Reports 25th March 2006
Men's 1st XI lose their title-decider with March Town II, 5-2
Men's 2nd XI finish their league season with a 3-1 win against Wisbech Town IV
Men's 3rd XI suffer a 3-1 reverse at the hands of Market Deeping V
March Town Men's II 5 - 2 Cambridge South Men's I
H/T: 1 - 1
Scorers: Robert Garrett, Kevin Rowland
Cambridge South Mens 1sts, sponsored by PwC, ended their season with defeat at league leaders March Town 2nds. South had gone into the game seeking an unlikely six goal victory to steal the title from their hosts.
In a free-flowing game of hockey, both teams had opportunities to score in the first half, with the home side creating the better chances. A number of goal-line clearances were needed to prevent March taking the lead, one by John Benedikz particularly awe-inspiring as the March forward looked certain to score.
Instead, the visitors took the lead when a quick break by Chris Baker and Robert Garrett resulted in Garrett slotting home a shot from the top of the D into the corner of the goal. On the stroke of half time, though, March were rewarded for their attacking play with an equaliser.
In the second half March attacked with renewed vigour and scored three excellent goals before the visitors pegged them back with a Kevin Rowland goal from a well-worked short corner routine. But the home side had the last say in the matter, scoring a fifth before the final whistle blew.
"It was a real pity to have lost this match," said Captain Chris Baker, "but they were a great side and deserved the victory and title." Vice Captain Rob Garrett agreed, "It's never pleasant to lose, but it's not going to dampen our promotion celebrations!"
[Editor's addition] The final league report of the season is a good place to add some squad statistics. So the promotion winning squad were;
Rob Garrett (21 apps, 22 goals), Kevin Rowland (21, 10), Steve Parker (Gk, 21), Chris Graveling (20, 2), John Benedikz (20, 1), Chris Baker (Capt., 19, 24), Jim Thorpe (17), Matt Murray (15, 8), Lukas Snetler (15, 3), Stu Creed (14, 2), Rob Hay (14), Mark Reilly (13, 6), Matt Readman (11, 1), Pete Carey (11, 1), Dan Pippard (9), Tom Moy (6), Andy Bleach (6), Tim Waller (3), Rupert Webb (3), Jan Brynjolffssen (2), Mark Jackson (2), plus eight others with one appearance each.
Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 1 Wisbech Town Men's IV
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: John Horsley, John Greaves, Gareth Peat
MoM: Lino Di Lorenzo - commanding in goal as usual. Making it unwise for opposition forwards to go near the ball in our D
Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, took a while to get going, mainly due to the unseasonably warm conditions and the absence of a delayed opposition.
When they did arrive Wisbech were right on the pace but were kept out by resolute home defending, epitomised by the excellent Steve Lane. South only really woke up when John Horsley snatched the opener with a deft reverse stick effort from close in after working his way to a sight of goal rather than just whacking the ball.
Wisbech equalised shortly after half time from a breakaway resulting in attackers outnumbering the defence, leaving an unmarked forward with an easy chance. South were not to be deterred, were getting the majority of possession and were able to open up the game using both wings as well as through the middle via the determined Mike Thorogood.
Short corners were won, and all resulted in shots from Andy Lewis or Thorogood, but it was skipper Greaves who grabbed the second as he pounced on the ball in his now usual position of two yards out and lifted it over a prone keeper at the nth attempt [Editors note – It only took three tries].
Gareth Peat wrapped up the scoring near the end as he dribbled the ball across the D before joyously shooting off his reverse stick. Although there were some defensive wobbles in the final minutes, a spot of Greaves melodrama with his customary injury - a twisted knee this time, and a knack of squandering possession with some sloppy and delayed passing, this victory was well deserved.
The home team displayed their brand of teamworking, never giving up, and increasingly sophisticated interplay which will enable us to further improve on this season's equal-best finish, seventh place, and outright record points total, thirty-one, in Div 5NW.
Cambridge South Men's III 1 - 3 Market Deeping Men's V
H/T: 0 - 1
Scorers: James Bridge
Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, rounded off their season by playing host to a Market Deeping side who were looking for one more point to secure the East League Division 7NW title.
Deeping started by far the stronger side, keeping South pinned deep in their own half for almost the entire of the first quarter. South keeper Jon Price had to make numerous saves in this period, including one extremely painful one when a driven shot somehow found a gap in his padding to crash at full speed straight onto a kneecap. After a five-minute hiatus, Price was bravely able to carry on and was soon tested on the injured leg when a flick shot towards the corner required a (painful looking but successful) kick save.
Soon after this, left-back Ky Ho was also in the wars, taking a blow when a lifted ball deflected off Matt Kern's body into his own. Once again, following a brief period of wincing in pain, the South player was able to carry on with the match.
Just as South began to get some sort of foothold in the match, and were at least getting somewhere near the, until then redundant, away goalkeeper, Deeping opened the scoring. Matt Kern was somewhat harshly adjudged to have deliberately fouled his opponent near the 25, and a short corner was awarded. The ball was played to a player on the right angle and he let loose a fierce drive across the goal and into the far corner. The sides turned around with Deeping 1-0 up.
South skipper Wilco Dijkstra's half-time team talk seemed to inspire his troops in the opening exchanges of the second half. No longer content to let this all be about the visitors, South were showing very encouraging signs of wanting to end their own season in a positive fashion.
Straight from the centre-pass, a break into Deeping territory forced a first short corner of the match for the hosts. Nothing much came of this, but a second one a few minutes later saw South come agonisingly close to equalising. The inject to James Bridge was maybe a touch slow, and with defenders on top of him he opted to slip the ball right to Tim Waller. Waller rounded a challenge to give himself some space and fired in a shot which beat the keeper, but not the post. James Bridge reacted first to the rebound and flicked in a further shot, which was well saved, and the opportunity broke down when the ball hit a home foot.
Souths positive start to the half was rewarded on forty-seven minutes. Tim Waller made a strong tackle inside his own half, near the right touchline, and broke forward. Having drawn a man, he slipped the ball through to youngster Michael Woolley. Woolley repeated the process and his beautifully weighted pass saw James Bridge clean through into the circle, round the visiting keeper and place a reverse stick flick on the goal which the defender scrambling back couldn't prevent crossing the goal line.
With the visitors now well and truly rattled, the next goal was going to prove crucial. It wasn't long in coming, two minutes after the equaliser to be precise, and as it was Deeping regaining the advantage, it went a long way towards settling the outcome. A Deeping attack down the right wing saw the ball worked back to the centre forward. His swept shot was well saved by Price, but the away forwards reacted quicker to the loose ball and comfortably lifted it over the prone and exposed South stopper.
South heads went down and Deeping, visibly relieved, went on to play the best hockey of the match over the next ten minutes. They extended their lead when a left wing cross was deflected by an unmarked player right in front of Price, giving him no chance, and could have had others. One sweeping move ended with a sharply rising deflection that produced possibly the save of the season from Price, using his face mask to get the ball away, and another example of sharp direct passing sprung their centre-forward one-on-one, only for him to fluff his chance (producing a suitable ribbing from his team-mates on the sideline).
In the last ten minutes, aware they had probably done enough, the visitors began to ask players to hold in position. This allowed South to finish the match and season as aggressors, but as has been the story of too many games post-Christmas, pressure and possession wasn't converted into chances. And so the final whistle went with the score 1-3, and out came the champagne for Deeping (literally). A good match, played in an excellent spirit, a credit to Division 7NW.
Southerners (Mixed Team) intra-club game - Black Shirts 3 - 0 Green Shirts (Sunday 26th March)
H/T: 3 - 0
Scorers: John Benedikz, Wilco Dijkstra, Tom Moy
An impressive gathering of thirty assembled at the Leys School on Sunday lunchtime to celebrate the conclusion of a pretty successful 2005/06 league campaign for South. All the various parts of the club were represented: Ladies, 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, Vets, even some juniors from training we have been looking to get a game too, a recent recruit who has been ineligible for league games as he had switched clubs after the league deadline, and one former South player now back in town during Uni holidays. Hail, hail, the gangs all here!
The players were divvied up into seemingly even squads, and the game began. However, it quickly became apparent that those in the green shirts had overestimated their abilities, as the black shirts dominated. They quickly opened the scoring when Johnny B was left all alone in the D to slot home, and doubled their lead when Wilco was similarly unattended. To make matters worse the Blacks' subs, lounging on the touchline in expectation of joining the action, appeared to be the entire of the Men's 1sts midfield!
It was a one-sided opening thirty-five minutes… Towards the end of the half, a third strike was added by a de-barnetted Tom, rocketing home a short corner, and the sides turned around with Rob G's black-clad heroes with a strong lead.
A few re-jigs on umpires and a couple of unusual substitutions, which saw players swap the colour of their shirts, saw a more even second half. Jessica was causing the Blacks problems down the left, and Pete up front for the Blacks was worryingly unmarked by the Green defence on a few occasions. Blacks' keeper Lino was called into action to stop chances for Alex P on a few occasions and the Greens came inches away from pulling a goal back when young Dave Stock got through and shot, only for Lino’s deflection to just drag the ball wide.
So 3-0 to Rob (bah!), and a retreat to the preferred post-Leys haunt of The Panton Arms to swap tales of Saturday's night end of season social/piss-up.