Reports 30th April 2005

Cambridge South Challenge XI run out late 4-3 winners against an All Saints Church XI

The Challenge Match

Cambridge South Challenge Team 4 - 3 Shelford All Saints Church

H/T: 2 - 3

Scorers: David Scott, Tim Gass, Tony Wiskich, Mark Reilly (South); James Bridge, Stuart Creed (2) (All Saints)

This was a flowing, end-to-end match played in the sunshine, which either side could easily have won.

All Saints Church of Shelford (aka the Church XI) struck twice early on through James Bridge and Stuart Creed. David Bridge, after some resolute defending was, escorted from the field after an unfortunate collision between his head and an opponents stick, leaving the Church XI down to ten men for a period. With this numerical advantage the Club side rallied and struck back to level the score by half time, David Scott and Tim Gass getting the strikes.

The appearance of Piyush Jani allowed the Church to return to a full compliment of players and Creed celebreated soon after the interval by scoring to restoring his side's lead, which they then held onto for most of the second half.

The high quality end-to-end hockey continued, with the Club XI finally edging out the Church XI inside the last ten minutes, thanks to a well struck shot by Tony Wiskich and a close range sweep by Mark Reilly. Even then, Ali Blake had a chance to level the match at 4-4, but he couldn't quite make the telling touch.

Tense, exciting, end to end stuff, with a great time in the pub afterwards.