Buckingham 0 Holcombe 2

On Saturday Buckingham welcomed table toppers Holcombe to Stowe for their latest Investec Premier League fixture. Buckingham started brightly and enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges and were unfortunate not to be ahead after nine minutes when a fantastic long pass from Megan Lewis-Williams found Phoebe Richards. She rounded the keeper but saw her shot hit the outside of the post. The visitors were gradually building their way into the game and Ella Jackson was called upon to make a couple of good stops, one from open play and one from a penalty corner shortly afterwards. The turning point came on nineteen minutes. The home side were very unfortunate to concede a penaly corner and although Jackson blocked the initial shot, the rebound fell kindly for the visitors and they forced the ball home for a 1-0 lead. Although the game remained tight and highly competitive, it was Holcombe who enjoyed the better of the remainder of the half. Lauren Thomas getting back behind Jackson to clear a chance off the line just before the half time break.
Buckingham got off to the worst possible start in the opening minute of the second half. First, they conceded a soft penalty corner courtesy of some poor defending and the visitors capitalised fully, executing a well rehearsed penalty corner routine to extend their lead inside two minutes. The home side responded well to this setback and created a couple of chances to reduce the deficit but were unable to convert either. The remainder of the match was pretty even but as Buckingham pushed forward in search of a way back into the match, they were always going to leave openings. However, despite a number of chances at both ends, neither side able to take them and them game ended in a hard fought but deserved victory for the visitors.

"Saturday was a disappointing result. Although we weren't quite at our best, it wasn't a bad performance. We were just beaten by the better side on the day. I couldn't fault the desire, intent or effort but the quality of our play an execution wasn't quiote there and ultimately, we didn't really do enough to win the game. Fortunately, for us, the other results went our way and so we remain in control of our own destiny with two games to play. We are all determined to work hard over the next two weeks, in order to do everything in our power to earn a place in the top four playoffs at the end of the season."