Team Bath Buccaneers 2,

Kingsbridge and Salcombe Cougars

The Cougars narrowly lost out in a hard-fought away match to Bath Buccs in an end to end game.

The opening stages of the game were evenly contested, with both sides attacking at pace and creating early chances. A quick change in structure followed for KS when Lou Read pulled up with a tweaked knee as the Cougars continued to look for the opening goal.

Captain Chloe Harvey was working hard in the floating midfield position to link with Helen Symons as the duo battled through a tough midfield struggle with the Bath backs, who were quick to take ground on the counter. Attacking space well, the intrepid KS duo were often under pressure from two or three players as they looked to drive the ball forwards.

With an active press and constant early hassle on the ball, Buccs went ahead midway through the first half after intercepting a back pass and closing quickly on goal to score, switching momentum their way.

Gemma Samuel again delivered a solid workrate through the high mids, rolling with Cara Yeoman, who put in a great spell just before half-time.

Only one goal down at the break there was all to play for as KS refocused on stronger pressure to the ball and faster distribution on the break. Fi Wadey was delivering across the halfs as a key pivot in the Cougars’ build-up play and linked well with Abi Bell, who shut down her opposite number on the side channels.

The match continued to be an end-to-end affair, with both sides evenly matched on the counter, Bath just edging ahead with a greater intensity around the turnover. This paid off as they extended their lead 15 minutes into the second half.

KS were creating good opportunities around the D, with Laura Kerly twice being denied by some outstanding goalkeeping. The Cougars were upgrading well and generated some great options around the short corner, firing narrowly wide and pulling another great save from the Bath ’keeper during a run of pressure.

Gemma Harvey and Claire Guard had their work cut out at the back marshaling their defence against the Bath breaks, making key interceptions and saves to keep KS in the game. As the Cougars worked hard to move away from a defensive set-up, Esme Ansley brought great distribution to the right side as she attacked space and lifted the attacking play for the Cougars as they fought their way back into the match.

Developing strong attacking options into space, the Cougars’ persistence paid off after upgrading in the D when a well-worked short corner saw Sarah Budgen’s shot stopped on the line by a foot, denying a certain goal. Laura Kerly stepped up and calmly slotted home the flick to pull KS back to 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining.

KS continued to press through the closing stages and were making good use of width to create passing channels through the Bath defence, but were beaten by the clock as the final whistle blew on a frustrating opportunity missed for the Cougars.

This was a performance that saw them punished for lack of care on the pass and allowing Bath too much time on the ball, making achieving the win harder than it should have been.

For an absolutely outstanding performance throughout the match coaches’ player went to Fern Tucker who also took the player of the match vote by one point in a head-to-head race with Esme Ansley.

KS return to action this weekend with a double header, taking on league leaders Teign away on Saturday before facing Teddington in the England Hockey Trophy quarter-final at KCC, 1pm on Sunday with all support welcome and match teas up at Kingsbridge Rugby Club after.