Buckingham travelled down to Kent on the Friday night in preparation for their important league match against 4th placed Holcombe. With both teams missing international players on England duty, Buckingham were determined to make amends for the painful 6-0 defeat their hosts had inflicted on them earlier in the season.

In the event, Buckingham started superbly, earning a penalty corner in the opening minute. Alex Naughalty's fierce strike clipped the leg of the goal keeper and flew into the roof of the net for a dream, start. This gave the visitors belief and they forced the home side onto the back foot with aggressive defence and some fine passing.

On seven minutes, they nearly doubled their lead when a steal high up the pitch by Leanne Grimsley resulted in Jess Bloom's close range shot being smartly turned around the post by the home goal keeper.

With Morag Mclellan to the fore in the heart of mid field, Buckingham continued to have the better of things for the remainder of the half, whilst Holcombe remained a constant threat with their swift counter attacking play. With neither side able to add to the scoring in the first period, Buckingham took their slender lead into the break.

Once again, the visitors started the second period on the attack and earned a couple of penalty corners in the first few minutes. From the second of these, player of the match Naughalty increased the lead when her initial strike took a slight deflection past the stranded home goal keeper to take the score to 2-0, after just thirty nine minutes.

Both sides continued to play open attacking hockey but it was Buckingham who extended the lead further in the forty fourth minute. Once again, the goal came courtesy of a penalty corner. This time, although Amie Hone's initial strike was well saved, Chloe Hobson pounced on the rebound. The centre back showed a deft touch and fantastic composure to lift the ball high into the net on her reverse side for an impressive finish.

Holcombe battled hard to get back into the game and forced a couple of smart saves from Anna Searle in the Buckingham net but it was Buckingham who all but sealed the win in the fifty seventh minute. Some quick thinking and a superb cross from Katrina Nicholson resulted in Bloom getting the slightest of touches to superbly guide the ball into the bottom corner.

Holcombe's response was immediate and a dangerous looking shot saw Captain Kitty Higgins leave the field after sustaining a nasty facial injury, just a minute later. This meant Buckingham had to reorganise in defence for the remaining twelve minutes but by this stage, the result was never really in doubt.

Frustratingly, Holcombe scored a consolation goal with the last hit of the game to make the final score 4-1. However, this could not take the gloss of what was a fantastic performance and a hugely significant result as it moves Buckingham out of the relegation zone.

Photo courtesy of Chris Hobson.

Daily Telegraph report

England Hockey report

Galvanised hockey video