, this time until the 68th minute to score the winner. Full time, 3-2 and an incredible game of hockey.

Bristol face Exeter 3s in the final, a simple game bringing out a big Hockey rivalry. Bristol, Exeter. Our 3s, their 3s.

The semi-final crowd really helped cheer us to victory and were hugely appreciated by the team.

With guaranteed late drama, you won’t get to see a better, tenser, more exciting game of hockey anywhere else. So at 1530 on the 13th March, come down to Dingle and help us send Exeter home empty-handed.

Until then,

Ladies 3s”