Clifton Robinsons 0 Buckingham 1

After last weeks positive results, Buckingham travelled to Bristol to take on Clifton Robinsons. With both sides sitting mid table and locked on seventeen points but just five points behind second placed Surbiton, this was a crucial encounter. Buckingham began slowly but gradually worked their way into the game and created a clear opening for Eloise Laity in the sixth minute. Despite not playing with their usual tempo in attack and intensity on defence, Buckingham still enjoyed the better of a hotly contested first half. Maddy Newlyn, Liz George and Lottie Porter all coming close at one end, whilst limiting the home side to very few opportunities but the score remained level at half time.
Buckingham started the second half far more brightly and were rewarded seven minutes in when from Buckingham’s third penalty corner, Lottie Porter forced a rebound home from close range. Buckingham had much the better of the third quarter of the match but failed to capitalise further despite a number of other good opportunities. The homes side’s only real opportunities came in the final quarter from a number of penalty corners but these were calmly dealt with by Ell Jackson in goal and her defensive unit. As Clifton pushed forward in the final stages, they left themselves exposed at the back on a number of occasions but despite creating a number of openings the Buckingham could not extend the lead The hard earned result and three points sees Buckingham move back up to third in the table.

"In many respects it was a bit of a lacklustre performance. We never really got going on either side of the ball but despite this, I was really pleased with the resilience, intent and character shown and in the end I think we got the result our hard work and application deserved. As always, there are some areas we will be looking to improve upon in the week before a tough away fixture against a very good East Grinstead side who currently sit in fourth place. They are only a point behind us and we are all fully aware that we will need an improved performance if we are to come away with the result we want”.