Close-season departures trigger player hunt by Academy boss

BRISTOL Academy report back for training on Sunday with boss Mark Sampson targeting new signings in the coming weeks to replace a trio of close-season departures.

Winger Helen Bleazard and midfielder Katie Daley are both being snapped up by the Vixens' FA Women's Super League rivals Chelsea, who have been recruiting actively after receiving investment from their cash-rich parent men's club.

And Dutch international midfielder Anouk Hoogendijk has elected to return home and rejoin her former club Utrecht, where she will combine playing with a new job in the media.

It means Sampson will probably have room for three new faces and his focus will be on forward and midfield areas.

"It's normal that there are departures over the close season – we had a good season last year so it was inevitable that some of our players would attract interest from elsewhere," he said.

"We will be looking to bring people in over the next few weeks who have the quality we need to improve us."

Sampson will be focusing on bolstering forward areas and midfield after losing Hoogendijk and the Welsh international duo – and knows the Academy need to boost their strike rate next term.

"Every club wants a 20-goal striker and they are the hardest players to get, but we do need to improve in that area," added Sampson.

"We didn't concede that many goals last season and we created a lot of chances, but we didn't always convert them.

"I'm trying to line one or two things up and I'm hoping that by this time next month we will have some new faces on board who will continue to help us progress."

Sampson believes some English clubs could target players currently based in America after this week's shock announcement that the USA's Women's Professional Soccer League has cancelled its 2012 season because of financial and legal problems.

"It could be an interesting few weeks ahead," he said.

The Vixens' first competitive fixture of the new campaign will be a FA Women's Cup fifth-round clash on Sunday, March 11. The club will be looking for another good run in the competition having reached the final last season for the first time.

They open their Continental Cup campaign the following weekend and then start their WSL programme on the weekend of April 7-8 against Liverpool at Skelmersdale. The date has still to be confirmed.

Keynsham Town will be looking to put their current relegation battle in the FA Premier League Southern Division behind them this weekend when they continue their FA Women's Cup campaign with a third-round home tie against Gillingham.

The weather took its toll on some of last weekend's fixtures, with Oldland Abbotonians' vital relegation clash with Cheltenham Town one of the games affected in the Premier Division of the SW Women's League, where Stoke Lane went down 4-0 at Salisbury and Bristol Ladies Union were held to a goalless draw at Weymouth.

The top two both won in Eastern Division I, with Downend Flyers extending their unbeaten run to 10 games courtesy of a 3-2 victory at Swindon Spitfires. Laura Baker's double and a Katie Michael goal settled the outcome.

Second-placed Cleeve West Town remain seven points adrift despite an impressive 4-0 win at third-placed Cirencester. Natasha Crew scored a hat-trick – including two penalties – with Sally-Anne Langton also on target.

Nailsea United crashed to a 4-0 home defeat against Cam Bulldogs. Sarah Wingent, Michelle Watson and Kirsty Brown all scored inside the last 20 minutes after Christine Tanner had headed Cam into a half-time lead.

Charlotte Davis scored a hat-trick on her debut for St Nicholas as they stormed through to the second round of the Gloucestershire County Women's League Cup with a 7-0 victory at Dursley Town. Amy Jefferies, Joanne Granger, Lara Ferris and Ruby Bagge were also on target.

The ties involving Bitton and Bristol & West were postponed, but AEK Boco went out 3-2 at Mitcheldean and Boco Reserves suffered an 11-0 thumping at Quedgeley.