Bowman highlights WU19s character after Bristol City victory

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Resilience and reaction key as Bowman's squad begin Division One campaign.

Heather Miller

2025-12-04T10:00+00:00

Albion youngster Brooke Burton returns to the pitch for a full 90 minutes after a year out with an ACL injury. 📸 Paul Hazlewood

Dani Bowman’s U19s returned to PGA action yesterday with a 4-2 win against Bristol City at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.

Albion have now kicked off the second phase of their PGA campaign, competing in division one for the remainder of the season. This stage brings together the top five teams from the north division and the top four from the south, all of whom progressed from phase one.

Bowman said, “We probably underperformed slightly by our standard but, having said that, the conditions were not ideal as the pitch was quite heavy. We'll assess the game but it's always tough when you played the same team two weeks ago and beat them.”

Albion fell 1-0 behind in the first half but responded with four goals to secure all three points. Bowman praised her squad’s reaction and resilience but stressed the need to raise standards.

“I'm really pleased with the reaction to going 1-0 down and I thought some of the goals we scored were tremendous and the character from a lot of the girls was really good. We had some players playing out of position, so that was another challenge to overcome.

“The performance wasn't where we would like it, but the attitude and the application after we went 1-0 down was spot on.

“The group have built good resilience and we have a lot of good players on the bench that we can make changes, which helps freshen things up.”

One of the standout moments was the return of Brooke Burton, who completed 90 minutes after being sidelined for over a year with an ACL injury.

Bowman said, “Brooke is a brilliant character. It’s good to have her back on the pitch and not having to manage her as she's super fit. It was never in question that she couldn't manage the 90 minutes, it was just making sure it was not going be too much too soon.

“She did really well. She got played out of position so she's been challenged in different ways, but she has done really well. She's a real leader within the group.”

Looking ahead, Bowman turned her attention to the final games before Christmas and the benefits of first-team exposure for her players.

“We’ve got Manchester United next week and it's going to be a really hard game. Performance level needs to go up a few gears against good opposition and they're looking forward to the challenge.

“We've been really lucky this season that Dario (Vidosic) and Chris (Roberts) have used the U19s where they've needed to. The girls have to utilise every minute they are on the pitch with the first team and just absorb their characteristics, behaviours and what it's like to be a professional.”