HIGH Wycombe Hockey Club had to settle for a share of the spoils after taking the lead against South Premier League rivals Fareham on Saturday only to concede an equaliser ten minutes from the end.

Wycombe recovered from a bad start, which saw Fareham take the lead, to equalise and then go ahead before the hosts pegged them back to make it 2-2.

The young Wycombe side travelled to Fareham with four regular first teamers missing.

In their first match for three weeks, the previous fortnight's fixtures falling victim to the weather, Wycombe got off to a poor start. They failed to clear a corner after two minutes and the ball was eventually forced home to leave them trailing.

Wycombe were stung, but they slowly began to work themselves into the match with some good attacking hockey with Jamie Dru and Paul Wallis prominent in midfield.

They were unlucky not to equalise when, firstly, Tim Townley was fouled by the keeper only for the umpire to call the play back for a free hit outside the circle. Then, Dan Strange found space but after his initial shot was saved he put the rebound wide.

The breakthrough came shortly before half time when a well worked corner was tucked away by Strange.

Things got even better shortly after half time as Duncan Parniss skipped

round a defender and slid the ball home for his first senior league goal.

Wycombe should have then sealed the game as they created a series of good open play opportunities, but they were wasted.

And they paid the price for that when Fareham hit home from a corner with ten minutes remaining.

This coming weekend, Wycombe take on league leaders Beckenham at Cressex (1pm).