Write-up from Josh

With Harry lost somewhere in the backstreets of Bristol, and Susan taking the first 20 minutes off, City started with an unfamiliar side. Ceri, Rob and Midge started in attack alongside Zoe who got a well deserved debut start for the firsts, while Sian, Ian, and Rachel were in defence alongside Terry, press-ganged back into first team action.

It didn't take long for Zoe to make an impression, despite being paired against Bristol's strongest girl, as she took advantage of a loss of concentration in the uni defence to slot home the opening goal. Bristol equalised, but then Sian showed off her skills, first scoring a runner from Ian's feed, then putting a way a great long shot. Midge then fed Ceri for a 4-1 lead. Bristol pulled one back, before Rachel managed to put away a great long shot. Some fancy footwork from Terry befuddled his marker to make it 6-2, before Midge somehow persuaded one of Bristol's guys to try and defend one of her shots. Ceri put away the resulting penalty. If being 7-2 down wasn't bad enough for Bristol, City now were able to bring on Susan and Harry, who'd finally managed to find the sports hall. Both Terry and Zoe could feel well pleased with their performances, Terry using all his experience to score on goal and provide a couple of assists too, while Zoe not only scored, but looked as comfortable in defence in the top division as she customarily does in the second.

Undaunted, Bristol managed to get a goal back, before Rachel proved her earlier long shot was no fluke by scoring a second, after great play from Sian. 8-3 at half-time.

The students came out after half-time in determined fashion and quickly pulled back two goals, before Susan's immaculate long shot. "That was brilliant", observed the Bristol coach, displaying excellent judgement. Then it was Harry's turn to execute a fine shot from distance, making it 10-5 from the sidelines. In fact, just to make it a bit trickier, he'd actually gone about a foot over the line! Cardiff then began to ease off a bit and a resilient Bristol side scored three times, interrupted only by another long-range effort from Susan. Just as Bristol may have thought they had a chance of salvaging something from the game, Sian completed a hat-trick, before Midge converted a penalty she'd won herself. Ceri's running in shot made it 14-8, and then after another Bristol rally brought them two goals, he got his fourth from distance. 15-10 was the final score, thanks to a superb bit of defending from Harry who managed to defend both Bristol guys in quick succession.

This wasn't City's best performance of the season, they sometimes struggled with unfamiliar combinations and athletic and competitive opponents and were guilty of some uncharacteristic lapses in defence. But some excellent long range shooting made the difference, with all the girls relishing the opportunity of being given plenty of possession in attack to outscore the guys, 9-6, with Sian and Rachel particularly eye-catching. Rob, Ian and Lee all played crucial supporting roles in allowing them to do so.

Thanks to Kat for recording all the goals scored by the firsts, along with whoever did the same job for the seconds (and was kind enough to call one of my long shots "amazing"). Thanks also to Tony for ably reffing both games, and best of luck to Bristol Uni in the student nationals.

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