A WEAKENED High Wycombe Hockey Club side, nursing hangovers from the previous night's centenary dinner, went down to a heavy defeat at Richmond on Saturday.

It was clearly not going to be Wycombe's day from the start as their goalkeeper was delayed en route and they were forced to start the game with

Dave Ansdell as an emergency stand in.

After only two minutes he was faced with an unmarked Richmond forward who slotted the ball home.

Both Dan Strange and Jamie Dru had chances for Wycombe, but two good saves denied them both.

Meanwhile, Ansdell belied his amateur goalkeeper status with two good saves from Richmond corners and when he was eventually beaten Andy Burroughs was there on the post to stop the shot. The rebound, however, was squeezed in from an acute angle.

The Richmond lead was extended further when a shot going wide was deflected in off a defender's stick.

With keeper Ed Taylor finally making it on to the pitch just before half time, his first action was to pick the ball out of the net from a well worked corner.

The second half was unremarkable and saw a dispirited Wycombe side concede a further two goals.

The game did however see an encouraging debut from Chris Allfrey, who held the ball up well to link the play.