Saturday was another huge game in the context of making the top 6 split league post Christmas for the second half of the season.
Buckingham started really well and missed a couple if guilt edged chances as they had the better of the first quarter. It was a fast and open game with the visitors creating a couple of openings of their own. However, it was the home side who were creating the clearer chances. Lauren Thomas rattling the post from Buckingham's first penalty corner towards the end of the second quarter and Buckingham squandered another guilt edged chance just before half time.
It was the visitors who started the second half the brighter of the two sides but it was Buckingham who had the first real chance, when their second penalty corner, inside the first five minutes brought a fine save from the visitors goal keeper. The home side had the better of the remainder of the quarter and created a number of other clear cut opportunities that they were unable to convert. In the final minute of the third quarter, Buckingham finally converted one following some superb play down the baseline from Sophie Byrne that left Joe Pinner with the easiest of finishes at the far post.
In the fourth quarter Buckingham lost their discipline for a spell and this would prove costly. Firstly some sloppy defence gifted the visitors their only penalty corner of the game and although the initial shot was blocked, the rebound fell kindly and was tucked away for 1-1. `For the next few minutes Buckingham struggled to keep possession of the ball visitors but defended well and then missed another fantastic chance to take the lead with with eight minutes remaining. They then compounded it with a defensive lapse which the visitors converted to go 2-1 up. Buckingham created a fantastic chance to level things just minutes later but shot was well saved. They had one final chance in the dying seconds but once again it was saved and Buckingham fell to a second disappointing loss. Fortunately, due to the other results, Buckingham still have a chance of making the top 6 but in order to do so they will need to win at least two out of their three remaining fixtures this half of the season and hope that some other results go in their favour too.