By Blake Bint
USW 2nds suffered a heavy defeat to local rivals Cardiff University 7ths to crash out of the Western Conference Trophy 53-29.
Cardiff put on a dominant display against USW at the Sport Park to advance to the 2nd round of the cup competition.
In a physical affair, Cardiff came out of the blocks strongly, taking a first quarter lead 17-4, making it a long way back for the hosts early on in the match.
USW, having come off the back of a tight victory last week, looked fatigued throughout as Cardiff controlled the pace the match. Despite the struggle, captain Tessa Hepburn had a great game in the centre of the court The captain managed to find space, often creating chances for the USW attackers.
The dominance was shown by the visitors in both final thirds when both attackers, Lauren Dougan and Grace Heasley, rarely missed and at the other end Poppy Pope and Emily Bridges were keeping USW’s Natalie Mackay, who had been the main threat last week, at bay.
At the second quarter USW had clawed it back to 13, to Cardiff’s 28. However, it still looked as though it was too much to ask.
Despite the comfortable lead, Cardiff didn’t take their foot off the gas as they added a further 25 points in the second half, putting in a confident performance going forward into future rounds.
USW, despite the loss had positives to take from the game, the 53-29 scoreline doesn’t truly represent the full performance. Many good chances were created and on another day the game could’ve been more competitive, should Mackay and Teigan Bruton had lived up to last week’s standards.
The attack struggled with the towering defence of Pope and Bridges for Cardiff who won a majority of the rebounds, distributing the ball to the attackers to create a quick attack frequently; leaving USW caught short in defence.