AEK Boco Ladies Dev vs Bristol Ladies Union 1st, 21st December 2025.
All good things must come to an end eventually, and on our last game of the year that’s what happened to our season unbeaten record. Not the Christmas gift any of us would have wanted.
Boco’s home ground was unplayable, so we were moved to their backup ground at Fisher Road. The changing rooms were so far from the pitch that there was little point in using them, and the pitch was about as good as can be expected after the weeks of rain we’ve had, which is not very. Playable, but sticky and bobbly as hell. We started the game playing up the slope, which was made even more difficult by the state of the ground, and within 90 seconds we’d conceded a goal. Boco had a pretty straightforward set of tactics: play high, put the ball in behind and get through on goal, and they could do that with impressive speed. Off the ball they were giving no room for passing, and consequently we just couldn’t hang on to the ball. Boco got another two goals in the first half, one from a well played corner and the other from a lucky interception on the edge of the 18 yard box.
At half time the mood was still fairly positive. We’ve been in this situation before and come back from it, so with the slope to our advantage we still had a chance. Substitutions were going to be the problem though, with only 3 on the bench, Izzy still recovering from the flu, and Lila struggling with a knee injury.
The second half started better, but it was clear that Boco weren’t going to run out of steam. We made good ground every time we got the ball to the wings, but struggled to finish against Boco’s very strong defence. We shipped another two goals, then Rosa managed to get a clean shot on goal and put BLU on the scoresheet, but with only 10-15 minutes remaining there was no chance we’d be able to come back in any meaningful way.
At the final whistle it was 6-1 to Boco. A comprehensive defeat from a very strong team, so there was no shame in losing. BLU fought well and everyone put in maximum effort, but it just wasn’t our day. BLU’s Player of the Match was Rosa for her relentless energy, and the Magic Moment went to Lydia for a full 30 seconds of dazzling footwork in Boco’s 18yd box. Honourable mention to Lilia for her acrobatic near-cartwheel over the keeper!
