Reports 11th March 2006

Men's 1st XI win 3-1 against Boston I to secure promotion

Men's 2nd XI post a convincing 4-0 win over St Neots IV

Mixed XI lose 4-1 against Ely City

 

Boston Men's I 1 - 3 Cambridge South Men's I

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Matt Murray, Mark Reilly, John Benedikz

Victory is ours! Promotion is ours! Our hard work, commitment and general all-round hockey ball-wizardry has been rewarded with a place in Division 3NW!

The match on Saturday started in a forbidding mood. Spikes over the entrance and razor wire on the perimeter fence – either they didn't want people getting in, or they didn't want people getting out… Added to this a loss of some of our regular personnel and the Boston home record (unbeaten since early November) and we knew this was going to be a tough game.

Things got worse before a ball was even hit in anger when news arrived that Carey had launched himself up the A16 with far more speed than is legally allowed, but unfortunately not quite enough to out-run the local constabulary. A speeding ticket and delayed arrival followed, and Benedikz moved to centre back.

It was a time to stand up and be counted, to show what we’re really made of and prove that we deserved to leave this division. And the squad didn't disappoint, with commanding performances to a man. Graveling put in a dominating performance at the back, organising and controlling the back three of Benedikz, Bleach and Brynjolffssen (Carey stepped into centre back shortly into the game, replacing Brynjolffssen).

Benedikz continued his scintillating run of recent form, clearing short corners off the line like he does it in his sleep (maybe he does?) and a trademark goal line clearance with full length dive (no pike though) under immense pressure from the Boston striker. The incident resulted in a flattened JB but the last laugh was his as he grabbed the third and decisive goal to ensure victory in this game, and hence promotion.

Bleach and Brynjolffssen were similarly rock-steady in defence, letting nothing past and belying their second eleven status. Boston huffed and they puffed but found little reward for their endeavours. Brynjolffssen even had time to saunter across to left-back and help out over there before moving back to fill in his right-back slot (after a bemused look from JB – "hey, if you’re over here, who’s playing on the other side…??").

In the middle of the pitch a new-look South midfield defended stoutly and efficiently created the opportunities required to score enough goals for the win. Rob Hay moved into right mid and performed solidly and reliably, holding up the ball and creating good attacks for Keith at right wing. Who, incidentally, had a fine game himself. His crossing set up two of the goals, and possibly helped with the third too (I forgot about the build up to JB's goal).

The first goal came after good skills from Snetler on the right, creating space for Keith. Keith's pin-point cross to Murray was headed straight for the Boston defender, but fortunately he miscontrolled it and Muzza took full advantage by slipping the ball past the exposed keeper.

This capped a fine all-round performance by the man at left mid, whose aerials up the line were a useful outlet from the back. One such pass found the always-running Mark Reilly and his neat control helped create another attack on the Boston goal. Midway through the second half Reilly scored the second goal of the match, his excellent far post run picked out by Keith from the right wing. This was Reilly's final game for South and we'll all miss his speed, tenacity and commitment on the pitch. I hope you have fun in Singapore.

“The lads did great today,” said captain for the day, Forrest. “We were without some of our regular players but we dug deep and everyone gave 110%. We knew it would be difficult but in the end the side that wanted it more came away with the points.”

So there are now two games remaining and a win in each will put South level with March – will we have enough goals to go top, though?

 

Cambridge South Men's II 4 - 0 St Neots Men's IV

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers: John Greaves (2), Mike Thorogood, Tristen Knight
MoM: John Greaves - nominated by the umpire: being a forward himself, he understands about having lots of scoring chances…but only scoring two

Although the day was cold and wintry, Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, were not, and having had much of the early play the first goal came from a Gareth Peat through ball which skipper John Greaves tucked away under an advancing keeper.

Midfield dynamos Mike Thorogood and Suk Pannu continued to boss the game with the lively Stuart Creed and Gareth Peat being a constant threat on the wings. Thorogood was rewarded with the second goal as he manoeuvred himself into a scoring position before shooting ruthlessly past the St Neots keeper with Greaves leaping out of the way to avoid pain.

The second half continued in similar vein; although St Neots had more possession the makeshift home defence coped superbly to restrict shooting chances. The few that came through were confidently stopped by dominant keeper Lino Di Lorenzo.

Tristen Knight got on the scoresheet from a Greaves-like distance of a foot or so with a composed push into the net off the ground from a killer Creed cross. Not to be outdone, John Greaves, having avoided scoring about six times through a combination of good St Neots goalkeeping, near misses, and missing the ball altogether whilst aiming to deflect some short corner shots, finally managed a neat reverse stick poacher's effort to score South's fourth. This partially excused some excellent overacting when upended by the keeper. It hurt, honest.

There should have been more goals, with Thorogood particularly unlucky to have a high class shot ruled out through the dubious misdemeanour of another. A deserved win, in a game played in excellent spirit, which helped South's goal difference and will help to ensure mid table respectability.

 

Ely City 4 - 1 Southerners (Mixed Team) (Sunday 12th March)

H/T: 2 - 1

Scorers: Rob Garrett

Despite what the weather forecast had said, the Southerners woke up to find a dry, non-frosty, still day, though still a pretty damned cold one, for the short trip to Ely. No sign of snow flurries or anything. Game on.

Or it would have been, had the Ely team thought an 11.00 start on a Sunday morning was reasonable. A number of them were clearly in dispute with their captain over this and come the planned centre-pass they still numbered only single figures. The most vital absentee being their goalkeeper. When he finally arrived, this time the phrase 'game on' was more accurately employed.

The South side, which had only come together late in the week, set itself up 4-4-2. The aim was to hit centre forward Sarah early, with Kev playing a free role off her. Also with four across the middle, wide players Bek and Wilco were offering good width. Ely set-up with a more hockey style 4-3-3, and interestingly packed their male players into the back of the side, with all three forwards from the Ladies teams.

Ely started as the dominant side as South took time to settle and much of the opening ten minutes was played in the South half. However, Margot stood out by being descivive in sweeping loose balls away, and very few clean shots were allowed as we worked our way into the game.

Then, halfway through the first half, a decisive passage of play. South came oh-so-close to opening the scoring, Wilco picking up a loose ball in midfield and laying an early ball through to an unmarked Rob. He burst into the D and shot, but the Ely keeper got just enough on the ball, which was dragged an inch wide.

From the resulting long corner, too many South bodies were thrown forward and when one of the Ely men picked up a free ball on his own twenty-five, he was able to sprint into acres of space. With South scrambling to get back he advanced up field, showed some nice jinks, work a clear shot at Lino and *bang*, 1-0 to the hosts.

Ely doubled their lead towards the end of the half, moving a short corner backwards and forwards, until the opening scorer had a clear flick, with which he gave Lino little chance. But South hit back within minutes, from a short of their own. Gemma's drilled pass from outside the D hit was lifted by an Ely stick into a defensive body. The home side paused, expecting a whistle, but Rob was waiting on no such ceremony and whipped the ball into the backboard from five yards. "Advantage played, good goal" was the Umpires call.

And so the teams turned around with the score 2-1. South talked at half-time about keeping going, and passing early and sharply. Bek on the left flank was particularly good at this throughout the second half, sweeping the ball sharply into Rob, Gemma and Sarah in the middle. She was also taking up a number of great positions from defensive sixteens, allowing Jan to distribute the ball out, either directly, or via Jodee at right-back. But the play was now mainly in the South half, with our hopes of equalising relying on Rob's pace and Gemma's skill on the fast counter. The home keeper wasn't that busy through the half, but he did make a couple of good scrambling blocks as people tried to round him.

Ely, driven forward by their captain, were forcing numerous shorts and South appeared to be inviting pressure, struggling to clear their lines. In the end, it was no surprise when Ely sealed the game with two rapid-fire goals in the last ten minutes. First, one of the Ely forward line reacted smartly to a loose ball in the D and she swept it home whilst prone on the deck. Then a short corner finally worked, with the ball being passed around neatly until a spare man was created five yards out, unmarked, and it really can be that simple.

The final five minutes were played out, with the most notable incident being Joe making a lovely clean tackle on the Ely captain as he came along the byline. But the scoring was over, and soon so was the game. A good match, played in the right spirit, and the spread Ely laid on in he clubhouse for tea was impressive. But not as impressive as Lino’s reflexes in whipping one last doughnut on his way to the cars…

Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo, Margot Overbeek, Joe Williamson, Jan Brynjolffssen, Jodee Davis, Wilco Dijkstra, Rob Garrett, Gemma Thomas (c), Bek Rhodes, Kevin Rowland, Sarah Martin