Reports 2nd February 2008
Men's 1st XI lose 7-0 at Market Deeping I
Men's 2nd XI beat March Town III 3-2
Men's 3rd XI win 1-0 at Ely City III
Men's 4th XI are beaten 4-0 by Ely City IV
Ladies 1st XI get a walkover win as March Town II fail to raise a side
Ladies 2nd XI's friendly at Saffron Walden V is cancelled
Market Deeping Men's I 7 - 0 Cambridge South Men's I
H/T: 2 – 0
Cambridge South, proudly sponsored by PwC, slipped to their heaviest defeat of the season against top of the table Market Deeping. With the loss of 5 first team players it was always going to be difficult for the away side to make an impression on a solid Market Deeping team, but the defeat will nonetheless be disappointing.
The first half was a close-fought battle, with the home side enjoying more possession but Cambridge hitting Market Deeping on the break to create opportunities. It was mid-way through the half that the home side took the lead, and another just before half time made it 2-0 at the break but with Cambridge very much still in the game.
Market Deeping came out fighting in the second half, though, and they doubled their lead within 15 minutes. This effectively killed off the game and Cambridge were left to rue the fact that so many regulars were absent for this crunch game. South remain in 4th place in the league after 5th placed Nomads II endured a surprise loss to Wisbech, and will be looking to get back to winning ways against second placed Ely next week.
Captain Chris Baker commented after the match "We held Market Deeping to 2 goals in the first half, but struggled to contain them in the second half and our performance was under par"
Team played: Steve Parker; Leo Tomita, Jim Thorpe, John Benedikz, Ron Oren, Rupert Webb, Chris Baker (c), Mike Thorogood, Chris Massey, Dave Stock, Robert Garrett, Sanjay Agarwala
Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 2 March Town Men's III
H/T: 2 – 2
Scorers: Al Sinclair (2), Rob Barton
MoM: Lino Di Lorenzo - An inspiring performance through out the game.
LoM: Colin Singleton - For not giving the rubber ball in his mouth when his teams mates said "drop", preferring to pretend he had a huge abscess.
Cambridge South 2nd XI, sponsored by PWC, were reminded of the importance of this game by skipper Kev Rowland, given the team were sitting in 6th place in 5NW; with teams under them with only 2 points difference.
South began the game a pace above March Town for the first 10 minutes, looking for an early goal. This came from club debutant Al Sinclair who skilfully worked around the March defence in the D to take a shot at goal which took a deflection from a defenders stick, a deserved goal for South that had dominated the beginning of the game. March responded by raising their game. This led to what was an end to end game, March were quick on the counter attack with a pacey midfield that were able to work there way into South’s danger zone quickly. Their equaliser came from such a counter attack and a rare drop in concentration from the south defence. A March forward worked his way into the D and crossed from the right to a waiting unmarked forward at the left post, leaving Lino Di Lorenzo totally exposed. An unchallenged slot on to the backboard made it 1-1.
South’s defence picked up the marking in a tighter fashion from there on. Dave Bartram was disciplined and effective in sticking to their captain, insuring that attacks down their right were met with confident defending. On the other side of the park, the ever well timed jab tackles of George Wych constantly dispossessed the March left flank. Dave Monck, was playing as centre back in order to insure a constant presence to block offensive moves down the middle, while Neil Sneade as sweeper was able to move around the zone mopping up. These two really are effective in the middle together. The South defence continued to illustrate why they have been the most effective defence in this league this season.
South’s second goal came once more from Al, causing mayhem in the D. There followed a general milieu of players in the D, however Al saw to it that South went 2-1 up by finding a gap through he players to push the ball over the line. This followed a number of fouls by March where the umpire sensibly let play go on with the advantage.
March's equaliser came from an organised short corner that was pacey and well executed, 2-2. During the half time talk, the message was carry on as we are, without any slips in concentration to give March an opportunity.
Despite feeling unwell, Colin Singleton pushed himself. Quick on the break, as quick to get back and defend. Samin Istiaq and Stuey Creed were using the space intelligently in wide midfield positions, using accurate line passes and runs to insure that the pitch was used extensively. The March defence continued to struggle against an offensive South midfield and forwards. Pip Dickinson consistently made headway through March’s midfield and defence throughout the game causing them to pull players back, forcing them deep into their own half. On a counter attack he took the ball into the D, wide left, and over committed the keeper, the option was there to go around him, however Rob Barton had clearly seen the opportunity and put himself in the ideal position to receive a pass from Pip, which led to him nonchalantly pushing the ball in at the right post. This is the kind of intelligent cooperation by forwards that ensures goals. 3-2 to South.
At the other end South’s keeper, Lino the Cat, gave an exhibition of how to keep goal on the feet or on the floor. Whilst on the deck at full stretch with March players in the D his clearances were powerful enough to reach the sideline or reach a South player in position to counter attack. Continually frustrating the oppositions forwards efforts at goal, Lino moved quickly into a goal saving position between the posts responding to shots at any height.
With only a short period to hold the game Kev increased the numbers at the back to help keep the score line to South’s advantage, until a calve cramp meant that any running about came to an end. Colin came back onto the field with a wagging tail, despite his dental discomfort, persuaded by the promise of a new ‘pooch pleaser rope chew’.
South did not sit back but made concerted efforts to increase the scoreline advantage toward the end of the game. March also pushed forward in an effort to change the situation however were met with a team effort to ensure they did not effect South bringing home the 3 points.
Credit goes to the umpires Ron Oren and Steve Riches who managed a game that was physical at times and exhibited consistency, appropriate player chats and patience at challenging moments throughout the game.
Skipper Kev Rowland was delighted with today’s result commenting “It was a physically hard game that required tenacity and consistent physical effort for the full 70 minutes. The team gave a performance that illustrated a real determination to win today against good opposition, it feels good to get the result and I’m very proud of the guys”
Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo; George Wych, Neil Sneade, Dave Monck, Dave Bartram, Stuart Creed, Samin Ishtiaq, Kevin Rowland (c), Al Sinclair, Colin Singleton, Pip Dickinson, Rob Barton
Ely City Men's III 0 - 1 Cambridge South Men's III
H/T: 0 – 1
Scorer: Tim Waller
MoM: James Pope - Tackling in defence, attacking through midfield, passing, shooting...is there no end to this mans talents?
Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, dominated from the start, only allowing Ely a couple of short corners throughout. The home team had a simple game plan....pack the defence, pick a brilliant goalkeeper, and hassle anything in black....and it almost worked. Fortunately for CSouth, Tim Waller scored an early goal, as he found space by the far post to pick up a loose ball and shoot confidently.
In spite of constant attacks, and short corners (all of which resulted in a shot) there were no further goals. A combination of great saves, some loose shooting, but mostly massed defensive ranks, kept CSouth out, as Messrs Pope, South and Lewis particularly tried to get through.
There was a short period when the away team let standards slip, but this didn’t last long. Overall there were many good things, particularly good passing, use of the whole pitch; smart interplay to get through to the D; positioning off the ball; and 100% commitment by all to ensure another victory keeping CSouth 3rds at the top of 6NW.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali; John Sharp, Ian Evans, David Bridge, Stephen Fleck, James Pope, Wilco Dijkstra, Paul South, Tim Waller, Simon Harper, John Greaves (c), Andy Lewis
Cambridge South Men's IV 0 - 4 Ely City Men's IV
H/T: 0 – 1
MoM: TBC (James, who was it?)
DoD: Andy Passmore – For appearing on the pitch prior to the game carrying two cooked breakfast, that he and Phil Le Gouais hadn’t found time to consume by 11am. Repast was finally taken in the changing rooms at full-time!
A cold and sunny morning started well enough for Cambridge South 4ths, sponsored by PwC, and Ely did not have a shot on goal for the first 20 minutes. South created a couple of chances, but none were clear cut. Some how after 30 minutes, Ely won a short corner and their first shot on goal was duly dispatched to give Ely a 0-1 lead in a tight game.
In the 2nd half, South started pressing in an attempt to equalise and were hot twice on the break and found themselves 0-3 down. The 4th goal was simply due the loss of spirit after fighting so hard to get back into the game. Final score 0-4.
The best way to describe the last few performances is that we are in a developing phase and we have a combination of youngsters maturing, new players beginning to gel and some of the 'old-hands' are returning. It is hoped that a 'core' could be developed for the next season.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali; Ian Glover, Ky Ho, Phil Le Gouais, Andy Passmore, Keith Simpson, Kevin Pride, James Raikes (c), James Hodge, Dave Scott, Rupert Espley, Alex Scally, Tom Warne, Martin Grove
Cambridge South Ladies I 3 - 0 March Town Ladies II
Walkover awarded to South as March fail to raise a side.
Saffron Walden Ladies V c - c Cambridge South Ladies II
This friendly match was cancelled by Walden.
Southerners 0 - 2 Ely City Mixed (Sunday 3rd February)
H/T: 0 - 0
By luck (or design?) Ely's team were out on the lash the night before. Not to be outdone, South provided no fewer than 6 representatives of the previous night's "bunch of wallys" from the Cow. Shortly before pushback, 50 school children were discovered crawling over the astro due to the Leys' intelli-pitch double booking system. Despite being bigger and armed with clubs and sticks South were unable to remove the invaders (Lino's kind offer to "don the pads and take the lot of them on, including the parents" was however noted).
Having hared across the city to the Abbey in search of a pitch the game finally got underway with the first half an even battle. Ely moved the ball around intelligently and galloped around the park, but missed the cutting edge that had seen them run out 7-1 winners earlier in the season. This was largely due to the efforts of the South back line comprising of at various points Ron, Jim, Johnny B, Ciara, Vicky and Ellie who snuffed out the Ely threats and pounced on loose play - aided in part by Lino's tactic of ensuring he smelled even worse than normal to Ely following the application of a tube of deep heat before the game. Meanwhile the South midfield of Rupert, Rob, Gemma, Hayley and all rallied hard and made inroads into the Ely D with some mazy dribbling but despite being supported by James C and Jodee there was no luck in dispatching the ball into the Ely goal. However, the Ely left back was dispatched after displaying what he had eaten the night before on the side of the pitch.
The second half saw Ely attempting to grab the game by the scruff of its neck and generally looking more threatening - but at the cost of leaving several South players in acres of space. Midway through the second half, the James/Vicky/Hayley/Rob combination generated South's best opportunity with the ball squirming onto the outside of the post. At that point, everyone could have gone home to nurse the effects of the night before and no one would have complained. But with 3 minutes to go the ball finally made its way into the South goal via several interventions from South sticks. And with the last move of the game, as the Ely report says, "a shot of unrivalled power from Rich 'the Early Bird' Vincett managed to secure a 2-0 win for the Ely side". Unrivalled it was. A shot from inside the D at all of 2mph saw each and every South defender swing a stick and miss the ball, and the keeper's attempted kick was so late that rumours spread after the game that he had taken a leaf out of Bruce Grobelaar's book and had been spotted in the Ely changing rooms afterwards accepting a brown envelope full of used £5 notes.
And so 2-0 it was. Commenting after the game captain Rupert Webb said "Who's writing this match report?" to which the reporter answered "I will. By the way everyone what happened?"
Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo; Jodee Webb, Ellie Raffan, Ciara Metcalfe, Gemm Thomas, Vikcy Lavis, Hayley Sharpe, Rupert Webb (c), Rob Garrett, James Cobbe, Jim Thorpe, John Benedikz, Ron Oren