West Women’s Hockey League

Berkeley Division One

Firebrands 3rds 4 Wotton 1

WOTTON knew that taking on the league leaders at their home ground would be a tough fixture.

In the previous encounter in November Wotton had snatched a draw, having been two goals down.

The honours were even for the first 15 minutes, but against the prestigious North Bristol side there is no room for errors.

First a clearance was pounced upon, and then minutes later a penalty corner was converted and Wotton were two down.

Wotton returned the pressure and a series of penalty corners in their favour went without reward despite one very close effort.

A glimmer of hope shone in the second half when Sharron Bates laced a ball through the stretched Firebrands defence to pull one back.

The home team came back minutes later to make it 3-1 and continued to press Wotton hard.

Mid-way through the half Wotton creditably and successfully defended no less than seven consecutive penalty corners.

However, having weathered that storm, Firebrands took another goal from open play in the final minutes.

It was disappointing for Wotton to take their biggest defeat of the season, but the demeanour of the team was good having felt they had played their best against a very strong side.

* All three of Wotton’s men's teams were in action in the Davis Wood Hockey League.

The firsts continued their great run of form with a 3-1 away victory over Whitchurch thirds in De Cymru and Marches Division One, taking their unbeaten run to four matches.

In East Central Division One, Wotton seconds produced another dominant performance at home against a tough West Wilts thirds, but struggled to notch up the goal tally their play merited in winning just 2-0.

Cheltenham fifths clinched the second promotion place in Marches Division Two with their 4-1 win over Wotton thirds.

An uncharacteristically sloppy defensive display allowed Cheltenham to go four ahead after 20 minutes but an astute half-time reorganisation completely changed the balance and the Blues deserved more than their single consolation goal from the second half.