England Hockey Cup

Mixed Regional Final

Firebrands 4, Bridgwater 3

THE mixed side put on a cracking display against Firebrands and came out unlucky losers in a thrilling match.

Coming into the final regional round against a team of premiership players that beat them 10-0 last season, Bridgwater had a nervy start, going 2-0 down early on from two short corners.

They started the second half strongly and, thanks to some good link-up play from Will Pope and Sapphy Reed-Yang, the latter was able to slot Willow Hobbs in for a well-taken finish.

A freak goal put Bridgwater further behind and a debatable penalty flick added to Firebrands’ lead.

Bridgwater dominated the last 20 minutes - Hobbs grabbing her second after some good work down the left, and Reed-Yang expertly deflecting home from the top of the D with two minutes to go.

Every player gave their all in the side’s best performance of the year.

Player of the match: Willow Hobbs.

Thank you for the support over the weekend.

Verde Recreo League Central 1

Bridgwater 1sts 3, Somerset Gryphons 0

BRIDGWATER kept their title challenge alive with a dominant victory.

They could easily have been ahead in the first few minutes of the game but Gryphons came strongly after the first ten minutes, creating some good chances.

The pressure was eased when Todd Barrett put Bridgwater ahead, courtesy of a Will Pope pass which Barrett struck home.

Five minutes into the second half, Pope bagged himself a well-taken goal then netted a scrappy goal to make sure of the points.

Player of the match: James Duckering.

West Central 2

Firebrands D 4, Bridgwater A 5

TO start a two-game weekend, Bridgwater made the familiar trip to Bristol to play Firebrands D who are struggling at the bottom of the table.

They took the lead after a Sam Sweatman cross was tapped in by Alex Howe.

Tom Lott extended the lead from a short corner and was soon celebrating his hat-trick after a two-goal blast, the second after striking a bouncing ball into the roof of the goal.

Bridgwater relaxed and let a young Firebrands attack back into the game but Paul Bond re-established the lead with a good strike

Firebrands retaliated with two goals before the break.

After all the action, the second half was uneventful apart from late on when Firebrands reduced the deficit to one.

Man of the match: Tom Lott.

Bridgwater A 1, Bristol & West C 1

THE second 2nd XI game of the week was a low-scoring affair.

Bridgwater dominated the early exchanges and took the lead through Conrad Butt.

They kept their lead into the second half despite Bristol & West battling back but they equalised from a short corner, the ball cruelly looping over the keeper.

West Central 2

Bridgwater B 5, North Somerset B 0

BRIDGWATER dominated and could have won by a bigger margin.

Two goals in two minutes from Ben Sims almost put the game to bed right from the start.

Steve Wilson then put in a fantastic reverse ‘cross’ that Steve Pigden deflected home from a difficult angle, Rich Payne made it four and captain Blyth swept home from the top of the D to finish off a good team performance.

Player of the match: Brandon Durkin.

South East 2

West Dorset A 11, Bridgwater C 0

BRIDGWATER, with a bare, came up against a very tough, experienced West Dorset side and suffered a heavy loss.

The scoreline didn’t reflect the efforts put in by the side - with the young players really stepping up and putting in some good performances.

Player of the match - Kit Hockey came close in second, with Sam Stacey taking the most votes.

South East 3

Bridgwater D 5, Ashmoor B 1

BRIDGWATER drove forward first, as they made good headway with Kieran Barrow, Phil Pyke, Toby Knight, Nikita Cernikovs, Sam Thomas and Steve Miller creating numerous chances.

Bridgwater soon broke the deadlock as a lovely move ended with a Cernikovs reverse strike.

They then scored two quick goals with Pyke putting a deflection past the Ashmoor keeper from a Burland strike, followed by Burland scoring one of his own.

Pyke then got his second of the game, hooking home a Miller strike.

In the second half, Ashmoor took the opening five minutes but Bridgwater were next to score through Miller.

Ashmoor pulled one back from a deflected strike.

Bridgwater played better hockey but couldn’t find a way past the Ashmoor keeper.

Man of the match: Bertie Kelly.

West Clubs Women's Central

Knowle 1sts 1, Bridgwater 1sts 1

BRIDGWATER started on the back foot conceding a goal in the first half but bounced back strongly maintaining most of the possession for the rest of the half.

The Knowle keeper denied countless opportunities for Bridgwater before a Lucy Burridge short corner found Emma Hill who slotted the ball neatly between the posts.

Player of the match went to keeper Amy Burridge for a truly exceptional diving save in the final minutes of the match to hold on to the draw.

Sedgemoor 1

Bridgwater 2nds 1, Weston-super-Mare 2nds 6

The Ladies 2s had a tough game against top of the table Weston 2s at Chilton. Bridgwater started the game well, pressing Weston to play the ball around and defending any attacks well. Bridgwater then made a quick counter attack up the left wing with a good cross to Karen Chilcott who guided the ball into the Weston goal to put her side ahead. Weston continued to put pressure on the Bridgwater defence and won a short corner. Weston worked this well and equalised just before half time. Bridgwater were confident they could get more goals in the second half but the chances didn't come off. Weston attacked the Bridgwater goal constantly and won numerous short corners, scoring from three of them. Weston went on to score another two goals, although this didn't reflect the excellent play from the Bridgwater ladies this week.

Morgan Edwards made an impressive senior debut.

Player of the match: Jenny Hayden Briffett.