Reports 28th February 2004

Men's 1st XI win 3-2 away at Spalding II

Men's 2nd XI have their match with Ely City II postponed

Men's Veteran XI lose 2-1 to Peterborough Veterans

Spalding Men's II 2 - 3 Cambridge South Men's I

H/T: 1 - 3

Scorers: Rick Erlebach, John Taylor, Rob Garrett

After the previous week's bloodless coup, when Alford automatically conceded by failing to raise a side, South were raring for action in this crucial encounter against opponents who had been defeated 3-0 at the Perse before Christmas but who were unbeaten at home all season. Though missing Jim Thorpe, Veejay Agarwala, Keith Simpson and vice-captain Rob Barton from two weeks ago, South were pleased to welcome back Matt Readman in the heart of the defence and John Taylor, Rob Garrett and the evergreen Steve Fleck up front.

The opening exchanges were dominated by South, with midfield general Rick Erlebach right in the thick of things as the Spalding goalie was forced into two good saves following a second minute short corner. Erlebach quickly had his measure, however, when, in typical steel-wristed fashion, he whipped the next short cleanly into the bottom left hand corner to give South the lead after three minutes.

Galvanised, Spalding spread the ball around in midfield and, after Chris Graveling had calmly sold keeper Steve Parker a dummy and cleared with aplomb, they won a free hit which was fired in hard and trapped in the D. Parker made the save on the ground but an eager Spalding forward was on hand to knock in the loose ball for a seventh minute equaliser. Determined rescue work from Readman, twisting and turning out of trouble, and the solid John Benedikz prevented further incursions before Spalding broke clear down the right and, rather luckily, won a twelfth minute short as Parker brought off what appeared to be a perfectly-executed reverse-stick tackle to save an almost certain goal. Justice was done, though, as the Spalding skipper, always a menace before a leg injury restricted his participation later on, shot just wide.

In the fourteenth minute, South restored their lead when Fleck collected an Erlebach free hit from the top left and cleverly lured the Spalding keeper to his doom before setting up Taylor for an unopposed tap-in. Chances continued to flow thick and fast, with Fleck, Graveling and Garrett sorely troubling the home defence and Andy Lewis running hard from left wing to reach some excellent goal-scoring positions, but South were still forced to work hard at the back and, when Spalding found a man free on the far post, Parker instantly spotted the danger and defied him with another reverse-stick tackle. He then blocked a sweetly-struck home short stone dead before sweeping to safety and this presaged another South charge upfield, with Garrett roasting the defenders up the right and Taylor cracking a trademark first-timer straight at goal. Brave work from the home keeper stopped the rebound from close range and South were unable to capitalise on the resulting short corner despite a neat, space-winning jink from receiver Erlebach.

Spalding repeatedly thrust forward in numbers but, once again, the granite-hard Readman proved both a rock and a hard place, contesting every ball to the max and once sending a thwarted attacker spinning with an optimally-timed handbrake turn. After determined defensive work from Jan Brynjolffssen, who again played an impeccable positional game, the inspired Readman then put Fleck away for a defence-burning run that left him one-on-one with the keeper. Fleck feinted left but, at the last moment, laid the ball off rightwards to the onrushing Garrett, who escorted it safely into the unguarded net to make the score 3-1 after twenty-eight minutes.

Strong cover by Graveling and John Benedikz at the back, allied to stout, if unintentional, defensive interventions by various parts of Taylor's anatomy, slowed Spalding's attempt at a comeback, but they still won two short corners in quick succession. Parker dived athletically to stick away a screamer bound for the bottom corner and then Brynjolffssen alertly read a wrong-footing switch and was in perfect position to take the ball off the intended receiver homing in on the post. The rest of the half belonged entirely to South, with Garrett (twice) and Lewis both coming close following incisive runs by Fleck and the serpentine Erlebach, and Spalding owed their continued survival solely to the efforts of their now slightly overworked keeper.

South stepped up their quest for a killer fourth goal immediately on the resumption, with Garrett nearly reaching a through ball by virtue of his giraffe-like strides and Taylor using long-arm leverage to shoot as soon as the opportunity arose. Taylor then beat four men with a belligerent drive after Graveling had put in a consummate reverse tackle for Readman to clear. Moments later, Sanjay Agarwala, returning fresh after a bout of cramp in the first half, made a curving approach up the left and Fleck hit a carefully-weighted ball into the D which the goalie jumped over before turning in horror as Garrett raced through on the blindside and missed the conversion by a whisker. When Spalding threatened, Lewis weighed in on defence to retrieve the situation but he was soon back in position up front to latch onto a pass from Fleck when the latter again split open the home rearguard with a devastating solo burst. Taylor, Fleck and Garrett, profiting from Erlebach's distributive skills, continued to dominate the right flank and Agarwala was persistence personified in left midfield, regularly holding off his abrasive markers with deft stick control and always looking to get into open space. Brynjolffssen and John Benedikz both remained assured in defence and each came away calmly with the ball when facing critical head-to-heads.

By the fifty minute mark, Spalding had started to lose their composure, especially when Agarwala really got into his stride, but this merely served to fire up their goalie, who blocked an Erlebach shot and then made excellent tackles on Fleck and Garrett when they were clean away with the defence receding into the distance. Fresh legs were provided on fifty-five minutes by the versatile Will Benedikz, who had subbed for Agarwala on the left in the first half and who now gave brother John a well-deserved rest at right back, reminding all of his prowess from a previous incarnation with a completely authentic surge followed by a nonchalant reverse-stick stop. South's sixth short, on fifty-seven minutes, was blocked after Erlebach elected to flick and Taylor seized on the rebound and, shortly after, Graveling bamboozled five men in a dazzling run down the left. But despite apparently being on the ropes, the home side refused to throw the towel in and, with five minutes to go, they fashioned a dangerous move from centre midfield which saw the South defence turned for once. The obvious pass was whipped across to two men free halfway into the D and the situation looked ugly but Parker, advancing decisively, put in a beautifully-timed tackle to beat the ball clear.

South regained control through Agarwala and the torpedoes up the right but, even then, Spalding were not done. With a minute to go, they won a fifth short and, though this was convincingly suffocated by Parker, he could do nothing about its successor, which found its way into the left-hand corner courtesy of a sophisticated deflection. A Spalding equaliser at this stage would have been something of a travesty but, thankfully, there was time for little more than the obligatory push-back before the umpire blew to confirm one of South's most important victories of the season.

As a reward, half the South team were locked in the changing-room by the far from eponymous "caretaker" but, with typical resolve and ingenuity, a Great Escape was made by fenestral means well in time to join the post-match festivities. With Spalding defeated and facing a tough run-in, it now looks highly likely that the battle for second spot in the division will be between South and the persistent Deeping.

Skipper Steve Parker was delighted with his side's performance, to which all members of the travelling squad made a valued and valuable contribution. He was especially grateful to those members of the squad who ensured that his iconic kit would not be left to fester in a dank Spalding changing room.

Cambridge South Men's II p - p Ely City Men's II

Postponed due to snow-bound pitch.

St Neots Men's V 1 - 6 Cambridge South Men's III

H/T: 0 - 2

Scorers: Wilco Dijkstra, James Bridge (2), Nick Wong (3)
MoM: Nick Wong - a fantastic hat-trick topping another outstanding personal and team performance. Honourable Mentions: James Bridge and Andy Kennedy - for more strong performances; Finn Johnson - for his best game of the season to date

Cambridge South climbed out of the bottom two with an extremely competent display against what was, at best, a mediocre St Neots team.

South dominated from the start of the game and throughout the first half and fashioned a great number of excellent chances to score. The midfield of David and James Bridge, Andy (Kenny) Kennedy and Finn Johnson ran the ball into the opposition D, creating several chances. The first goal came via the stick of Wilco Dijkstra, who has scored at least once in all the games against St Neots (4 in total) this season. A strong run down the right hand side involving Kenny, Nick Wong and Finn was pulled back across goal for the ever-present Dutchman to sweep home. South's second goal came shortly after from a good strike by midfield dynamo James Bridge.

Despite scoring twice South had not looked at their best. However, from this point until half time continued to create chances and look equally as good as they have in their recent games. South used the run in and switch back to create at least three chances for various players but alas squandered these opportunities. They also created half a dozen first half short corners, but the short corner striker John Benedikz failed to make much impression on the defence.

St Neots came out to the second half fighting and initially South failed to really get to grips with the opposition midfield and forwards. This short period of play brought the defence of Ky Ho, Will Marston, Andy Pounce and sweeper John Benedikz properly into the game and game them some proper work to do. The settled back line controlled the situation with their regular composure, leaving keeper Will Benedikz with only a couple of shots to clear away.

South recovered from these early set backs to begin their best passage of play of the game. It was during this period that South were able to put the game well beyond St Neots. A close range shot from Nick Wong slipped past the keeper for three-nil. Within minutes South scored following perhaps their best move of the game. First half substitute James Pope launched a rapid counter attack and drove half the length of the pitch before selflessly passing the ball to Nick Wong who slipped the ball under the advancing keeper. Four-nil became five-nil when James Bridge added his second of the match. James' drive across the circle drew the keeper, who was wrong footed before James slotted the ball home.

South settled back after this and went a little quiet. Andy (Kenny) Kennedy, who had played a determined game throughout stopped two St Neots' clearances in quick succession. Unfortunately both of these were with his hand and he went off with what turnout out to be a double fracture the finger. Tragically for the team this is likely to end his playing for the season. Closely following Kenny off the pitch was the St Neots centre back who deflected a James Bridge shot onto his own eyebrow producing alarming quantities of claret. During this dormant period for South St Neots broke forward and won a short corner. The switch of strikers beat the onrushing defenders and the St Neots forward then wrong footed keeper Benedikz to score inside the right post. This was disappointing as the South defence were rock solid throughout.

As the match was drawing to a close Nick Wong picked up a ball cleared away from a short corner. Finn Johnson, who played probably his best game of the season, made an intelligent run wide and drew the defender out of Nick's path, allowing the South striker to beat the keeper at his near post, for his hat trick and South's sixth.

Peterborough Men's Veterans 2 - 1 Cambridge South Men's Veterans

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorers: Piyush Yani

South slipped to defeat in a close game at Peterborough.

The home side opened the scoring after fifteen minutes from a short corner given away after a poor mix-up in the South defence lead to a blatant third party obstruction. The shot from the resulting corner slipped in under keeper Roy Todd.

South then dominated the rest of the first half and equalised from a superb Phil Smith free hit, which Piyush Yani turned home, running in at far post, for his first goal this season.

With the score at 1-1 at half time, and South looking the better side, Peterborough made a substitution that changed the pattern of the game, giving them dominance of the second period. After a lot of Peterborough pressure, South succumbed to a dubious own goal.

Once again, South failed to get it together in the second half and the recent pattern of the opposition passing up through the pitch with South players chasing shadows again occurred. However, following last weeks depressingly heavy defeat, at least the final score was more balanced.

Cambridge South Ladies' I 2 - 2 Sawtry Ladies' I

H/T: 0 - 2

Scorers: Emma Clarke, Kate Nustedt

Cambridge South began this match against Sawtry wanting a win to consolidate their mid-table place in the league. However, illness meant that they started with only ten players which did not help their cause early on. A big thank you goes to Katie Thornburrow who got out of her sick-bed to come and play. Before her arrival, Sawtry went one up very early on from an unstoppable short corner strike.

The half term break had left a few players slightly ring-rusty and as usual it took South quite a while to warm up and get their eye in. The team was disappointed to go two down shortly before half time due to a slight misunderstanding in defence and enterprising play from the Sawtry forwards.

A rousing team talk from captain Rachel Rule at half time seemed to do the trick however. Striker Kate Nustedt led by example and South gained several short corners early on in the second half. Eventually one of these was forced home by left wing Emma Clarke to give South hope of a comeback. Soon after they were level when Rachel Rule's cross into the D was met by Kate Nustedt who scored with a neat flick.

The last ten minutes of the game was end to end and the result could have gone either way. Cassie Ragnauth in goal, sporting her new bright yellow kit, made two excellent saves late on to deny Sawtry. Special mention must also go to Claire Roberts who had an excellent game at right back in a defence that was extremely strong in the second half. In the end a draw was probably a fair result for both sides in an entertaining game.