Reports 9th December 2006

Men's 1st XI post a 4-1 victory over Spalding II

Men's 1st XI narrowly go out of the Vase 2-1 to Royston I

Men's 2nd XI lose 1-0 to Alford & District II

Cambridge South Men's I 4 - 1 Spalding Men's II

H/T: 3 - 0

Scorers: Chris Baker (2), Rob Garrett (2)

Cambridge South, proudly sponsored by PwC, secured a straightforward victory over bottom-of-the-league Spalding 2nds. Spalding have only three points to their name this season, those coming in the opening game of the season in the reverse fixture against South.

South side were keen to make amends for all the various things that had gone wrong in that match (absent players, the car skippered by the skipper getting lost en route and only arriving five minutes before push-back, passing straight to the opposition centre-forward, that sort of thing), and they never looked like losing this game.

Spalding started brightly, but struggled to create clear opportunities. In contrast, South exhibited a ruthless cutting edge in attack. Cheggers continued his good scoring run with two in the first half, one direct from a short corner, and Forrest ended his scoring drought with a reverse stick finish to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Forrest added another in the second period and was then denied a hattrick when a further effort was suprisingly disallowed. South controlled the game throughout this period, but spoilt things slightly by allowing the visitors a last minute consolation when a clean sheet should have been secured [Ed - vague reports of defenders in the opposition circle looking for personal glory, leading to a counter which found us with only two men in our own half against a posse of visitors!].

The three points completed a generally satisfactory opening half of the season, on South’s latest return to 3NW. Thirteen points from twelve games sees the team in seventh spot for Christmas, and though safety will require a few more wins yet (it’s quite tight at the bottom end of the table) it’s a distinctly realistic hope. More points have been secured already than were accumulated in the two previous twenty-two game attempts at this league…

Team played: Steve Parker, Chris Graveling, John Benedikz, Jim Thorpe, Rich Morgan, Rupert Webb, Tim Clapp, Chris Baker (c), Eliot Read, Kevin Rowland, Finn Johnson, Rob Garrett

Cambridge South Men's I 1 - 2 Royston Men's I (Sunday 10th December)

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers: Rob Garrett

Cambridge South, sponsored by PwC, made a short-lived foray into the HA Vase for the first time in a number of seasons. The draw had seen South paired with Royston, from just down the road, though as Royston compete in the SW sector of the East League, competitive matches between the clubs are rare.

The action opened in expansive fashion, with both sides getting to the opposition's byline and fashioning early chances. After an even opening fifteen minutes, Royston began to get the upper hand, exerting long spells of pressure and winning a number of penalty corners. They only found the net once from these and that strike was ruled illegal for a dangerous swing at a waist high ball, leaving the halftime scoreline blank.

Royston's possession and territorial advantages continued from the whistle in the second period, and within two minutes they were ahead. A free hit from just outside South's circle found a mysteriously unmarked player on the byline, and he squared the ball for it to be tapped in from close range. A very soft goal from a South point of view.

Royston kept the pressure up, leaving South relying on counter-attacks, as in the 58th minute, when Forrest's pace saw him beyond the visitors defence, only halted by the Royston keeper. Directly from this Royston launched their own counter, which had the home defence scrambling and ended with a loose ball in the circle being knocked home, again from very short range.

With five minutes remaining, South gave themselves a lifeline, Forrest sweeping high into the net from Kev's driven cross from the right flank. This set up some frantic final pressure from South as they looked to force extra-time, but no equaliser was to be had. Ah well, next year, maybe…

Talk in the dressing room afterwards was that frankly Royston had deserved the win, and in fact could have had it won by half-time. That they are struggling in eleventh spot in 3SW is a bit of a surprise on their performance in this game, though given they didn’t put the game beyond South at any point, despite the general run of play, gives a clue to their problem.

Team played: Steve Parker, Chris Graveling, John Benedikz, Jim Thorpe, Rich Morgan, Ron Oren, Gareth Hebbron, Chris Baker (c), Eliot Read, Rob Barton, Kevin Rowland, Finn Johnson, Rob Garrett

Alford & District Men's II 1 - 0 Cambridge South Men's II

H/T: 0 - 0

Scorers:
MoM: Andy Bleach - almost faultless as stand-in keeper. Pulled off some great saves, and was blameless for the goal

Recent successes meant that Cambridge South were confident against league high flyers Alford 2, who had inflicted a heavy defeat on us earlier in the season. The reshaped South team started well and dominated the early exchanges. Sadly this did not translate into goals, and Alford gradually got the upper hand.

James Pope and Gareth Hebbron particularly tried to create attacks, but they and skipper John Greaves only succeeded in getting injured to leg, hand and knee respectively. Greaves's theatrical response was easily the most spectacular. His knee was left with an imprint of the dimples on the ball.

There were few chances in the first half, but the game opened up after half time.

Two goals were disallowed, one for Alford as the ball was deemed to have been too high, and one for South's lively newcomer Simon Ta. After a tactical switch at the interval, Simon was a regular threat and was unlucky for his dribble and shot to be called back for a marginal contact with the bottom of his stick.

Alford were restricted to few shots as the away defence forced errors before the ball got into the danger area, and those they got were dealt with confidently by keeper Andy Bleach. They did have a number of short corners skilfully won by hits onto feet, and from one of these, they scored the winning goal. The initial shot was saved but it rebounded to an attacker who accepted the chance coolly.

South came back well after this, with Rob Barton and James Pope driving forward constantly, but were unable to grab an equaliser.

A long journey for no result, but South again demonstrated that they can compete with any team in 5NW. Greater composure in the final third of the pitch, and better positioning and therefore more attacking options are the main things needed to get more of the results the solid defence and tigerish midfield deserve.

Team played: Andy Bleach, Ron Oren, Jan Brynjolffssen, Gareth Hebbron, Simon Ta, James Pope, Suk Pannu, Wilco Dijkstra, Andy Lewis, Rob Barton, John Greaves (c)