By Robert Armstrong
USW’s 4th men’s football team took on a monumental task in the first round of the Western Conference Cup when they hosted Bristol University’s 2nd team.
With USW feeling in good spirits after their impressive 4-2 win against USW 3rd last week another upset may well have been on the cards.
However Bristol’s superior quality was clear from the kick-off and a goal inside five minutes supported that even more. Despite Bristol dominating the ball in the first half they failed score before the break. The second half though saw Bristol move through the gears and by the full-time whistle Bristol had registered a 5-0 victory.
After the game USW coach Chris O’Donovan spoke to us about his side’s defeat.
“(The defeat.) Was not expected, not expected at all. The first half we did well. We stuck to our game plan. We conceded two minutes in which is obviously never ideal but we managed to see the half out at 1-0. I think in the end it came down to discipline more than anything else.”
O’Donovan was clearly happy with the way his side played in the first half given the gulf in class between the two sides on paper.
He was hopeful of more of the same in the second half but obviously he was disappointed with the display in that period.
“I expected the same as the first half really. If we’d have lost 1 or 2 nil and stuck to the game plan then fair enough that’s how football goes but when the game changes and the players don’t respond to what you have set out from the start then there’s not much you can do from the touch-line.”
Having spoken about discipline, O’Donovan was pressed about his thoughts on an incident that resulted in a booking for Daniel Chadwick after a poor challenge and a scuffle between lots of players from both sides. The coach refused to comment on that particular issue though.
