Reports 29th September 2007
Men's 1st XI lose 3-1 at Bourne II
Men's 2nd XI get a walkover as Bourne III fail to raise a side
Men's 3rd XI win 6-4 at Wisbech Town IV
Men's 4th XI beat Spalding IV 5-3
Ladies 1st XI lose 4-0 at Newmarket I
Ladies 2nd XI get a walkover as Market Deeping II fail to raise a side
Men's Indoor side are beaten 4-2 by the Perse U18a
Bourne Men's II 3 - 1 Cambridge South Men's I
H/T: 2 - 1
Scorer: Chris Baker
MoM: Russell Johnson
Cambridge South, proudly sponsored by PwC, succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to a well-organised and determined Bourne side in their first game of the new hockey season.
Cambridge South played well for much of the game, but paid the price of some sloppy play in the first 20 minutes of the encounter. Bourne started much the brighter, and their confident passing looked to unsettle the away side and within 20 minutes they side were 2-0 up - capitalising on a defensive mistake and getting a second from a short corner.
Cambridge pulled one back before half-time through captain Chris Baker and put Bourne under continued pressure in the second half but couldn't force the breakthrough, despite gaining a number of short corners. Man of the Match Russell Johnson, playing at right midfield, was particularly effective at unsettling the home defence but the equalising goal wouldn't come. And 10 minutes from the end Bourne effectively sealed the win with a break-away goal that left goal keeper Lino Di Lorenzo with no chance.
Captain Chris Baker was pleased with the way that Cambridge responded to the early set-back, but was concerned at their slow start to the game, saying "We are notoriously slow starters and paid the price here. On the balance of play for the whole game a draw would have been a fair result."
Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo; Chris Graveling, John Benedikz, Rich Morgan, Jack Chalk, Finn Johnson, Chris Baker (c), Mike Thorogood, Russ Johnson, Rob Garrett, Lukas Snetler
Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 0 Bourne Men's III
Walkover to South as Bourne fail to raise a side.
Wisbech Town Men's IV 4 - 6 Cambridge South Men's III
H/T: 3 - 3
Scorers: Stephen Fleck, John Greaves (2), Paul South (2), Rob Barton
MoM: Paul South - always in the right place; excellent distribution; two good goals
The opening league game of the season promised to be tough as newly promoted Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, faced a Wisbech team just relegated from Div 5NW. However the away team made the best possible start as Steve Fleck pounced onto a Suk Pannu long corner after about 34 seconds to take the lead. Wisbsch equalised soon after, from a routine short corner move which found a forward in space, who gave the keeper Shahbaz Ali no chance, and then took the lead with a classy wing move, but with the game continuing in an open fashion CSouth were able to use Suk Pannu and James Raikes on their own wings to good effect, with the ever lively Andy Lewis causing havoc in the home defence whenever he got the ball. It was a Lewis shot that rebounded off the post to give the lurking skipper John Greaves a simple chance from 1 yard out to equalise.
Still there was more, as just before half time each side got a further goal. Steve Fleck showed more of his wizadry, dribbling into the D and passing to Paul South, who made no mistake to make it 3 - 2, then Wisbech equalised again with a deflection off a defender wrong footing the keeper. This was unfortunate for the CSouth defence, who were mainly solid, sticking well to their marking, with centre back Gareth Hebbron constantly turning defence into attack.
The second half was little different, although Wisbech took the lead for the first time with a long range effort through a crowded D. CSouth equalised as Paul South bagged his second by prodding a Steve Fleck shot into the net as the keeper tried to save. A John Greaves blast from one of many penetrating Suk Pannu free hits was enough to retake the lead, and the game was put beyond Wisbech's reach with a Rob Barton reverse stick special near the final whistle making it 6 - 4.
Overall a great result for CSouth against one of the better teams in this division. The challenges of early season availability and unfamiliar players and positions were in this case outweighed by good passing, use of space, and assertive attacking play, building from midfield.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali; Ian Glover, Gareth Hebbron, James Lee, Stephen Fleck, Suk Pannu, Paul South, Wilco Dijkstra, Andy Lewis, John Greaves, James Raikes, Rob Barton
Cambridge South Men's IV 5 - 3 Spalding Men's IV
H/T: 4 - 1
Scorers: Jan Brynjolffssen, Rupert Espley, Kevin Pride (2), Tom Rosselli
MoM: George Wych - an impressive debut at left-back.
Cambridge South Men’s 4ths, sponsored by PwC, obtained three points in their first ever competitive fixture, against opposition who will probably be near the promotion places come April. Spalding 4ths had come into the game with the following record, champions of 7NW in 2005-06, only relegated on the final day from 6NW in 2006-07. So this was a really fine win…
Opening day had brought with it it’s usual problems with convincing players away from their summer Saturday activities. Only a day before the game, South were on ~9, with double-ups looking like they would be needed to be used to fulfil the game. Re-arrangements of domestic/child care issues had eventually provided 11, and then when the Men’s 2nds opposition cancelled their game, some quick re-jigging of Umpiring assignments provided two subs. Even with all these unearthed resources, 4th team skipper James Raikes was still needed by the 3rds to make sure they had 11 to start their game, and with vice-captain John Sharp unavailable, it was left to Jan Brynjolffssen to lead the team on the field. Before leaving to play 3rds, James was on the touchline for a good proportion of the match, from where he directed his men and gave encouragement in the style of a WWI General, i.e. a nice safe distance from the trenches!
South had opened the game looking the more cohesive of the two sides, and soon took the lead. Rupert Espley, making his debut for the club, had began the match at left-wing. However for the goal he popped up on the right, taking a pass from another debutant Shahzad Ali, driving to the byline and pulling a ball sharply back for Jan, arriving late in the right-channel from his central-midfield position (no, really, that is where James had put me!). Jan flicked off an instant shot on receiving the ball, and watched in delight (and some surprise) as it flashed inch perfectly into the far corner of the net. You could have got good odds on Jan as the first South male to score a competitive goal this campaign, what with a career strike rate of below a goal per season (OK, enough already, but I enjoyed it!)
The match then settled into an evenly contested affair. South were having more of the territory and possession, and making the better chances, but each of these measures was probably only marginally in their favour. South’s starting back four had contained two more club debutants, Rich Bowman and George Wych, alongside more seasoned campaigners Matt Kern and Ky Ho. They were combining well to frustrate the young opposition forwards, with some solid tackling.
After a period of scoreline equilibrium, the last ten minutes of the first half produced a flurry of goals. South doubled their advantage when Tim Clapp made a coruscating run down the right flank. He reached the circle, and put a dangerous ball across the face of goal, which Rupert turned home on the stretch. Spalding responded by showing they also knew how to exploit the right-flank, a neat run outflanking the defence, with the ball pulled back and then swept goalwards, going through a ruck of players to leave South ‘keeper Jon Price unsighted. Almost from the push-back, South restored their two goal cushion. George, at left-back, made a couple of impressive jab tackles to drive thirty yards up his touchline. He shifted the ball infield to Joe Williamson, who picked out that club chairman Kevin Pride (playing at centre-forward, James really is the master of tactical innovation!) had moved off his man and was clean through. Kev’s shot seemed to be heading just wide, until the Spalding ‘keeper caught the ball with his heel, dragging it inside the post. Kev then doubled his tally with a more trademark goal, from a short. His first shot had been blocked, with Kev winning the loose ball and knocking it square to Jan. Jan considered a shot, saw the defender was committed to blocking that, so rolled a return square pass to Kev that gave him the space for a first time strike into the net.
With that, the teams turned around. Spalding came out fighting, still believing they could win. South were having trouble keeping the ball in forward areas, and with the side seemingly inviting pressure, it was perhaps inevitable that a string of shorts would be given away. One of these had produced an almighty goalmouth scramble, with only the tigerish play from the defenders on the line stopping it being forced home. But it was only a matter of time, and finally after approximately five shorts against in two minutes, a loose ball found it’s way onto the stick of an unmarked striker, five yards out, who swept home.
With the lead down to only two, the next goal in the match was going to be the defining one, and Spalding must have thought they had fashioned it with fifteen minutes left, when they unpicked the South rearguard with some quick interpassing. The move finished with their centre-forward sweeping goalwards from the penalty spot, which produced an outstanding, match-winning, diving save from Jon, not only blocking the shot, but also turning the ball away from the danger area and out for a long corner. As time ticked down, Spalding were throwing men forward, which required the South midfield to chase back hard to cover, an attitude that David Bridge exemplified with three lung-busting fifty yard chases of a player half his age, all within five minutes.
South exploited the defensive gaps that had necessarily been left by their visitors with five minutes to go. A quick counter saw the ball worked into the circle, with Tom Rosselli sweeping home neatly for South’s fifth. The importance of this score was obvious within thirty seconds, as a ricochet in the South circle finally dropped for Spalding, and they had brought it back to 5-3. But with less than five minutes to play, South were able to see out time comfortably for the points.
Stand-in skipper Jan made no comment after the match, as he had to rush straight off to Umpiring duties. But as he sat in the traffic chaos that always greats the opening of a Uni term, he may have been thinking something along the lines of, “We were made to work hard for that, but I feel the score was a fair reflection of the play of the two teams. Our finishing was better than Spalding’s, as was our goalkeeping, and if we finished the match blowing a bit, we had work hard previously to earn ourselves a decent lead. Having something to defend really helped.”
This was a good start to the teams existance…
Team played: Jon Price; Matt Kern, Ky Ho, Rich Bowman, George Wych, Shahzad Ali, Jan Brynjolffssen (c), Joe Williamson, Rupert Espley, Kevin Pride, Tom Rosselli, David Bridge, Tim Clapp
Newmarket Ladies I 4 - 0 Cambridge South Ladies I
H/T: 3 - 0
MoM: Louisa Richmond-Coggan
Cambridge South Ladies 1sts, sponsored by PWC, took on old rivals Newmarket on Saturday, hoping for a continuation of their great form from the previous week. Unfortunately, it was back down to earth with a bit of a bump.
Right from the start, in what was a bad-tempered and frustrating match, Newmarket were always stronger, and their first goal came inside 10 minutes, when a neat move saw one of their players unmarked in the D. Newmarket scored twice more before half time, once from a short corner that was forced home from close range, and then from another breakaway.
Some reorganization at half time saw South go back to a sweeper system from the 3-4-3 they had started with. This more defensive attitude paid off for most of the half, with MOM Louisa Richmond-Coggan making some great tackles at the back and GK Sarah Massen putting together a series of skilful saves. However, South did let slip another goal, again from a short corner that was deflected home.
On the attacking front, there was some good work, with the midfield working tirelessly to get the ball up to the forwards. However, South were too often caught in possession and Newmarket won many more of the 50-50 balls than South did. It must be said that they wanted it more than we did on this occasion. South will need to regroup and rethink their strategy before next week.
Team played: Sarah Massen; Louisa Richmond-Coggan, Hayley Sharpe (jc), Ciara Metcalfe, Emma Clarke, Becca Graveling, Julie Sadler, Vicky Lavis, Bex Baker, Mel Harrison, Claire Wylie, Ellie Raffan, Gemma Thomas (jc)
Cambridge South Ladies II 3 - 0 Market Deeping Ladies II
Walkover to South as Deeping fail to raise a side.
Perse U18a 4 - 2 Cambridge South Men's Indoor (Wednesday 3rd October)
H/T: 3 - 1
Scorers: James Cobbe, Rob Garrett
Last week the indoor campaign got off to an excellent start, with a 1-1 draw against the Perse U18 b-team. This week we faced a tougher proposition with the U18 a-team providing the opposition. This is a side hoping to make a mark on the national championships and so we knew we'd be in for a difficult game.
We continued where we left off last week, with a half-court press that suffocated their attackers in our half. The Perse team found it difficult to get through this well-disciplined defence and for a while scoring opportunities for both sides were at a premium. It wasn't long, however, before the U18's broke the deadlock with a well-worked short-corner routine. Another short-corner saw the Perse extend their lead before some excellent movement up-front enabled James Cobbe to deflect a quick pass beyond their keeper to bring the deficit back to a single goal. The U18's now saw a battle on their hands and stepped up their play, and managed to restore the 2-goal cushion just before half-time with a good individual goal. Some excellent goal-keeping from Steve Parker prevented South falling further behind.
South stepped up their play in the second half with a more aggressive strategy in their half and mid-way through Rob Garrett got a goal back after intercepting a poor U18 pass. We continued to press and created opportunities to get the equaliser, Mike Thorogood going agonisingly close on one occasion, but the third goal just wouldn't come. And after keeping out the Perse all half, they managed to get a fourth goal with a penalty corner that was awarded with only 5 seconds of play remaining.
So a close battle that could so easily have been a draw. And with only 1 goal conceded from open play South can be pleased with the defensive performance.
Team: Steve Parker; Chris Graveling, Jim Thorpe, Mike Thorogood, Rich Morgan, Finn Johnson, Paul South, Rob Garrett, James Cobbe
