Reports 27th February 2010
Men's 3rds play their best hockey of the season to beat St Ives 3
Men's 4ths beat Wisbech Town 5 with a walkover
Ladies' 1sts beat St Ives 3 with 3 goals from Alice!
Cambridge South Men's I 4 - 2 St Ives II
H/T: 2 - 0
Scorers: Al Sinclair, Mark Pears (2), Keith Hewitt
MoM: Matt Readman, Mark Pears
After a week's enforced rest, South came back strongly from three successive defeats to record a pleasing victory over opponents who had ambushed them 3-0 before Christmas. The scoreline meant that St Ives, instead of pulling up to within two points of South as they would have hoped, are now eight points behind, with South additionally having a game in hand.
South made their intentions plain from the start, with Chris Graveling in overwhelmingly solid form at the back and Al Sinclair forging into the St Ives D with typical directness, and this positive approach was rewarded when Keith Hewitt, following up from his own blocked short-corner strike, mercilessly roofed the ball to put South in the lead after 3 minutes. St Ives, as ever vocal between themselves, and some punctilious umpiring which saw Sinclair penalised 10 yards for raising a questioning eyebrow contributed to a feverish atmosphere and it all began to look a bit chaotic as the visitors won three penalty corners in quick succession. Fierce tackling from Matt Readman and Lukas Snetler, a hit wide and the disallowance of a goal from a horrible bobbler all kept the slate clean, however, and after Steve Parker had saved to leave Graveling a clearance, South could at last breathe a little more easily. St Ives' practice of keeping a couple of loud and energetic forwards high meant the defence could never entirely relax, though, and the presence of Maj-Gen Thorpe, with his powerful artillery and parade-ground staunchness, was perpetually reassuring whenever a calm interception or pragmatic clearance was required.
Russell Johnson and Mark Pears worked a nice one-two in the top right-hand corner to create an opening but the visitors' keeper got down well at the edge of the D and then recovered to deny the follow-up. Play see-sawed at this stage, with Graveling and Readman having to stay low and mean in the tackle, and South had a let-off as a long angled slip from a short narrowly beat a man running in hard on the post, who was well saved by Parker's left pad. South were swiftly away upfield, though, with Hewitt and debutant Chris Heron feeding Snetler to give Pears an opportunity. St Ives then immediately counter-attacked, leaving all but Hewitt in their wake, and the skipper earned full marks for doubling back to cut off the thrust single-handed just inside the home 25. After Pears had not quite managed to get 100% on a Johnson pass, South increaed their lead when, from their second short corner, Sinclair received a neat slip and flicked it consummately past the keeper as the defence were stranded.
Sinclair and Snetler, who showed terrific commitment to the tackle and chase, then worked some effective moves with James Cobbe, while Pears manoeuvred confidently at the top of the D, backsiding a defender before fudging a reverse. As the half drew to a close, South were spreading the ball round more coherently, with Leo Tomita threading his trademark passes through the defensive ring and Readman and Rich Morgan building solid progress on the right, and the lead could easily have been increased when Snetler, making use of a turnover in midfield, struck a fast riser to the keeper's right and saw it just shave the post. Cobbe and Snetler then contrived to draw a save from the keeper and South ended the first 35 minutes on top, although it was noticeable that St Ives continued to hang high for the breakaway even when under pressure at the back.
A long central ball from the visitors had Snetler - recovering his breath after his marked exertions earlier - and Readman fighting hard to stem the tide early in the second half but, after Johnson had nearly intercepted a flat ball in the St Ives defence, Hewitt found himself in space and surged into the D before being halted. Heron showed his paces with a 30-yard run up the left and Johnson and Snetler interpassed rapidly, yet St Ives bided their time and, on 42 minutes, won a short corner. Parker made an excellent block from a crisp strike but the ball squirrelled out of reach and one of the St Ives forwards snuck through to the bye-line despite attention, finally pulling the ball back for a short pass which was tapped in with ease. A whiff of smelling salts was needed and Readman provided the necessary ammonia by chicaning out from the back before Snetler again ragged his way to the edge of the D with the assistance of the committed Sinclair. An end-to-end spell in which Heron was also stopped in full flight was then terminated by a barrage of short corners when St Ives upped the pressure. Another weighty block from Parker denied the first whilst the others were dissipated after suboptimal stops, although St Ives continued to buzz menacingly round the D despite clearances from Tomita and Graveling. After Parker had convincingly kicked a cross out to the side, St Ives forced in again up the back-line and, in a virtual mirror image of their first goal, they broke through for a simple centring pass which put the entire defence out of the equation and was steered home for the equaliser.
Suddenly, it became clear that South had barely crossed the halfway line for over five minutes and, when they were again penalised 10 yards for what appeared no more than a polite enquiry, backs were to the wall, especially when a ninth penalty corner was conceded. Fortunately, Parker once more came up with the goods, making a full-length dive to divert a blistering drive away to his right, and this had the necessary effect, galvanising South to hit back with a fast whole-pitch move involving Johnson, Hewitt and Pears, successfully completed when Pears put away a slightly mishit shot which nevertheless exploited the positional advantage his pace and sniper's instinct had given him. With eight minutes to go, St Ives cranked up the decibels but South had already shifted the momentum and now edged towards domination. Hewitt emerged suddenly into a clearing at the edge of the D but hesitated momentarily before a plethora of choices, then Sinclair shot at the keeper after a move prompted by Heron. At the back, Sinclair again and Graveling tricked their way out of pressure before Heron found Pears waiting upfield to hold on to possession, a lead followed by first Cobbe and then Hewitt. Finally, with two minutes on the clock, a fluid move up the inside right channel culminated in an inch-perfect diagonal pass from Hewitt to Pears, who seized the moment and the space available to reverse a super strike and notch his twelfth league goal of the season. There were no further alarms and South held firm to complete a gratifying victory.
Despite periods of pressure from St Ives, who are a competent side with several strengths, South maintained their composure, which was most important in the ten rather febrile minutes directly after the first goal, and, when they strung passes together, they looked a real threat going forward. A staunch performance from the rotating defence completed a good all-round effort after a weather- and availability-interrupted few weeks and, with City of Peterborough IV and Rutland losing at the weekend, South gained a little ground on the top five as well as putting clear water between themselves and St Ives. Though promotion may no longer be an entirely realistic option, the team will want to finish well and at least equal their previous best position in 3NW, fourth in 2007-8.
Team played: Steve Parker, Leo Tomita, Jim Thorpe, Rich Morgan, Chris Graveling, Chris Heron, Al Sinclair, Matt Readman, Russell Johnson, Lukas Snetler, Mark Pears, Keith Hewitt, James Cobbe
Bourne II 0 - 4 Cambridge South Men's II
Scorers: Nick Bristowe, Tim Clapp, John Hawkes, Ali Ward
MoM: John Hawkes (Fantastic tackling and passing at the top of the diamond. Great goal too.)
LOM: Dave Aston (a) Set the meet time stupidly early. b) Went to see X factor last weekend - what a loser. c) For his Rover being dysfunctional-again. d) Missed a simple one-on one.*)
* For a full list of reasons why Dave was voted LoM, please buy Dave Monck's new novel: “Why Dave A is a lemon.” Available in all good book stores (and some rubbish ones too) for a snip at £7.99
Cambridge South 2's set off [slightly/stupidly/insanely*] (*delete as appropriate) early to make the quick trip up the A14 (including through both junction 23 and junction 24) for their away match with Bourne. An early arrival time was very generous of captain Dave and vice-captain Lino, as arriving simply 45 minutes before the match start does not allow enough time for players to become mentally focused for the match ahead. If anything, an hour is too short…………………
South got stuck in from the off, some more than others. Unfortunately Jack Chalk was bloody-chinned by a member of the Bourne opposition, resulting in him having to leave the field after only a few minutes of play. Lino promptly rushed Jack and the tin of temptation off to A & E, as further minutes on the pitch may aggravate the situation for both of them.
However, this early loss of personnel failed to put South out of their stride. The back four of Monck, Bristowe, Bhardwaj and Glover were looking extremely calm on the ball, and were starting a number of menacing South attacks. One such chance led to the opening goal- a fine free hit (from outside the 25) being driven in by Nick Bristowe, and while the Bourne defence stood motionless, Tim Clapp calmly slotted the ball under the keeper to give South the lead.
Keen to turn their attacking advantage into goals, South poured forward for the remainder of the half. Bourne were looking dangerous when coming forward as the game was already becoming stretched, but strong defensive play from the back 4 ensured that Shahbaz was rarely troubled- although a Bourne shot from the top of the D did strike the outside of the post.
It was no surprise when South scored their second- John Hawkes picked the ball up in midfield and drove menacingly towards the goal. Once in the area, an unstoppable shot was place into the right corner, and South were two up. The midfield and strikers were linking up very effectively, and in truth South could have been more up at the break- a flick from Bhardwaj being the closest they came to a goal.
Following half time, South were keen to put the game to bed. Nick Bristowe was looking dangerous behind the midfield, and pushed forward for a long corner. The ball was struck to Nick who picked it up on the 25 and drove forwards to send another powerful shot into the corner past the keeper.
South were not done though. Every attack looked menacing, and it was perhaps no surprise when a cross from the right found Ali Ward, and he calmly slotted the fourth past the keeper's left, to seal a very impressive victory. The (further) icing on the cake was there for Dave A to take when a great ball from Bav put him one-on-one with the keeper. Dave however, mindful of the fact that Dave M's aforementioned book was a little short on content, declined the opportunity to score past the keeper, preferring instead to flatten him with his muscular physique in order to win a final short corner………….(which unfortunately was not converted).
All-in-all, another very impressive performance from the 2's, which keeps them high in the table, ahead of their double header of matches against Long Sutton and March next weekend.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Manu Bhardwaj, Ian Glover, Dave Monck, Nick Bristowe, Dave Aston, Kev Rowland, Tim Clapp, Bhavdeep Virdi, Jack Chalk, John Hawkes, Ali Ward, Rob Barton
Cambridge South Men's III 4 - 1 St Ives III
H/T: 0 - 0
Scorers: James Hodge, Andy Lewis (2), John Greaves
MoM: James Lee (Awesome defending and looking to attack where possible..without being caught out in defence ), Tristen Knight (Taking the game by the scruff of the neck and bossing the midfield in the second half)
5 goals; a couple of cards; rain; a Greaves 5.9 swan dive; industrial language warning from the umpire. Not a dull game.
How it stayed 0 - 0 up to half time is a mystery, partly explained by the usual rock solid CSouth 3rds defence with guest addition Martin Groves supporting the PassmoreLeeSneadeBenedikz group well. Although St Ives played well, they couldnt get through, and the home team had enough promising moves to give hope.
Hope turned to glory in the second half wiht some rejigging of tactics, placing joint MoM Tristan Knight in the heart of midfield, where he shone. CSouth were rewarded with 3 quick goals -
- A pass from Paul South, back to his marauding best in midfield, to Andy Lewis who flicked the ball deftly over the keeper. 1 nil
- Andy Lewis turning provider with a cross to James Hodge, lurking close to goal and doubling the lead with a calm finish
- James Lee striding up the pitch to pass to John Greaves out wide, who then thumped a reverse stick effort past the keeper into the far side of the net in true Rob Barton style; Surprise ? of course not. It did make the skipper feel a bit better as he had only just returned to the pitch after time off to get some feeling back in a dead leg sustained from a clash with the St Ives keeper..which the keeper won
St Ives weren't very happy about this, and in spite of some extra manly tackling in midfield managed a goal from one of a number of short corners - the only shot from any of them. CSouth were not done yet though, and Andy Lewis got his second after a Paul South shot from a short corner was parried back to him from the keeper.
A comprehensive victory, and definitely the best display since 2009. The third team used the width of the pitch, passed early, ran for each other, and kept brains in gear throughout
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, John Benedikz, James Lee, Andy Passmore, Neil Sneade, Tristen Knight, James Hodge, Paul South, Andy Lewis, Martin Grove, Wilco Dijkstra, John Greaves, Rupert Espley
Cambridge South Men's IV 3 - 0 Wisbech Town V
Scorers:
Wisbech fail to raise a team and therefore lose by a 3-0 walkover.
Team played: TBA
Cambridge South Ladies' I 3 - 0 St Ives III
H/T: 0 - 0
Scorers: Alice Hug (3)
MoM: Alice Hug (For scoring all 3 goals)
LOM: Tash Cox (See match report!)
Cambridge South 1 played a rearranged match against St Ives 3 on a blustery (but mercifully not frozen) morning. The first half was typical of recent matches: strong possession play and passing from South kept the ball in the opposition half but frenetic play in the circle meant the goals still didn't come. The St Ives defenders deserved credit for their hard work fielding many attacks on the D.
The half time jelly babies seemed to do good work and the team went out with a new sense of purpose. Maintaining composed passing play into the circle was the key. First off, Breeshey stole the ball in midfield and made a penetrating run to the top of the D before offloading with a deadly accurate pass to Alice who, lurking on the back post, was able to slot the ball smartly behind the keeper. Goal two was less elegant, but once again Alice had the reflexes to clinch it after some frantic defending from St Ives. Soon after, Breeshey was instrumental once again, picking out Tash in the circle who slotted the ball to Alice to finish in style. St Ives rallied strongly in the second part of the half and put some sustained pressure on the South defence. Loopy put in some great saves but the heroine for the defence was Julie who whisked a threatening ball off the line and in doing so maintained a clean sheet for the day.
A great team performance, but Alice well deserved her man of the match award for her hat-trick. We girls don't usually award a lemon of the match, but umpire Ian felt it was important to honour Tash with it today for her hugely powerful and hugely missed hit that landed her flat on her back on the soggy astro! Well played to all.
Team played: Louise Tonkin, Ellie Raffan, Julie Sadler, Caroline Dent, Breeshey Harkin, Georgie Hurford, Anne-Isabelle Richard-Picchi, Liles Dee, Kelly Mawby, Lyn Phillips, Kendra Butlin, Alice Hug, Tash Cox