2018-19 Western Regional League
Match Report by James Wilcox
Following the home defeat to the pre-eminent Spartans, Cyclones bounced back with a crucial victory against the old rivals Bristol City, with recent club signing Cat Miedziak playing against her former club for the first time.
Cyclones fielded a large squad for this fixture giving opportunities to a number of players to feature in this game, though it could be argued that the rotation of so many players lead to a closer result on paper than what was demonstrated on court.
That being said, the team demonstrated huge strength in depth with a spread of goals earn a true team victory. The highest scorer was Jon Bonsall with 3 goals to his name as he calmly coverted the penalties earned by the team and one from open play. Matt Morgan and Kiera Evans also stepped up to take a penalty each to complete a 100% conversion stat for Cyclones in this game.
Up until half time the score was fairly close, with Bristol City keeping up with the pace of the Cyclones. As the second half began, the Cyclones unleashed their fury to pull ahead by six goals. At this point, having already made significant changes, a further raft of substitutions were made.
The pace slowed as the new divisions needed time to gel, and this allowed Bristol City to claw back some goals during this period of upheaval. The team managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over though, despite a few rushed phases, to see out the match with a final score of 18-16 to the Bluebloods.
Cat earned the MVP nomination from the opposition for a superbly controlled performance and a nicely finished goal to boot, with the player’s player vote going to Jon for his calmness in attack and tenacity in defence. The result keeps Cyclones in position behind the leading teams, Spartans and Oxford City, with the likes of our next challengers, Raptors, breathing down our necks being separated in the table by a single goal…
Next fixture:
Date: 24-Nov-18
Opponent: Cardiff Raptors 1 (A)
Opponent Last result: Win 19-14 Bristol Thunder 2