Reports 22nd January 2005

Men's 1st XI are beaten 2-1 by Peterborough Athletic II

Men's 2nd XI draw 2-2 with Peterborough Athletic III

Men's 3rd XI suffer a 4-1 defeat by Cambridge Nomads IV

Ladies' 1st XI have their match against Wisbech Town II postponed

 

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

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Nick Wong

Cambridge South were unlucky not to come away from the game with at least a point having played better hockey throughout the seventy minutes. Nick Wong and Alex Pooles looked lively up front and ran hard throughout the game. The midfield looked comfortable going forward with new player Tony Wiskich showing silky skills in possession of the ball.

Peterborough went ahead in the first half when a penalty corner strike was cruelly deflected off a defender's stick and looped high over the diving keeper, dropping into the back of the goal.

Ten minutes into the second half, Peterborough struck again when loose play out of defence resulted in a break. The first shot was stopped well by keeper Anush Newman in goal but the ball fell back to the feet of the attacker who coolly lifted it over the keeper and into the net.

As the minutes went by it looked hopeless for Cambridge South but a goal came in the final minutes after a purposeful run into the D by Andy Rose, whose reverse stick effort bounced off the post only to be helped in by Alex Pooles and finally Nick Wong.

Cambridge South will have to start getting results soon and next week's home fixture against Peterborough Town 3rds would be the perfect opportunity.

 

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

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers: John Benedikz, John Greaves
MoM: John Greaves and Tim Waller

After some ernest debate over the icy state of the Perse pitch, both teams agreed to give it a go.

Which we did, especially the courageous Sam Lansdell, who managed to head butt an opposition stick after three mins. The stick won. Sam returned towards the end of the match minus some blood, but plus stitches, after a rapid visit to Addenbrookes A & E with Dr Murray.

The first half was evenly matched with few chances. The Cambridge South defence were solid; John Benedikz was masterful at sweeper, showing the right aggressive spirit and firm defending required to repel the skilful and organised Peterborough attack and our increasingly confident keeper, Lino Di Lorenzo, was stopping the ball with all parts of his anatomy. Tim Waller was constantly in the action, tracking back and causing Peterborough problems on the left wing.

Peterborough snuck ahead after the interval, first from an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net straight from a cross and then from a breakaway attack through the outnumbered South defence after a goalmouth scramble at the opposite end had left the returned Matt Murray lying prone on the deck.

The two goal deficit did not deter the home team and pressure was rewarded when a firm Brynjolffssen pass into the D was pulled back across goal by skipper Greaves for the lurking Benedikz to slot home gleefully. Although only ten minutes were left, South kept up their attacks, showing greatly improved fitness and resolve than before Christmas. The final action of the game delivered a deserved equaliser, as South won a last short corner which was well worked from Greaves to Raphael, whose subtle (mis-)hit came back to Greaves, who blasted the ball firmly into the net.

This was an excellent performance, and valuable point, in a game played in the right spirit against a good Peterborough Athletic team.

 

Cambridge Nomads Men's IV 4 - 1 Cambridge South Men's III

H/T: 3 - 0

Scorers: Nik Oettle

The first half of the match saw two roughly even teams, with Cambridge South somehow functioning below its potential. Possession was roughly even and the ball spent about the same amount of time at each end, but it was Nomads who were making more of their opportunities.

There were some brilliant interceptions and runs up the field by Nik, Paul, Ky and Steve, but at other times South's defence seemed a fraction slow in getting rid of the ball when it was in danger areas. Nomads capitalised on this by scoring twice from short corners and once from open play.

On the attacking side, South could not quite finish. A couple of great crosses from Ali Blake wasted their sweetness on the desert air. A good shot from Wilco went just wide of the goal. A rapidly taken free hit by Wilco was received by David at the top of the D, but then thrown away as he allowed it to brush his body in an attempt to control it.

In the second half, South, in absence of reserves, refreshed the team by moving the wing backs (Nik & Steve) into midfield while Tim and David dropped back into defence.

South came out fighting and enjoyed the run of play for the first five minutes of the second half, with again a couple of tantalising missed opportunities. However, Nomads achieved a short corner on the break which was converted into a goal on the sixth minute, the ball slipping inside the left post.

South fought back hard and were rewarded four minutes later with a short corner of their own. Wilco swept the ball out to James who scooped it high towards the top right of the goal. The goalie's glove just got to it but it bounced off to the feet of Nik Oettle who finished the job with a perfect flick.

Nomads threw on their reserves but it was South who now dominated the midfield with sterling work by Finn, Nik, James and Steve. Indeed so dominant were South at times that their entire defence apart from the keeper crossed the halfway line to back up the assault on the opposition D.

Frustratingly there were no further goals and South had to settle for drawing the second half of the game.

 

Wisbech Town Ladies' II p - p Cambridge South Ladies' I

Postponed due to frozen pitch