Reports 15th December 2007

Men's 1st XI friendly match at Harlow I was cancelled

Men's 2nd XI beat Harlow II 2-0 in a friendly

Men's 3rd XI lost 4-1 at Harlow III in a friendly

Men's 4th XI had no scheduled game

Ladies 1st XI beat City of Peterborough III 2-1 in a League Cup match

Ladies 2nd XI won 11-1 at Huntingdon II in a League Cup match

 

Harlow Men's I c - c Cambridge South Men's I

Cancelled, as South couldn't raise a side of suitable strength. Re-arranged for Sat 12th April.

 

Cambridge South Men's II 2 - 0 Harlow Men's II

H/T: 2 – 0
 

Scorers: Colin Singleton, Simon Ta
MoM: Finn Johnson for another classy midfield performance in his last match for South for a while.
LoM: Skipper Kev Rowland, for a range of offences, most notably his best Cardinal Ximenez impression in the pre-match team talk “We need to focus on the 3 basics; passing, possession, marking and shape”, and equally culpably for greeting the arrival of the spicy sausage casserole in pub after with the line “that'll give me the fruity woof woofs”.
 

Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, recorded a comfortable two-nil victory over their Harlow counterparts in the final match before the festive break.

South opened the scoring inside the first couple of minutes. Samin pushed down the right-flank and crossed for Rob B, whose shot was saved by the Harlow ‘keeper. However, a lack of communication in the visitors defence meant the ball wasn’t cleared, allow Col to gather and rush into an empty net from a handful of yards. A soft goal, but a good start for South, who were always in control afterwards.

South controlled territory and possession throughout the 70 minutes, probing away at Harlow’s deep lying team. Despite the territorial dominance, chances were at a premium, and it was near the end of the half when Simon capitalised on another defensive lapse to break free in the right channel, and sweep home into the far corner.The second half was played out in a similar vein to the first, with South ‘keeper Lino having little to do. In fact, after the game, Lino reckoned he had had to save one shot on target all match, with his only other significant touch of the ball being to race out of his circle to stick-sweep away when a through-ball had looked like it might split South open.

It took a spectacular save from the Harlow ‘keeper to deny South a third goal, when he reacted swiftly to pad over the angle a shot of Simon’s that was heading for the top corner. Otherwise, that was all she wrote in terms of goalmouth action. Skipper Kev was pleased with the day, singling teenaged midfielder Finn out for a special mention, saying, “A great way to finish the first half of the season, we had the lions share of possession and always looked the better side. The next half of the season is really something to look forward to with a squad that looks like they are really enjoying the game. A big thanks and cheerio for now to Finn for a magnificent half of the season, good luck on your travels abroad”.

South 2nds next game is on Sat 5th January @ MDBA (i.e. at JHN School in Stevenage), 3:30pm centre-pass. See you all there, and in the meantime, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo; Jan Brynjolffssen, Dave Monck, Neil Sneade, Ron Oren, Samin Ishtiaq, Finn Johnson, Rob Garrett, Colin Singleton, Stu Creed, Rob Barton, Kev Rowland (c), Simon Ta

 

Harlow Men's III 4 - 1 Cambridge South Men's III

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorer: Suk Pannu
MoM: Andy Passmore - one unbelievable goal line save, and many other examples of great defending.

The first half was OK with Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, having a good share of possession and creating chances. Harlow, with a number of suspiciously competent players following cancellation of the first team game (excuse No.1) were good on the break and got the first goal. Harlow seemed to have warmed up more, having not had the long drive south to a wintry venue (excuse No.2)

Nevertheless CSouth came back with a penalty flick, well taken by Suk Pannu. Unfortunately most attacks fizzled out after good work by the ever-threatening Russell Johnson and Andy Lewis, although Russell was very unlucky to hit the inside of the post after his own mazy run and shot.

After half time Harlow were in the ascendancy. It must have been the half time team talk (excuse No.3). The home team rattled in 3 more goals without reply, all from smart counterattacks. Rapidly developing keeper Shahbaz Ali played assertively and well to snuff out many of these, dominating the D well, diving at attackers feet. CSouth never gave up, but even with the muscle of John Benedikz reinforcing the attack were unable to get close to scoring. This was obviously due to the blazing sun low in the sky blinding the players to passing opportunities (excuse No.4).

Harlow did have the advantage of playing in their smart new kit (pathetic excuse No.5) and were deserved victors over a scratch CSouth side made up of players from all four men’s teams (lame excuse No.6) [Ed – not quite, you had no-one from the 2nds!]

...and Harlow played to their strengths and were...better (Reason No.1)

Team played: Shahbaz Ali; John Sharp, John Benedikz, Andy Passmore, Wilco Dijkstra, Russ Johnson, Suk Pannu, Sava Cornegrata, Andy Lewis, John Greaves (c), James Raikes, Shahzad Ali

 

 

Cambridge South Men's IV

No game scheduled.

 

Cambridge South Ladies I 2 - 1 City of Peterborough Ladies III

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Juliet Fullwood, Emma Clarke

In the absence of a report from the team [though I will gladly replace this one with the correct version, if such a thing is forwarded to me – Ed], here is an Umpire’s eye view of the game last Saturday.
Cambridge South 1sts, sponsored by PwC, overcame a tenacious City of Peterborough side in a League Cup game played at a chilly Leys on Saturday.

South had already recorded two comprehensive league victories over Peterborough (aggregate score 18-1), so could have been forgiven for expecting a fairly easy ride in this match. However, it was quickly apparent that Peterborough were stronger than they had been in the earlier fixtures, and with South also struggling to get going with the coherent teamwork and fluid passing game that has seen them to the top of the Cambs Premier at Christmas, an even first half ensued.

Peterborough emphasised that they were a serious force in the match by taking the lead towards the end of the opening period, when they converted a short corner with a neat routine; the ball was played back from the top of the circle to the injector, who had advanced towards the left post. She swept first time to give Cassie in the South net no chance. South went looking for an equaliser before the break, and had their best chance when forcing a free-hit on the edge of the circle. The take was accidentally lifted, striking a Peterborough defender on the hip, prompting a five-minute stoppage. Possibly due to the coldness of the day making the pitch hard underneath and less compliant, lifted driven balls hitting players would become something of an unfortunate theme.

Having ended the first half in arrears, South would be ahead before the five minutes of the second period were completed. The equaliser came from a short corner, with the ball being switched left to Juliet, who lined up a flick and beat the visiting ‘keeper at her near post. And within thirty seconds of drawing level, South had turned the game on its head. Straight from push-back, Hayley intercepted a pass, broke into the circle and won a short. From the resulting set piece, Hayley’s shot was saved, only to roll behind the ‘keeper where Emma and a Peterborough defender battled for the loose ball on the goalline. When the backboard was hit with a resounding *thump* it was obvious that Emma had won the duel.

The rest of the game was played at a frenetic pace, with both teams pushing for further goals. South were hindered by the loss of co-captain Gemma, who was forced from the field when a clearance was accidentally lifted and hit her at full pace plumb on the knee, rendering it unable to bend. Some minutes later, it looked like South might be down to ten, as the other co-captain, Hayley, was left in a heap in the Peterborough circle. The Umpire took a lenient view on the defenders challenge, ruling it a nasty collision but accidental obstruction and therefore only worth of a short corner, which was not a view shared by all spectators (most notably the Peterborough coach, who was vocally unimpressed with her player). Fortunately once Hayley had got some air back into her lungs, she was able to play on. South had one final injury scare, as another driven ball came up from the deck and struck Louisa on her knee. Again, South were able to continue with 11 as the magic spray proved effective in keeping the joint mobile, and with a full complement were able to see out the rest of the match for a 2-1 victory.

The Cambs League Cups are played in two pools per division, with the pool winners meeting in the final. This was the last round of fixtures in South’s pool. They had began the day in second place, three points adrift, so knowing only a win would offer them any chance of a place in the final. South had done their part, but on checking the other results found that the pool leaders had also secured a narrow victory and therefore the final spot. Ah well, not to be, concentrate on the league...

Thanks to Daisy, Juliet and Jodee, who all played well, and ran throughout, even though they already had a game in their legs having earlier played for the 2nds.

Team played: Cassie Woodfin; Emma Clarke, Tash Cox, Hayley Sharpe (jc), Gemma Thomas (jc), Julie Sadler, Louisa Richmond-Coggan, Liles Dee, Caroline Dent, Juliet Fullwood, Daisy Watts, Jodee Webb

 

Huntingdon Ladies II 1 - 11 Cambridge South Ladies II

H/T: 0 - 5

Scorers: Issy Fullwood (4), Mel Harrison (3), Jodee Webb, Daisy Watts, Juliet Fullwood, Bex Baker
MoM: Issy Fullwood

What a game for Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, to finish on before Christmas eh!! The result in the end was 11-1 to South, and I’d like to point out that unlike our win against Rutland there REALLY WAS A GOALKEEPER!!! So no jokes I’m afraid this time!

Having arrived at the right place, if a bit late due to a detour by both cars, Sarah A braved it in goal for us again and did a fantastic job with some great saves (thank you). Our defence of Vicky, Pip, and Paula kept the midfield busy by constantly passing the ball back as soon as Huntingdon brought the ball over the 25-line. Vicky managed to bypass the midfield on occasions providing forwards Sarah C, Bex and Mel with accurate long passes.

Our midfield players were brilliant and really stopped Huntingdon getting into the match at all. The combination of Juliet, Daisy, Issy and Jodee meant for the majority of the time the ball was in our attacking half!

The goals!

Too many to remember each one, but the first goal was put away by Issy, it was a cracker from the top of the D, she then followed it up with a further three! Jodee was determined to keep ahead of Rupert in the goal king ranking and scored another stunner this week…he’ll not catch her now!!

Mel was a star this week too, getting her first hat-trick for the club. One of the goals was a neat deflection from the top of the D, intended for the corner of the net….pure skill…really it was! Daisy, Juliet and Bex both helped tot up the goals with a one a piece.

More games like this one in the New Year and Vicky will be proud of her first season as Seconds captain.

Team played: Sarah Aves; Jodee Webb, Vicky Lavis (c), Bex Baker, Issy Fullwood, Juliet Fullwood, Daisy Watts, Paula Lynch, Pip Noon, Sarah Caldow, Mel Harrison