Reports 27th March 2004

Men's 1st XI win 6-3 away to Wisbech Town II

Men's 2nd XI win 3-1 against St Neots IV

Men's 3rd XI draw 0-0 with Cambridge Nomads IV

Men's Veteran XI lose 3-1 to Dereham Veterans

Wisbech Town Men's II 3 - 6 Cambridge South Men's I

H/T: 2 - 4

Scorers: Rob Garrett (2), Matt Murray, Rob Barton, John Taylor (2)

With closest rivals Market Deeping held to a 2-2 draw by Nomads in their final fixture of the season, victory over a tenacious Wisbech Town was enough to clinch promotion for South and return them to Div 3NW at the first time of asking after a neck-and-neck post-Xmas run-in which tested the side's nerve and commitment to the full. Reports of the celebrations following the news of Deeping's result are understandably hazy at present but Jim Thorpe distinctly remembers something about ordering an open-top bus…

As for Saturday's match, South once again proved their sheer versatility by overcoming the handicap of a third consecutive away game in which the changing facilities were bedevilled by a mysterious, if not necessarily deliberate, absence of loo roll. Overcoming Wisbech proved more of an obstacle, however, although there was little indication of the problems in store in the opening passages of play, when Rick Erlebach laid on a beautifully-weighted ball for Rob Garrett to show off his startling turn of speed in the right corner. Garrett and Rob Hay then swapped textbook passes after Chris Graveling had carved out space for himself on the left and the pressure quickly told when Wisbech failed to disentangle themselves from a goalmouth melee which saw Garrett just beat off Rob Sprawson's challenge to knock the ball past a disorientated keeper. By the eight minute mark, South had doubled their lead thanks to Matt Murray, who swept in an unstoppable first-timer from Rob Barton's cross to make all that arduous visualisation practice worth it (although fifteen years is maybe a long time for the payback to arrive!).

Wisbech swiftly pulled themselves together, adopting closer man-marking tactics and squeezing Erlebach in the midfield - so to speak - to pressurise South's distribution hub. The policy paid instant dividends as they gained possession, pelted upfield and found an unmarked forward on the overlap who unleashed a quick shot in the D. Keeper Steve Parker, advancing decisively, blocked the drive with stick and gloves to save the day but, within a minute, South's lead was cut when a crisply-struck short from an angle evaded Parker's normally magnetic stick. Worse was to follow moments later when a defensive breakdown allowed Wisbech to pinball it around the D and then in at the far post for a twelfth minute equaliser.

The tight marking continued and, despite Matt Readman playing the Artful Dodger at the back, it was only Murray and Garrett who were really able to shake off their pursuers. Wisbech kept their foot on the throttle and South were lucky to escape further disaster when a lone forward pinged the ball against an upright. Yet, in a trice, Sprawson had sent Garrett away down the right and the latter, as so often leaving the defence hacking at thin air, Road-Runnered round the back to put in a perfect cross which Barton gleefully turned in with another excellent first-timer.

3-2 up after twenty minutes still represented a lot of hockey to go, though, and South soon had cause to be grateful for Veejay Agarwala's solid clearance and a good left-foot stop from Parker as Wisbech threatened to break through. Agarwala was in the thick of it again moments later, making an athletic dive to divert the ball away from a keen-jawed Wisbech attacker and then South turned the tables after Graveling had been flattened by what only a euphemist would have called a robust challenge. Two shorts in quick succession built the pressure and, though Barton could only find the feet of the (admittedly very large) goalkeeper with the first and nothing came of the second, South retained possession so that, when Sprawson powered a free hit into the D, Garrett was able to collect it a few feet from the near post and, unchecked, slide it under the keeper with a breathtaking piece of tic-tac wizardry.

With ten minutes still to go to the interval, Murray made sure Wisbech stayed under the thumb with some quickfire mental disintegration patter from the subs' bench and - as ever vicious but fair - added some telling advice for his own defence. The score stayed at 4-2 in South's favour, however, as Garrett posed further questions up front and Readman held off the aggressive Wisbech forwards with a fine recovery and tackle.

The second half started with Wisbech in the ascendancy, winning a short corner which, again cleanly struck after a well-rehearsed slip, was confidently blocked by Parker and cleared by Readman. A shot at the far end went wide and a period of grimly-contested midfield battles then ensued, with Thorpe and Agarwala working hard, Erlebach and Graveling getting stuck in with some ferociously determined tackling and Readman being called over by the umpire for a "businesslike" approach to a fifty-fifty ball. The official, underwhelmed by the player's opening gambit of "What, me?", was finally mollified when Matt turned on his innocent choir-boy's grin and promised not to argue, thus earning only a green and the chance to be even more businesslike later on.

With fifty minutes gone, South seemed just to be getting on top as John Taylor ran persistently hard on the left and Murray forced a save from the Wisbech keeper but defensive frailties re-emerged, with little support for Agarwala as he manfully tried to make headway out of the twenty-five. Soon, the ball had been funnelled along the South goal-line and sheer weight of numbers and persistence bundled the ball past a wall of bodies to bring the score back to 4-3 and open up the possibility of a distinctly tricky last twenty minutes. But, after Graveling had pulled off an absolutely crucial tackle at the edge of the South D, an attack built up and Taylor found himself suddenly free on the right. Advancing into the circle, he enticed the keeper to come out fractionally too early, picked his spot and slotted the ball home in controlled fashion to restore the two-goal margin. The force was with South at this point, and Murray lifted a flick just over the bar before reversing a pass from the left which Taylor, his appetite whetted, put away neatly to make it 6-3. If South had managed to convert either of the two subsequent shorts, the i's would have been dotted and the t's crossed, but Murray was just wide with a belligerent first-timer from an Erlebach switch and then Wisbech somehow managed to keep out a double-slip move which ended up with most of the defence facing the wrong way.

Refusing to lie down, the home side sprinted forward to win a short corner, the resulting direct hit - again from an unusual angle - well controlled by Parker's right pad. The next short, moments later, was slipped and Parker again made a technically excellent save with stick and gloves before finally ending Wisbech's chances on sixty-two minutes with a superb double block and long barrier which the home side simply could not break down.

Thereafter, though the Fenlanders never stopped trying, they were unable to get past the calm and cultured Agarwala, the obdurate Hay or, indeed, Sergeant-Major Thorpe in typical square-bashing mode ("This is getting scrappy, Cambridge South!"). As the clock ticked down, Graveling retained maximum possession with some intricate moves in midfield, Sprawson was spotted haring after the ball on the left wing, Garrett had time for a final charge…and South had done the business once more as their nearest challengers faltered at the final hurdle.

Now all that remains is to finish off the season in style at Peterborough Town, fix up the ticker-tape welcome at The Hat & Feathers and then it's over to you, Jim!

Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 1 St Neots Men's IV

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers: Dan Adlington (2), Rob Barton
MoM: Stuart Creed - for constant controlled assertive play and prompting many of our attacks

The fast pace of the warm up, at least for the two heroic CSHC players who were still travelling at 100mph down the motorway at the time, continued into the early exchanges of an aggressive game . The home team had most of the first half possession, and Dan Adlington bagged a brace of goals from neat flicks following some effective short corner routines. Tim Waller and Mark Jackson were both unlucky to shoot inches wide in open play and Rob Garrett was even more unfortunate to be hit on the head by a rising ball. It obviously missed any essential parts of his anatomy as he barely flinched.

Skipper John Greaves almost got in on the scoring act with a trademark close range effort that was blocked by a defender on the line after going past the keeper.

The second half was more even but more tetchy. John Greaves developed a convincing limp (5.9) which was applauded generously after losing arguments with opposition stick and ground. South's third goal was probably the best one with Rob Garrett and Tim Waller exchanging passes before Garrett slipped the ball to the waiting Rob Barton who buried the ball in the net with a reverse stick special.

Throughout the game the home defence and keeper stuck to the task and limited the skillful St Neots attack to few scoring chances. They managed a consolation goal from a short corner, but South held on for a well deserved victory.

Cambridge Nomads Men's IV 0 - 0 Cambridge South Men's III

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers:

The first friendly match after the end of the season was a competent performance from South although the game was always likely to be a let down after the previous weeks excitement.

The game could be compared to two de-clawed, toothless bears wrestling in a vat of crude oil – there was a lot of struggling in midfield as neither side got to grips with the other and there didn't seem to be much likelihood of either inflicting any real damage.

South turned up to the game with just nine players and borrowed the services of midfielder Hugh Bucknall. The game also saw the return of Andrew Leonard after a spell with the 2nds and Jack Chalk, back from university for Easter.

From the start of the game it was a midfield battle as both defences held firm. Nomads showed why they had finished third in Div 7NW by attacking quickly down the centre of the pitch. The rearranged South defence of Andrew Leonard, Ky Ho and Andy Pounce had little difficult in tidying up most of the surges forward and keeper Will Benedikz was left with few opportunities for action.

As the first half progressed South played a increasingly relaxed game which, when the passing was sharp, looked good and several reasonable scoring opportunities presented themselves to Jack Chalk, Wilco Dijkstra and Shan Golar. Alas South were thwarted by the Nomads keeper on all occasions.

After the break the game ebbed and flowed a little more with both sides having attacking opportunities. The South midfield of Hugh Bucknall, David Bridge, Shan Golar and Finn Johnson worked well as a unit and continued to move the ball round well. They also took advantage of the Nomads tendency to bunch around the ball and opened up the defence by spreading the ball wide. Finn, Jack and Wilco all had goal scoring chances from this simple manoeuvre.

Nomads won a couple of short corners during the second half but were unable to get a clean strike on all but one of these. Fortunately for South the one good strike was directed wide of the near post.

At the final whistle the game could be regarded as pleasant post-season wind down with South never looking troubled by the lower division team.

Honourable mention: Hugh Bucknall – We owe Hugh our thanks for swapping sides and helping out South. He played a committed game against his teammates and worked himself into good positions that could have resulted in a crucial goal.

Dereham Men's Veterans 3 - 1 Cambridge South Men's Veterans

Scorers: Unknown

No report

Southerners (Mixed Team) 3 - 5 Wild Geese (Sunday 28th March)

H/T: 2 - 2

Scorers: Stuart Creed, Sharon McKay, Dan Adlington
MoM: Gemma Thomas

Cambridge South's mixed team, the Southerners, opened their preparations for the summer festival season, with a good performance against a talented Wild Geese side.

Things started badly with some of the team arriving late, due to playing on another pitch from the one usually used and bad directions given, leaving us with a fairly rushed start. This being in marked contrast with the Geese, who were at the astro a good hour before hand as the captain, who had obviously heard about Cambridge traffic and one-way systems, gave himself suitable time to correct for any wrong turnings. And then proceeded to make none…

After marvelling at the sharpness of the Geese short routines, and their club minibus parked in the car park (luxury!), we then had the opportunity to watch some stick skills up close as some of the Geese seemed to flap past us almost at will. Such a run led to the opening goal of the game, a player beating ~five tackles on his way through, before rounding Tim Poole for an easy finish.

However, the Southerners response to this was more than encouraging. Straight from the centre-pass the ball was switched from centre-back Jim Thorpe to left back Rob Garrett. Rob drew his man and feed left winger Gemma Thomas, who carried the ball into the Geese's twenty-five, used a neat piece of skill to outmanoeuvre her opponent and give herself time to look up. Gemma's measured cross found Stuart Creed, arriving late from midfield, and he took his time before finishing coolly. Good goal.

For most of the remainder of the first-half the Southerners rearguard of Jim Thorpe, Elena de Angelis, Caroline Bucknall and Rob Garrett were called on to make some last ditch tackles as the Geese pressed on. Such pressure inevitably resulted in another goal, with the forward allowed three attempts at lifting the ball Tim Poole, the third one being high enough for Tim to have no chance of reaching…

Once again, the Southerners response was instant. From the push back, Dan Adlington dribbled to the edge of the D, from where he struck the ball in. From this, the ball broke free to Jan Brynjolffsen, who's reverse stick sweep goalwards was deflected by the keeper and heading inches wide. However, with the Geese defenders standing watching, Sharon McKay stole in on the post to tap the loose ball home.

The second-half began with more Geese pressure, and the Southerners trying to launch quick breakaway attacks. One of these soon paid dividends, when another fine run and cross from Gemma found Dan in the circle, his neat control and early and powerful reverse-stick sweep surprised the Pelicans keeper on his near post, and the Southerners led for the first time.

Further rear-guard action was needed throughout the match, with Liz Tattersall and Pippa Noon harrying a number of attacks down the Southerners right. However, once again such incessant pressure paid off when the Geese scored twice in quick succession to turn the match around. First a penalty corner was half-stopped, and the loose ball neatly driven home and then a hit just outside the South D was switched to a late arriving midfielder, who showed excellent skill in dragging the ball into the D, before letting fly with a low, hard sweep into the corner.

South came close to equalising with about ten minutes left, when good interplay between Gemma and Dan down the right saw the ball fired across the D. Dan got a stick to it to draw a good save from the Geese keeper, who then repeated the dose as first Andy Lewis struck in a rebound and then Sharon followed up to try and flick home.

The Geese then closed out the game when a counter-attack of their own saw the Southerners midfield caught upfield. The Geese right-winger played a beautiful cross field pass to her opposite winger, standing in acres of space, and he rounded Tim Poole and slipped the ball home. This trick was nearly repeated two minutes latter, only for the crossfield ball to be deflected away by an excellent stretch by Caroline, diverting past its intended target.

South did come close to reducing arrears on one final occasion, when Andy followed up a driving run to the right edge of the circle with a good clean cross that Dan was only inches from getting a decisive touch to.

Overall the result was a fair reflection of the superior skills of some of the Wild Geese players, but also the closeness of the final score reflected well on South's willingness to work and express themselves, and so make a game of it. It would have been all too easy, when faced with quality players, to have gone into our shells. We didn't, and the result was an excellent game, which everyone enjoyed.

So, a good team performance, of which we can all be proud, but player of the match by general consensus was Gemma Thomas, who gave the left side of the Geese defence problems all match (except for the part she played at right back!). Centre forward Dan Adlington and sweeper Jim Thorpe also put in very strong performances.