Reports 4th November 2006

Men's 1st XI beat St Neots II, 3-2

Men's 2nd XI lose narrowly, 3-2 to Alford & District I

Men's 3rd XI score a 3-0 win over City of Peterborough VIII

Ladies' 1st XI win 3-1 against Sawtry Ladies I

 

St Neots Men's II 2 - 3 Cambridge South Men's I

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorers: Chris Graveling, Lukas Snetler, Chris Baker

“All right, we fuckin' did it!”. This game was the classic six-pointer, a match that both sides could ill-afford to lose. On the back of a four game losing streak South, really had their backs against the walls; it was time to stand up and be counted.

Even when you think there's nowhere to hide there's always statistics; before the match started we'd played six games and five of those were against the teams now sitting in the top five of the league (and breaking away from the rest of the division). A third of their collective defeats had been at our hands.

We knew that this was a game we needed to win if we wanted to make a good go of staying up this season and for only the second time we played well in the first half. Cheggers and Mikey dominated the centre of the park, making good use of the ball. Eliot and Tim provided width in midfield (with Finn coming on for Tim midway through the half) and their energy and work rate were excellent. Forrest and Snetler provided the… ahem… firepower upfront and although we didn't always manage to find the quality in the final pass there was plenty of pressure on the home team goal. It seemed only a matter of time before a goal would come.

At the other end of the pitch, the South backline was providing good support for the midfield. Ron was making his league debut for the team and was solid and assured at left back, and he and Rob Hay were both giving good support for the attacks down the wings. And with the Wallace-Thorpey central defensive partnership working so well again, Cheggers will have a selection dilemma next weekend; is there room in the defence for the returning players…?

Finally a goal arrived, but against the run of play it was the home side that took the lead. With possibly their first shot on target of the match, St Neots managed to find the back of the net after South failed to clear their back lines (though the defence would probably appreciate my pointing out that the midfield were slightly slack in getting back - sorry guys). It was but a momentary lapse, though, and South were soon back on the attack and on the stroke of half time the equaliser came from a short corner. Cheggers fires in the shot, Wallace with the deflection into the roof of the net.

Short corners was something that the team had specifically been working on in training the previous Tuesday and, frankly, you wouldn't have guessed. Admittedly things went quite well once we actually managed to get the ball to the top of the D, but as Mikey pointed out afterwards in the changing rooms "the first 6 inches is always the hardest". Anyway, two goals and a flick came from our shorts so not entirely bad.

1-1 at half time and all to play for. The last time we were level at this stage was… well, quite a while ago I'm sure. Normally it's game over by the time the South 1st team reaches the interval. And so we just required the usual second half performance (all guns blazing, please) for the victory.

And it was all going to plan if it weren't for some wretched luck. Mikey scores, but the goal is disallowed. A penalty flick is awarded but Wallace has it saved. Then St Neots have the temerity to go and score! Such cheek! The clock was ticking down so it was time to go back to basics – route one hockey. A 50 yard dash from the half way line from Forrest and the cross is dispatched by Snetler. A second sprint up the pitch from said striker and we've got a short corner in the final minute of the game. And after all the practice we'd had, it was about time we managed a slick short-corner routine (we probably had 10 shorts in the game). Out to Cheggers, slip right to Forrest then back inside for Cheggers to slot home.

Team played: Steve Parker, Ron Oren, Jim Thorpe, Chris Graveling, Rob Hay, Eliot Read, Mike Thorogood, Chris Baker (c), Tim Clapp, Rob Garrett, Lukas Snetler, Finn Johnson

 

Cambridge South Men's II 2 - 3 Alford & District Men's I

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers: Samin Ishtiaq, Simon Harper
MoM: Gareth Hebbron - epitomised the spirit needed to battle away from the lower reaches of 5NW

Another good performance from Cambridge South. Two good goals: a forceful Rob Barton dribble into the D rewarded as his shot was deflected to Samin Ishtiaq running in at the near post to force the ball over the line; another Russell Johnson move passed in to Simon Harper who snuck the ball in from Greaves-like range.

The trouble was, Alford had already got 3 goals, including a spectacular one from an aerial pass into the D bypassing the defence straight from the second half push back, and another scored whilst the South team were distracted by an injured Russell Johnson whose forehead lost an argument with an Alford shoulder.

Andy Lewis was unlucky to hit the post with one effort and Rob Barton kept getting into good positions, but was unable to get a clean shot in.

The whole team were again up for it, and played the majority of the good hockey against the unbeaten league leaders, giving hope for us to rise up the table… soon.

Team played: Ian Evans, John Benedikz, Dave Monck, James Bridge, Gareth Hebbron, Samin Ishtiaq, Russell Johnson, Suk Pannu, Simon Harper, Andy Lewis, Rob Barton, John Greaves (c)

 

Cambridge South Men's III 3 - 0 City of Peterborough Men's VIII

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers: John Horsley (2), Mark Jackson
MoM: John Horsley - for his brace of goals

Cambridge South Men's 3rds, sponsored by PwC, moved clear in the second promotion place in East League Division 7NW with a victory against City of Peterborough Men's 8ths on Saturday. The fixture at Coldham's Common astroturf saw Cambridge South record their fourth win from five league matches this season.

Against a 10-man Peterborough side Cambridge South were dominant from the start, with midfield anchorman James Pope directing play from the middle of the pitch.

Strong play from midfielders Tim Waller and Wilco Dijkstra for Cambridge South saw steady pressure being applied to the Peterborough goal, but a determined holding effort by Peterborough and some excellent keeping frustrated the Cambridge forwards and kept the early scores level. The deadlock was finally broken by forward John Horsley, who followed up with a second goal to put Cambridge 2-0 up at the interval.

Some dangerous breaks by Peterborough threatened to put the game back into the balance, but the win was sealed when midfielder Mark Jackson added a third for Cambridge South.

Team played: Ian Evans, David Bridge, Ian Glover, Neil Sneade (c), Wilco Dijkstra, James Raikes, Tim Waller, James Pope, Michael Woolley, John Horsley, Simon Ta, Mark Jackson

 

Cambridge South Ladies' I 3 - 1 Sawtry Ladies' I

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Tash Cox, Gemma Thomas (2)
MoM: Gemma Thomas

Having managed to field possibly their strongest team of the season so far, South were confident that they would be able to build on last weeks victory.

Lacking a pitch to warm up on, South made the most of the rugby pitch to practice their girly jumps. Oh, how the opposition were quaking in their boots as they watched South looking like a well oiled machine. Having bounced a while it was time for the theory and discussions as to how South would leapfrog Sawtry in the league. Then with no more than five minutes to get the feel of the slightly frozen pitch the game began.

After all that hype, South looked uncomfortable for the first few minutes, mopping up a lot of periods of attack by Sawtry. But slowly things began to come together (I think the lack of pitch warm up time was to blame). South took the lead after Gemma picked the ball up in her own half and ran round some rather static defenders to the backline where an attempted shot/cross reached Tash who smashed it home.

From there South didn't look back as a period of play followed where the ball spent most of the time in the Sawtry half. A hit out was blocked by Gemma who shot at goal and the ball flew up off a defenders foot into the top of the net. No goal according to the umpire who downgraded it to a short corner for dangerous play!! South managed to keep their heads amongst the madness, to take their 1-0 lead into half time.

A rearrangement of the team saw Bek, who had had a storming game at left back, move to left wing to allow Liz into the action. The half didn't start too well for South. Their usual attacking play from the push back backfired and some how Sawtry scored. But not to be rattled by this South began to pile the pressure back on. Sarah, Liles and Hayley took charge of the centre of the pitch and began sending high quality balls through to the forwards. One such attack saw Tash collide with the goalkeeper leaving her with a large bruise on her neck, but with the possibility of scoring she jumped back up to play on. Only to stumble off the pitch seconds later with a stiff neck.

Another switch of players saw Bek move to centre forward and Emma came on to left wing, returning after injuring her knee last month. Shortly after South were awarded a short corner. Liles hit out superbly to Gemma who short hard and low into the bottom left hand corner and regain the lead. Moments later Hayley passed the ball through to Gemma who rounded the defender and flicked in round the keeper and the ball rolled in past the out stretched Bek who was putting the defender off.

Throughout the game, Ellie played outstandingly at right back having several physical battles with the Sawtry forward, and Sally and Becca as ever controlled the defence. All in all a great performance which saw South move up to third in the league.

Team played: Lou Tonkin; Sally Spencer, Julie Sadler, Becca Lumb (c), Ellie Raffan, Sarah Martin, Liles Dee, Hayley Sharpe, Bek Rhodes, Tash Cox, Gemma Thomas, Liz Tattersall, Emma Clarke