On an unusually warm Saturday in February, the South Bucks Ladies 1st XI faced (what is normally a dangerous fixture towards the end of a season) a Maidenhead side who are battling to preserve their Premier 2 League status.

A happy and chirpy bunch of ladies warmed up in the sun, despite my best efforts to try to not encourage 11 ladies to sunbathe during a warm up, and took to the pitch in a buoyant mood after last week’s exertions supported by some of the Men’s 1st and 3rd team players.

Maidenhead started the brighter of the two sides for the first 10 minutes, with some pressure being put on the South Bucks defence. Eventually South Bucks got into gear and a deflected goal by Jess Neville at the back post saw them take a 1-0 lead. This seemed to kick everything into gear and Maidenhead were being pushed backwards by a confidence growing South Bucks team.

South Bucks continued to score, although it was developing into a personal battle between Rebecca Reavell (being watched by her mum, who had made a special trip (down from Norfolk) and Lesley Hobley as to who could score more at the same time as playing good structured hockey. Lesley ran out the winner of this battle and scoring her fourth hatrick of the season in the process.

Maidenhead got a deserved goal back, but it was South Bucks who had the last goal with a disguised pass from Helen Southerden at a short corner presenting Tara “formerly Byrne” now Feeney with her first goal of married life.

A completed unexpected but very pleasing result, which certainly helped the goal difference column and the second time that the team has scored 9 goals in a game, left the team walking away from Herschel happy with their day’s efforts.