Reports 11th October 2003

Men's 1st XI draw 2-2 with Peterborough Athletic II

Men's 2nd XI lose 2-1 to Peterborough Athletic III

Men's 3rd XI win 2-1 against St Ives V

Men's Veteran XI lose 5-3 to Bedford Veterans

 

Cambridge South Men's I 2 - 2 Peterborough Athletic Men's II

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers: Chris Graveling, Andy Rose

In a mirror image of the previous week's game against Market Deeping, South conceded a late equaliser to finish with a 2-2 draw against Division 4 NW pace-setters Peterborough Athletic II.

Athletic, who had not let in a goal in their opening two fixtures, maintained their record during an even first half in which both sides had their chances. A diving save by goalie Steve Parker snuffed out Athletic's first real opportunity after five minutes, whilst Chris Massey skilfully closed down a dangerous attack by driving the lone forward into a corner and then clearing. Meanwhile, Sanjay Agarwala had nearly got on the end of two giveaways at the other end as the Peterborough defence temporarily lost its composure.

After a well-contested period of play in which the South midfield, notably Chris Graveling and Rick Erlebach, worked hard to create openings, Athletic won two shorts, the second resulting in a clean strike well saved by Parker. South finished the half impressively with two penalty corners of their own, and Graveling narrowly failed to convert an incisive cross with a brave dive.

Directly after the interval, Athletic broke swiftly into the D but were denied by a timely intervention at the death by Jim Thorpe. A half-time change to a 4-3-3 formation seemed to yield more striking thrust from South and a 41st-minute short corner, neatly slotted into the bottom corner by Graveling from a well-weighted push-out by Massey, gave the home side a deserved 1-0 lead. Following further good work by Graveling and Andy Rose and a mazy run by Agarwala, Peter Carey burst through in thunderous style and a rebound from the Peterborough keeper's pads was confidently put home by Rose to make it 2-0 after 50 minutes.

A collective hole then opened up in South's defence to let Athletic back into the match two minutes later with a shot that somehow slipped through Parker's pads. In their worst spell of the game, South then conceded a flick but Parker, leaping upwards and to his right, made the save to maintain his side's narrow advantage.

The pendulum swung both ways in the closing ten minutes, with South perhaps having the clearer opportunities up front. Rose was denied after a good run by Rob Sprawson, Agarwala flicked into the side netting following confident approach work by Erlebach and Rose, and Sprawson also went close with a 67th-minute short corner. Matt Readman and the remainder of the defence held firm, while Jonny Tostevin and the vociferous Carey both threatened the visitors' goal, but in the final minute Athletic forced their way down the right to score their second goal and clinch a share of the points.

South were understandably disappointed not to win a game in which they had held the upper hand, but skipper Parker felt that the performance represented an improvement over the previous week in terms of both fluency and commitment, and that the signs for the future were promising in what is shaping up to be a tightly-fought division.

 

Peterborough Athletic Men's III 2 - 1 Cambridge South Men's II

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Dan Adlington
MoM: Dan Adlington

South lost their unbeaten league record with a poor performance away at Peterborough.

Following a traffic delay on the A1(M), the match began ten minutes late. South failed to cope with the resulting rush in their pre-match preparations and spent most of the first half watching distractedly as Peterborough missed a variety of good openings, either through Tim Poole's saves or by shooting off target when well placed.

Just when it looked like South had escaped from the first half without conceding, Peterborough forced yet another short corner seconds before the half-time whistle. A good clean routine produced an unstoppable strike into the corner of Poole's net.

Having sorted themselves out at half-time, South made far more of the game at the start of the second period, with Mark Jackson and Dan Adlington giving the Peterborough defence something to worry about at last. This period of good play saw an equaliser scored when a Matt Murray free hit was driven into the circle and flicked home by Adlington.

Having got a platform, South then allowed Peterborough to get back on top of an increasingly fractious game. Soon after the home side had seen a player sin-binned following too much backchat, they forced a penalty flick as Poole was once more left to deal with two opposition forwards on his own. However the flick was placed against his right post and wide.

Even after this let off, South couldn't seem to wake from their defensive torpor and finally conceded the winning goal a couple of minutes from time when a break down the right saw the defence unsure who each should be marking, allowing the centre forward to sweep home virtually unopposed.

Given their performance, South can have no complaints about the being on the wrong end of the final score in this scrappy encounter.

 

Cambridge South Men's III 2 - 1 St Ives Men's V

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Wilco Dijkstra, Nick Wong

Cambridge South 3rds earned their first win of the season by beating St Ives with a preformance that should strike fear into the rest of their division. A slow start by South meant the opening ten minutes was even between the two sides. St Ives had possession in dangerous positions but were unable to threaten the South goal. Once South hit their pace they dominated the remainder of the first half winning a number short corners, although St Ives provided several dangerous counterattacks.

Despite all South's pressure it was St Ives who scored first. A long ball from their defence caught the defensive links, John Benedikz and Mubashir Niaz, up field. A clever turn by their centre forward left the last defender, Ky Ho, stranded and St Ives broke into the D and slotted the ball under the on-rushing keeper Will Benedikz. In the following collision the St Ives centre forward was injured and was unable to continue in the game. After that incident the St Ives attacks lacked their previous cutting edge and South looked solid at the back.

The water in the interval seemed to have an effect for South and they turned a previously solid performance into one so dominant that St Ives were almost driven back from whence they came.

From the whistle, South pushed forwards in wave after wave of attacks lead by Nick Wong on the right wing and Wilco Dijkstra down the left. It was obvious that a goal would come and Wilco Dijkstra supplied this; slotting home at the back post, after a dazzling run and cross from James Pope.

The second goal after more sustained pressure. The attacking links, David Bridge and Tom Harrison, kept making cross-field passes which split the visitors midfield and enabled the forwards to cause chaos in the St Ives defence. The second goal came after a quickly taken free hit, struck from the half way line by John Benedikz. The St Ives defence failed to clear the ball and it was Nick Wong who shot at the keeper and displayed great tenacity that resulted in the flustered keeper turning the ball into his own net.

South could have had several more as Ali Blake, Wilco and Nick ably supported by Popey and Tom Harrison from midfield trapped St Ives in their own D for most of the rest of the game. St Ives had a number of breakaway chances although the re-arranged defence, featuring third team debutant Chris Clegg and supported by the rock-solid Andrew Pounce in midfield, dealt easily with these.

This was a fantastic team performance that everyone should be proud of. All those involved players should take note of how well the team can play together and for each other and make this the goal for the season.

To single out a man of the match would be unfair on the others who played – so nothing awarded this week.

 

Bedford Men's Veterans 5 - 3 Cambridge South Men's Veterans

H/T: 3 - 2

Scorers: Richard Bettison (2), Steve Fleck

A finely balanced first half saw Bedford take a 3-2 lead just as the half time whistle went. Bedford were awarded a penalty flick that was well saved by Will Benedikz who had been given permission by the opposition to play. Shortly afterwards, Bedford scored only for Richard Bettison to reply by hammering home a short corner. Bedford then scored from their second flick of the match only for South to equalise again, with Steve Fleck the scorer this time. So Bedford leading 3-2 at half time.

Shortly after the restart Richard scored his second to equalise the scores but Bedford proved to be the stronger team in the second half and emerged winners by 5-3.