By Ellis Lewis-Williams
USW men’s 1sts fell to defeat against Bristol at the Sport Park, despite enjoying some dominant spells.
The home side began strongly with John Lowrie creating some fantastic carries with his excellent stick skills.
But the balance tilted towards Bristol as their high press began to dispossess the USW defence.
It was against the run of play when some neat build-up play saw Bristol take the lead when Andrew Smith pounced on a goalkeeping mistake to tap home in the sixth minute.
Bristol were level within three minutes, however, as delightful attacking play finished with Ben Whittaker slotting the ball into the bottom right corner.
The first-half saw a tight and compact Bristol defence keep USW at bay.
And with most of the possession the visitors deservedly went ahead in the 22nd minute when Bristol captain Bruno Recordon was on target.
After creating multiple chances all half, Bristol’s Ben Davidson managed to score himself after his side’s intricate passing style was too much for the home defence.
Just before the second-half Bristol’s Will Ross was sin-binned after a dangerous tackle but USW failed to capitalise on his absence and went in at the interval trailing 3-1.
USW’s stand-out player Lowrie rallied his team with a goal from a penalty corner early in the second half but the hosts were unable to build meaningful pressure.
Two further Bristol goals reflected the overall picture, as Will Howe and Kelby May both struck.