DESPITE a strong and tactically superior performance, Kingsbridge & Salcombe Hockey Club 1’s were undone by Caradon’s clinical finishing, ultimately losing 3-1, writes Sarah Budgen.

Caradon struck first against the run of play, netting an early goal. However, Kingsbridge responded with a well-worked equalizer. Islay, playing in the forward line, set up the goal with a precise pass to Nikki, who had been linking play beautifully in midfield before driving forward to finish confidently. Unfortunately, Nikki's excellent game was cut short after she twinged her hamstring, forcing her off the pitch.

Standout moments for K&S saw Ellie make an incredible lob save to deny Caradon an early goal, Boots performing the splits in a determined bid to remain in possession and Charlotte regularly using sheer strength against a physical opponent.

Kingsbridge remained resilient throughout but Caradon made the most of their limited opportunities, scoring twice in the second half including a well-taken goal from a penalty corner. The aforementioned resilience along with cool heads under pressure wasn’t enough to overturn the scoreline.

Their strong performance isn’t quite reflected in the result and so they will take great pride going forward into future games. Lou was named as the Player of the Match, plus thanks go to the umpires Roger and Robin.

For the second team meanwhile, there was a clash against Teign 2’s to kickstart the new campaign.

There was an element of nervousness on the trip to Dawlish fresh off of promotion last year, but the win of the coin toss meant that the sun was out of their eyes which was an early victory.

K&S started the game on the front foot with Poppy Booth applying pressure from the off, an intensity which she maintained throughout the fixture, never letting anyone spare a second to think.

Emma Wood had some fantastic shots on goal, she worked so hard to get on the end of every rebound and created excellent scoring opportunities.

This pairing and their teammates were well up for the test and after playing the majority of the first half in the opponent’s end, it remained scoreless.

Teign came out stronger after the break and this was met with excellent defending and goalkeeping from the Kingsbridge crowd. The goalkeeper in question, JL, was diving and jumping everywhere, perhaps spending more time on the ground than on her feet.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, Teign were able to find the breakthrough in the second half and they went on to win the game 2-0. Nicky was named as the Player of the Match for K&S.

The seconds will also take a lot of confidence from this one as they look ahead to the rest of a excitement-filled season.