Swansea University 6 Bridgwater 1st 1

Bridgwater slumped to a heavy defeat at the hands of Swansea on Saturday.

Bridgwater looked to stay structured and keep possession and Swansea set up well with a high press.

After the first five minutes Bridgwater held their nerve and started creating chances, but it was Swansea who had the first chance to score and after only ten minutes of play Bridgwater were three goals down.

Bridgwater knew structure was key to try and claw their way back into the match.

Swansea restarted and were attacking with long balls on a quick and bouncy water based pitch.

After wasting a few chances, Swansea’s persistence paid off and a pin point pass that was threaded through the defence left a one-on-one with Ewan Campbell in the Bridgwater goal.

Campbell didn’t win the ball and a loud whistle from the umpire awarded a penalty, which was converted and Bridgwater now faced an uphill struggle.

Bridgwater did get a goal back through from Joe Sibley.

It must have been the world record for the slowest drag flick, with a defender deflecting the ball back into the goal.

Only further last ditch defending from Bridgwater prevented more goals.

Bridgwater look ahead to the start of the turnaround fixtures with an away match at Exeter University, seeking to repeat the win in the home fixture to ensure Bridgwater don’t dip into the bottom four relegation zone ahead of Christmas break.

Man of the match was a tie between three players - Ben Rogers, Joe Sibley and Liam Pigden.

Bristol University 4th 2 Bridgwater 3rd 6

Bridgwater have leapfrogged Bristol University into third place in the league, following Saturday’s 6-2 victory.

Bridgwater made a flying start to the game, putting the opposition on the back foot and exposing the backline.

Tom Lott tested the keeper early on, only a good save denying the inform goal scorer.

Despite not being able to open the scoring, he turned provider, with a great cross leaving the chance on a plate for Jordan Rawles, who finished emphatically with a thunderous strike into roof of the net. The second came from a short corner, which was fired into the keeper triggering a goal mouth scramble.

Rawles popped up again with a sharp reverse stick finish into the bottom of the net, giving Bridgwater an early two goal cushion.

Paul Tilley took to the field and soon scored, before turning provider and picking out Lott in the D, who fizzed the ball into the back board.

Tilley’s second came soon after half time and he then exposed the defence and ran for the by-line, picking out Lott through the eye of a needle, expertly negotiating the ball between two opposition defenders.

Lott did a little shimmy and placed the ball into the far corner to complete a resounding win for Bridgwater.

Joint men of the match were Dan Buller, for an excellent defensive performance, Paul Tilley for outstanding runs and finishing from midfield, Mike Date, for great work reclaiming possession, and Carwyn Jenkins for controlling the midfield throughout the game.