Buckingham 5 Olton & WW 1

In their last league fixture before the Christmas break Buckingham faced off against third placed Olton - the only side to have inflicted a loss on the home side this season.
Keen to set the record straight, Buckingham began brightly, creating a couple of good opportunities in the opening minutes. Although the match was highly competitive and hotly contested Buckingham continued to have the better of the exchanges and forced the visitors keeper into making a number of fine saves. There were also a number of near misses with players diving in at the far post. Despite this it was the visitors that took the lead in the twenty-fifth minute when a couple of ball handling errors gifted Olton's ex GB international Sally Walton the ball. Through one-on-one with the home goal keeper, she made no mistake to make the score 1-0 to the visitors. Buckingham's response was immediate, they came close to scoring as the ball flashed just wide shortly afterwards. However, in the twenty-ninth minute, captain Alex Naughalty fired an unstoppable shot home from Buckingham's second penalty corner to bring the sides level. Just four minutes later, the home side took the lead when Phoebe Richards neatly finished off a fast, flowing passing move.
Buckingham started the second period where they had finished the first. Passing the ball with fluidity and accuracy, and playing with a ferocious intensity on defence. However, it took them until the forty-eighth minute to extend their lead. Another fine passing move involving youngsters Alice Rolf and player of the match Kirsty Freshwater, swept upfield for Tash James to finish calmly on the back hand, to make the score 3-1. James made it 4-1 to Buckingham when she claimed her second, just three minutes later. Naughalty produced some sublime 3D skills and then found Richards whose deft pass allowed James to score from close range. Buckingham were now rampant and with the visitors losing their discipline, it was not long before the home side scored again. Abbie Brant making it 5-1 from the flick spot after fifty-five of the contest, following a deliberate infringement in the circle. James was denied her hat trick by the width of the post just a minute later but despite creating a number of other opportunities in the final ten minutes, the visitors defended well and Buckingham could not add to the score. However, this could not take the gloss of what had been a fine performance and with Stourport only managing a 2-1 win in their match, Buckingham go into the Christmas break top of the league by virtue of a superior goal difference.