Reports 17th March 2007

Men's 1st XI keep up their winning run with a 3-2 defeat of Rutland I

Men's 2nd XI are 2-1 winners against Cambridge Nomads IV

Men's 3rd XI achieve a 4-1 win over league leaders Wisbech Town V

Ladies' 1st XI win 2-0 away to City of Peterborough III

 

Cambridge South Men's I 3 - 2 Rutland Men's I

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorers: Mike Thorogood (3)

It was messy, painful to watch and will take some time to recover from. And that's just my knees (ouch). The game itself didn't fare much better to be honest, as we worked hard to eke out what could have been a much more straightforward victory. The final score was 3-2 to us, with Mikey showing us how it should be done by grabbing a hat-trick.

They took the lead mid way through the half, taking advantage of some disorganisation in the team when Cheggers was forced off through injury (another facial injury; they're all just blending together now. Just kidding - I hope you're feeling better now). Cheggers returned to the fray after his breather and inspired the team to grab the equaliser.

The second half continued to be scrappy, with their central midfielder (number 8: I remember seeing his back quite a lot as he ran at our defence) allowed too much room to manoeuvre in the middle of the park. The rock solid defence was letting nothing through, though, and two goals on the break courtesy of Mikey should have settled our nerves. Like heck it did. Before too long Rutland were right back in it and the final ten minutes were nervy indeed. But the good news is that we got the three points and we're now guaranteed a sixth place finish! Congratulations everyone!

Team played: Steve Parker, Chris Graveling, Rupert Webb, Jim Thorpe, Leo Tomita, Eliot Read, Chris Baker (c), Mike Thorogood, Russell Johnson, Finn Johnson, Rob Garrett, Lukas Snetler

 

Cambridge Nomads IV 1 - 2 Cambridge South Men's II

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Rob Barton, Andy Lewis
MoM: James Pope - bossing the midfield, battling for every ball and setting up numerous attacks

A game of three thirds, and Cambridge South were on top for 2 of them.

Nomads started the best but this didn't last as South absorbed early pressure, driven on by the returning Matt Bailey at the heart of defence. The away team gradually gained the ascendancy, often through James Pope forcing the play up the centre, and deservedly took the lead. A deceptive short corner routine saw Suk Pannu deliver a shorter than expected push to Andy Lewis who managed to find Rob Barton close in to bundle the ball in to goal.

The second half continued in the same vein, and South went further ahead from a 70yd Pope solo dribble, ending in a pass to Barton, whose shot rebounded to the grateful Andy Lewis to slot in.

Towards the end, Nomads got a goal back from a textbook short corner effort, and then bombarded the South danger area, but were kept out by some desperate defending and excellent saves from Jon Price.

Apart from the beginning and end of the game, there was much to commend in South's play, with good use of the width and many attacking options created by intelligent passing to players in space. The best team won, and this enabled South to rise to their highest position of the season, 7th, safe in mid table.

Team played: Jon Price, James Lee, Andy Bleach, Matt Bailey, Ron Oren, James Pope, Kevin Rowland, Stu Creed, Suk Pannu, Samin Ishtiaq, Andy Lewis, Rob Barton, John Greaves (c)

 

Cambridge South Men's III 4 - 1 Wisbech Town Men's V

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers: John Horsley, Mark Jackson, Tim Waller, Simon Ta
MoM: Matt Kern - outstanding performances all over the pitch but the nod goes to Matt for his excellent tackling and penetrative passing

This was the big one. Cambridge South Men's 3rds, sponsored by PwC, faced league leaders Wisbech Town 5ths knowing that anything other than a win would almost certainly end their promotion chances. A record turn out, with 22 players declaring themselves available, reflected the anticipation built up in the South squad by captain Neil Sneade.

Having been guilty of starting slowly in several games this season, this time South were consciously on the front foot from the first whistle. Forwards Simon Ta and John Horsley harried and closed down up front, denying the Wisbech defence time to set their attacks. In midfield Mark 'Action' Jackson and 'Roger' Wilco Dijkstra were first into every tackle, breaking up the Wisbech play and feeding Tim Waller and James Cobbe wide on the wings for South. South's early pressure was rewarded when John H dug the ball out in a crowded D to put South ahead.

South continued to press and a second goal came courtesy of Action with a shot struck from the top of the D, despite claims by Si of a slight deflection off his handle. A third goal was narrowly missed when Action just failed to make contact with Matt 'Special K' Kern's shot from outside the D before it pinged into the back of the Wisbech goal.

Showing their quality, Wisbech produced their best spell of the first half. As South were forced deeper excellent play from Special, winning any loose balls behind the midfield pair, and Dave Monck with decisive tackling at centre back kept Wisbech at bay. At full back, Dave Borthwich and Rich Morgan were defending well while supporting the wide players and starting attacks down the wings. Wisbech's biggest threat was coming from short corners - the source of three of their four goals in the reverse fixture - and the South defence were working hard to keep Wisbech out.

In the second half, South again started fast from the whistle and pushed the play into Wisbech's half for extended periods, with James C and Special notable for their possession and passing. More excellent wing play from Tim W was rewarded when he scored South's third goal but Wisbech provided a reminder that the match wasn't over when they pulled a goal back from a short corner routine. In the final quarter South subs Tom Rosselli and Neil S came on to provide some fresh legs on the left. Any threat of a Wisbech revival was ended when quick passing on the break by South ended with Si knocking in a fourth goal to seal the victory.

Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo, Dave Borthwick, Dave Monck, Rich Morgan, Matt Kern, Tim Waller, Mark Jackson, Wilco Dijkstra, James Cobbe, John Horsley, Simon Ta, Neil Sneade (c), Tom Rosselli

 

City of Peterborough Ladies' III 0 - 2 Cambridge South Ladies' I

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Liles Dee, Louise Gutteridge
MoM: Liles Dee

After their highest league finish Cambridge South, sponsored by PwC, were optimistic as they travelled away to face a Peterborough team who finished mid table in the league above. Hopefully this would be a good test of how South would fair should promotion be granted.

South also took advantage of the friendly game to experiment with a 4-4-2 formation. The ever solid back was made up of Bek, Becca, Ellie and Julie, while the experimental midfield consisted of Sarah on the left, Liles and Gemma in the middle and Jo out on the right, this left Emma (who had turned up to umpire but due to sickness and injury was required to play) and Louise up front.

For the first time in a long time South had push back and stared brightly, attacking from the first minute of the game, but it took until midway through the first half for South to take the lead. A through ball was picked up by Emma who ran at the goal and rounded the keeper passed to Louise, who tucked it home. South maintained the pressure, with Peterborough rarely entering the South half of the pitch, let alone the D, but when they did the defence cleared the ball leaving the loopy lemon with little to do.

South extended the lead during the second half when the ball was cleared to Liles, who picked it up on the halfway line, looked up and saw a couple of defenders between her and the goal. Liles ran round these players to set up a one-on-one with the keeper. As the keeper came out, Liles tucked the ball underneath her and at the same time flew over the top over her: as Liles hit the ground, the ball hit the back of the goal; a spectacular solo effort for which she was awarded MoM.

All in all a great team performance demonstrated that South would do well in the league above and that the 4-4-2 formation worked well for them.

Team played: Lou Tonkin, Becca Lumb (c), Ellie Raffan, Bek Rhodes, Julie Sadler, Liz Jennings, Sarah Martin, Gemma Thomas, Jo Read, Jo Cobbe, Liles Dee, Tash Cox, Louise Gutteridge