Reports 30th October 2004
Men's 1st XI continue their losing streak with a 4-0 defeat by Ely City I
Men's 2nd XI hold Alford & District I to a 1-1 draw
Men's 3rd XI go down 2-0 to Cambridge City V
Men's Veteran XI are defeated 7-3 by Milton Keynes Veterans
Ladies' 1st XI achieve a 3-2 victory over March II
Ely City Men's I 4 - 0 Cambridge South Men's I
H/T: 4 - 0
Scorers:
In a reversal of last week's pattern against St Neots, South transposed the Jekyll and the Hyde, conceding four goals in a difficult first half but then regrouping well to put the home side under pressure in a much more even second. Although South won five short corners in a ten minute period late in the game, they were unable to close the gap and were left ruing an unsettled start which saw them three goals down in the first quarter.
Indeed, Ely scored from their first penalty corner, just three minutes in, when a well-timed switch somehow ended up in South's net off a defensive stick. A second goal beckoned moments later as an Ely attacker raced unchallenged into the circle but keeper Steve Parker, with fine judgment, was swiftly out with an excellent stick tackle which blocked the shot and bought time for a clearance.
The home side kept their foot on the accelerator, though, and with their second short produced a low drag-flick which both Chris Graveling and Parker managed to get some wood on, but the ball ballooned up and was eagerly seized on by the second wave to make it 2-0. A third short was well stopped and cleared by Parker despite the closest of attention from the Ely forwards, whilst a fourth immediately after was charged down by left-back and authentic Road Runner impersonator Rob Garrett. But South were unable to clear their lines effectively and a textbook three-man move from Ely ended with an unmarked man on the spot whipping the third goal in past a slightly disorientated defence.
In these desperate circumstances, South at last began to recover some composure and organise themselves, with Rob Hay initiating a good, simple move up the wing through Andy Rose to John Taylor, and the hard-working Chris Baker, taking Graveling's feed, again releasing Taylor, who was fouled to give South their first short after fourteen minutes. This went unconverted and Ely continued to press strongly down the centre of midfield.
Garrett, Jim Thorpe and the cultured Vijay Agarwala manoeuvred their way convincingly out of trouble, however, and a more coherent approach to the build-up soon led to some dissension in the Ely ranks. Yet a string of two or three good passes too often tended to fizzle out or lack the final element of flair for a real breakthrough and Ely held on to their lead, which they would have extended in the twenty-third minute but for keeper Parker, who stonewalled a free shot from his left.
Garrett, meanwhile, continued to display a cool nerve in dribbling confidently out of defence, whilst at the other end Mark Freer put in a good cross which forced the Ely keeper into his first real action of the half. Freer was again behind a promising move which saw the determined Ryan Thomas apparently fouled by the keeper, but the half ended with South having to soak up more pressure at short corners as Ely sought to hammer home their advantage. After thirty-three minutes the ball was forced across a crowded D and a snap shot from one of the home forwards rattled in through a forest of bodies past an unsighted Parker.
After a brief whiff of smelling salts at the interval, South looked more joined up and Agarwala, shielding the ball well, worked nicely with the tireless Baker, who played intelligently throughout to find free space and call his availability. Baker it was who took a good pass from Freer and challenged the Ely keeper, only for the ball to be scrambled away at the death. Baker and Thorpe were instrumental in several further promising forays, with the normally earthy Thorpe putting up a finely-tuned aerial down the right and then working a classic give-and-go with Richard Morgan before the threat was snuffed out.
On forty-five minutes, an unpleasant-looking gap in midfield was quickly filled by a pair of Ely attackers and a simple pass gave one of them a big chance unmarked in top D, but Parker judged the shot nicely and angled it astutely out of danger with a good kick to his right. Hay then cut out a dangerous break before Garrett, who was virtually impassable at left-back in a fine exhibition of shadowing and deft tackling, streaked up the left and almost found an opening. Agarwala repeated the dose with a run of mazy brilliance and was only just denied at the last by the keeper, and then Thomas went wide after good approach work by Rose and Baker, backed by sterling defence from Graveling.
South survived a further Ely surge as an awkward deflection was tipped over the bar but then struck back with five short corners in a sustained spell of pressure triggered by Thomas and Rose. On the first, Baker's flick from a Thorpe switch was saved, whilst the second saw the keeper also stop a firm direct hit from Thorpe. In the meantime, Taylor sprinted gazelle-like (?? - alternatives on a postcard, please!) onto a clever held-up pass from Thomas before taking an unscheduled flight thanks to a firm diving tackle by the keeper. A third short on sixty-three minutes nearly brought results when a double slip by Thorpe freed Agarwala to shoot, but the flick was well diverted past the post. Thorpe was again in the thick of it when crossing to Taylor, who slid the ball wide to the right after the goalie had spreadeagled himself.
Baker then held close control in a confined space to help Agarwala set up Thomas, who won a final short with his favourite tricky manoeuvre. Thorpe switched right this time but Baker could not quite swivel his hips for the shot in timely enough fashion and, though South had the ball in the net twice in the last five minutes (both times unfortunately from outside the D), it was a case of too little, too late and too loose as the team were left to reflect on what might have been but for those first fifteen minutes.
Cambridge South Men's II 1 - 1 Alford & District Men's I
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: Matt Murray
MoM: Keith Simpson - resolute defence, being tougher than the opposition; Will Marston - great positional play and constant enthusiasm and attacking threat - as well as bringing along Florence Nightingale to minister to the injured
Two goals, two injuries, points shared, fair result.
Cambridge South had the first injury, with skipper John Greaves suffering a fractured thumb from a well-struck Alford defensive hit out.
South also had the first goal, following a fine move involving an interchange of passes between Marston, Lewis, and Murray who buried the ball confidently from close range.
Then it was Alford's turn, with Murray's stick deftly extracting a defender's tooth from its socket. Both tooth and defender took no further part in proceedings.
Half time 1-0, with South holding on well. Brave defence led by sweeper Simpson alternating with breakout attacks from all angles. Andy Lewis, and Stuart Creed particularly prompting many of South's best moments.
Constant pressure from Alford, with a number of short corners all repelled, eventually gave them the equaliser, having had other attempts foiled by the woodwork, and excellent keeping from Jon Bartram. Nevertheless South continued to press, showing no signs of their early season unfitness. Will Marston particularly found space through intelligent running, and Murray scampered around the pitch to great effect.
Unfortunately the home side were unable to find a winner in spite of some close shaves and desperate Alford defending.
Cambridge City Men's V 2 - 0 Cambridge South Men's III
Scorers:
No report
Cambridge South Men's Veterans 3 - 7 Milton Keynes Men's Veterans
H/T: 1 - 4
Scorers: Craigen, Davidson, Williams
It was obvious to see how Milton Keynes won the league last season and are currently at the top again.
The first fifteen minutes were fairly close with South's efforts mainly lead by Steve Fleck. However, apart from a couple of his shots and a flick from Roger Craigen that just sailed over the bar, the MK defence held firm. South battled hard in defence but MK got the upperhand and put three goals past Jim Sutcliffe in the second fifteen minute spell.
South got a goal back following a nice move down the right which resulted in a pass from Keith Davidson across the D for Roger to flick home. Unfortunately MK scored a fourth goal just before half time and in spite of South being awarded a short corner as the half time whistle blew it remained at 1-4 at the break.
South came out hard in the second half with Steve Fleck, Piyush Yani, Phil Smith and Keith Davidson exerting more control over the midfield. The defence was well organised with Andrew Matthews, Ky Ho, Kevin Pride and Peter Kemp stopping most of MK's attacks. However Jim was called on on several occasions to make more good saves.
In attack Ricky Williams and Roger Craigen fought hard but a further goal from MK were answered by a nice goal finished off by Keith.
With Peter Kemp limping off with fifteen minutes remaining and being replaced by another injured player in the form of Steve Riches, the defence started to struggle and to add to South's problems Keith received a nasty blow on the hand.
MK increased their tally to seven with some lovely skilful moves, but as the final whistle blew South were awarded another short. This time the deflection of MK's acrobatic keeper fell to Ricky who made no mistake from a tight angle.
So 3-7 and a good game against the best team we are likely to come across this season.
Cambridge South Ladies' I 3 - 2 March Town Ladies' II
H/T: 2 - 1
Scorers: Emma Clarke (2), Tash Cox
MoM: Tash Cox
South played host to league leaders March in this match, hoping to end March's unbeaten run and make up for a disappointing last match at the same time.
After a fast start, with both sides having chances, South went one up after ten minutes. The play came down the right from half Charlotte Page and all three forwards were involved in the D before the ball came loose for left wing Emma Clarke to score from close range.
March kept up their attacks and scored a lucky goal soon afterwards. The ball was crossed into the circle from a long corner and, with the South defence believing it had gone off the back, it somehow squeezed past goalkeeper Cassie Ragnauth for a March forward to pop it home.
However, it was not long before South were back in front. Centre forward Tash Cox picked up a ball from Gemma Thomas and ran through to score a fantastic solo goal. In fact, South could have gone in to the break 3-1 up, a cracking shot from a short corner by Gemma going just inches wide. Other action in the first half included a fantastic save by Cassie from a short corner and some very good defending by backs Claire Roberts, Sue Snape and Caroline Bucknall, with sweeper Ruth Jempson proving extremely solid and her trademark reverse stick clearance working to good effect.
After the break, both teams were pressing hard, South looking for a two goal cushion and March trying to find the equalizer. It was the latter who scored after fifteen minutes when a lifted shot, indirectly from a short corner, managed to beat all the South defence.
South kept going and several times were unlucky not to score. Finally, it was excellent pressure in the D from Tash and Rosie Dias, who were put through after a run from centre back Sue, that again forced the goalkeeper to commit and allowed Emma Clarke to score a carbon copy of her first goal. This goal came with just a minute to go and South easily held on for a well deserved victory.
All in all this was an excellent match, with both sides playing extremely well. There was very good linking from all areas of the pitch, with halves Gemma, Charlotte and Liz Brimer providing great support to the forwards. Tash Cox deservedly won player of the match for her brilliant goal and various other heroics.