Womens vs Sherborne Town Ladies Development

Bridport FC Women 3–2 Sherborne Town Ladies Development

Dorset League Division One – Opening League Fixture

Bridport FC Women got their Division One campaign off to a winning start with a hard-fought 3–2 victory over Sherborne Town Ladies Development in an entertaining and competitive opening league fixture.

We were delighted to welcome the U10 Girls from Bridport Youth FC as our mascots for the game. We hope they had a fantastic experience and enjoyed being part of the day.

With a late start to pre-season, our objectives coming into the game were fairly simple: execute our game plan as well as we could, work hard for each other and adapt to whatever the game threw at us. A couple of late injury changes meant we had to make some adjustments to the squad, but the flexibility within the group allowed us to adapt.

This is our first season in Division One of the Dorset League, following our move from the Somerset County Women’s League at the end of last season, so we knew we would face a step up in quality.

We started brightly, but Sherborne did too. The visitors brought a young, skilful side and the two teams were evenly matched for much of the opening stages. Both sides created opportunities during an entertaining first 17 minutes, but it was Sherborne who took the lead with a well-taken lofted effort that caught us out.

The remainder of the first half was a real battle, with both teams giving everything. Chances came at both ends and either side could have gone into the break with another goal.

The second half saw Bridport find another gear and we began to build some momentum. We finally managed to break through Sherborne's solid defensive lines when Emily Robinson used her strength to power through and finish well to bring us level.

Robinson then turned provider, delivering a well-targeted cross for Florence Valinski to finish confidently and put Bridport ahead.

We continued to apply pressure and Maisie Macdonald produced a lovely ball for Valinski, who made no mistake with a well-placed finish to make it 3–1. Valinski nearly completed her hat-trick shortly afterwards, but the Sherborne goalkeeper did brilliantly to keep the effort out.

Sherborne were still very much in the contest and continued to pose a threat. It was therefore no surprise that they managed to pull a goal back in the 70th minute.

The closing stages required plenty of defensive discipline as we worked hard to manage the game and protect our lead. Valinski almost added a fourth late on, but in the end the three goals were enough to secure a fantastic opening-day victory.

Overall, we were more than pleased with the result. Sherborne made it a very competitive and enjoyable match, and their quality showed exactly the sort of challenge we can expect throughout Division One this season.

There is plenty for us to work on, particularly given the limited preparation time, but getting three points on the board against a very good Sherborne side is an excellent start to the campaign.

Managers' Player of the Match: Florence Valinski

Players' Player of the Match: Georgie Hughes