FAWNL Division One South West
Bournemouth Sports 0 Portishead Town 0
A hard fought opening game between two well matched teams ended in a stalemate. The game was played at Shaftsbury’s ground while Sports aim to complete ground improvements required by the FAWNL and there were chances at both ends but Chrippes for the hosts and Garrigan for Posset both made important saves to keep a clean sheet and help their teams pick up their first point of the season.
Bournemouth Sports are currently running a GoFundMe to help the small community club raise the funds needed to complete the vital ground improvements required. If you are in a position to help this friendly community club then please check out their fundraising page.
Bridgwater United 0 Abingdon United 1
A stunning strike finishing in the top corner from Abingdon’s Mimi Hodges was enough separate the two teams and earn the visitors three valuable points in this close encounter at Fairfax Park. The hosts pushed hard for an equaliser in the second half but found Abingdon keeper Caitlin Crierie and her defence in top form in front of a decent attendance of 131. There will be more to come from both of these sides in the coming weeks.
Bristol Rovers 0 AFC Bournemouth 5
Goals from Ellie Strippel, Gemma McGuinness and a hat-trick of headed goals from Jenna Markham was enough to give the Cherries a convincing win in this season opener at the Memorial Stadium. A tough introduction to the FAWNL for Rovers against one of the favourites for the league this season but one they’ll have learnt a lot from and will aim to bounce back next week.
Keynsham Town 2 Swindon Town 4
A winning start to the season for the Robins with goals from Helena Diaz-Butcher, a double from from Libby Davies on her debut and a fourth from Taylor MacDonald in a comfortable win, with captain Annie Colston also rattling the crossbar from the penalty spot. The visitors took a two goal lead through Diaz-Butcher and Davies into the break, with Davies adding a third early in the second half before Keynsham pulled one back through Naomi Clipston in the 67th minute. MacDonald’s goal restored Town’s three goal lead with the hosts getting their second through Ciara Lundy in the 80th minute.
Moneyfields 4 Maidenhead United 0
Moneyfields began the season with three points against Maidenhead United through a brace apiece from Shannon Albuery and Charley Wilson-Wilton at the John Jenkins Stadium. A tight first twenty minutes sparked into life with two goals in eight minutes from the hosts to put them in control. Moneys repeated the feat with two more in the 82nd and 90th minutes to start the season on a high note. The Magpies, giving debuts to four players, competed well for long periods but came out second best against one of the promotion favourites for this season.
Worthing v Southampton – MATCH POSTPONED
Check back next week for the Week Two round up of FAWNL South West games. Maidenhead United will also be featuring in one of my weekend blog/match reports next Sunday with Bridgwater United visiting York Road.
To whet your appetite for the upcoming SRWFL season, why not check out the superb preview of the league and the opening weekend’s games from the excellent Base of the Pyramid? You can keep in touch with all things SRWFL by following BotP on X/Twitter under @BasePyramid and I’ll be adding a link to his weekly review pages on each future round up page here so you can take advantage of his superb coverage of the SRWFL during 24/25.
I’ll also be including a weekly round up of Divisions One, Two, Three South and Three West of the Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League over the course of the season. Keep in touch with all Tier 4 to 7 women’s football leagues in the Thames Valley region right here!