Buckingham 2 Holcombe 3

Determined to get back to winning ways, Buckingham made a great start to their game against visiting Holcombe on Saturday.
A slick passing move led to a penalty corner in the opening minute and a superbly executed routine saw Kitty Higgins deflect the ball into the roof of the net, to claim her fourth goal of the season, inside the second minute. The game was a fast paced open affair from the outset, with no quarter being given by either side but despite having slightly the better of the opening quarter, the home side could not extend their lead. The second quarter followed much the same pattern with the game flowing from end to end Buckingham having slightly the better of the exchanges but it was the visitors who drew level with just two minutes remaining in the half. A cheap turnover gifted Holcombe a swift counter attack and they needed no second invitation to make it 1-1.
The third quarter stared well with Buckingham in the ascendency once more. They had great chance to take the lead on forty-five minutes but unfortunately, Tash James at the far post could not force the ball home. A temporary suspension led to a series of penalty corners. Despite some brave defending the visitors were eventually rewarded for their persistence as they forced the ball home from close range, with two minutes remaining in the quarter.
A sloppy start to the final period saw Buckingham concede another penalty corner straight from the push back and the visitors clinically converted the chance to extend their lead to 3-1. Buckingham threw everything at the visitors for the final seventeen minutes with Abbie Brant just centimeters away from getting a final touch into an open net. A superb counter attack involving Player of the Match, sixteen year old Millie Holme and Eloise Laity saw Brant force the ball home to make it 3-2 with ten minutes still to play. James saw another chance flash just past the post minutes later and although Buckingham earned two more penalty corners both were well defended. For second week running, Buckingham removed their goalkeeper for the final few minutes, in favour of an extra outfield player but despite some exerted pressure, they could not make the break through as the game ended 3-2 to the visitors.

“Despite the frustrating result, overall Sunday was a really pleasing performance. We played much more like ourselves. Playing with real intent and temp. We handled the ball far better than last week and created some very good openings. We still need to be a little bit calmer and more clinical whenthose opportunities come. This week is a break weekend due to the Olympic qualifier, so we wil use the time to recuperate and prepare for a really tough block of games in the run up to Christmas.”