Reports 31st January 2009
Men's 1st XI pile on the goals with a 13-1 win over Bourne II
Men's 2nd XI have to fight hard in a very tight match to take a 1-0 win against Bourne III
Men's 3rd XI come up against runaway league leaders Rutland II, losing 7-1
Men's 4th XI play out a 2-2 stalemate with Rutland V
Ladies' 1st XI lose 5-0 in a tough match against league top dogs Ely City I
Cambridge South Men's I 13 - 1 Bourne Men's II
H/T: 7 - 1
Scorers: Keith Hewitt (4), Al Sinclair (3), Chris Baker (2), Alex Pooles (2), Rob Garrett, Matt Readman
MoM: Keith Hewitt
On a morning of bright but penetrating cold which made lunchtime at The Hat and Feathers a particularly welcome proposition, South bounced back from two successive defeats with a vengeance, overwhelming a beleaguered Bourne second string with the highest team score in Division 3NW this season and possibly (though don't quote me) the 1sts' highest ever.
Bourne, who were evidently not quite the side that only lost 3-1 to Ely two weeks ago, were under pressure from the pushback, conceding within three minutes as an unchallenged Keith Hewitt lifted the ball high into the net from close quarters. A virtual action replay followed South's first penalty corner four minutes later and shortly after Hewitt turned provider as he rounded the keeper to set up Al Sinclair for a shot which went in off a defender.
Bourne then had the misfortune to lose one of their forwards to injury, which forced them to play one light for the rest of the game, but held out for a further six minutes until Alex Pooles, with his first touch of the game, capitalised on the confusion created by an artfully topped "piledriver" from Hewitt to make it 4-0. Almost immediately after the restart, Pooles took advantage of a fudged clearance to slip an easy pass to Sinclair, who met no resistance as he slotted in the fifth.
Annoyingly, given the ample space available elsewhere, South then contrived to give the ball straight to a Bourne forward on the edge of the D and he gratefully accepted the chance to walk it in unmolested and hit the top corner with a zinger which Steve Parker in goal could only get a glove on. This was only a momentary respite for the visitors, however, as they continued to cede possession in midfield, giving up further goals before half-time to Sinclair, who fired in hard after a nifty turn, and Hewitt, who made no mistake when skipper Chris Baker delivered the perfect slip from South's fourth penalty corner.
Bourne started the second half with a man high in an effort to repair some of the damage and this seemed to galvanise their forward line temporarily as Parker had to make two solid clearances and an excellent diving block from a crisp goalbound strike. Yet it also exposed their overworked defence even further and it was not long before John Benedikz, in tune with South's developing ball speed, slotted through a precision pass for Baker to convert with the keeper stranded. Hewitt then fed Rob Garrett, who drew the ball telescopically across the face of the D before finding the net with a super reverse strike that would have beaten many a team. Less than a minute later, Hewitt gained a further assist when Pooles rammed the ball in hard and high to bring up double figures.
With over twenty minutes still to go, Benedikz repeated his earlier sleight of stick to give Matt Readman a rare attacking opportunity, which he exploited to the full with a finish worthy of, well, almost worthy of Jim Thorpe's at Boston. Baker then made it twelve with a whack into the bottom corner from a Garrett reverse cross before a period of relative calm ensued. The Bourne keeper made several good stops, twice denying the rampant Hewitt, while Parker tried to ward off hypothermia with a blocked save from a neat deflection. Finally, on the sixty-five minute mark, Nick Young got a good pass away to Hewitt despite being decked and the Wizard of Aus brought up the unlucky thirteen for Bourne as he out-turned the keeper for a clinical sign-off.
Though the match was one-sided throughout, Bourne kept encouraging one another steadfastly and never let their heads drop, though admitting afterwards that they were unlikely to be featuring in this division next year. As for South, a stiffer challenge before the tough series of matches against March, Ely and Peterborough coming up might have been desirable, but the sound of ball on opposition backboard is always music to a forward's (and Matt Readman's) ears. The hope is that muscle memory will last another eight weeks and yield South another twenty-four points and a net goal difference of around 120!
Team played: Steve Parker, John Benedikz, Nick Young, Jim Thorpe, Leo Tomita, Matt Readman, Chris Massey, Chris Baker (c), Russell Johnson, Rob Garrett, Keith Hewitt, Alex Pooles
Bourne Men's III 0 - 1 Cambridge South Men's II
H/T: 0 - 0
Scorers: Mark Pears
MoM: Three-way tie between Chris Graveling, Mark Pears and Lino Di Lorenzo
LoM: Dave Aston - some people blindly follow their Sat-nav, Dave blindly ignores his
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If this match were a war movie, it'd be "Kelly's Heroes": that classic tale of a daring raid into enemy territory against strong opposition to grab the loot and scarper.
South's Dirty Dozen (to mix war movie metaphors for a moment) were venturing into unknown terrain, with few having played at Peterborough's Bushfield pitch before. Consequently, there was some confusion over directions with Kev "Kelly" Rowland and Dave "Babra" Aston both managing to take the scenic route despite each having sat-nav. Babra's determined disregard for any instructions issued by his electronic navigator and penchant for repeatedly circling roundabouts were sufficient to wrap up the Lemon award before even arriving at the ground.
Aware that Bourne don't tend to travel well, South were expecting a much sterner test than the 6-1 victory in the home fixture before Christmas and so it proved. From the push-back, Bourne's mix of canny, senior players and fast, tricky youngsters forced South to work hard to establish a foothold in the game. With a fluid formation and a front line interchanging and attacking from deep, Bourne were making it difficult for South's defence to pick up and close down the oppositon's forwards. As attackers ran through the middle, sweeper Dave "Big Joe" Monck was repeatedly required to make the saving tackle. At full back, Neil "Little Joe" Sneade and Ron "Oddball" Oren were fully occupied with Bourne's mobile wingers and finding it difficult to support South's wide players going forward.
Bourne's threats almost bore fruit when one of their speedy forwards coming in from the right found a gap near the top of the D and dispatched a crisp, firm strike. Rising awkwardly at knee height, it brought a brilliant improvised save from The Cat in South's goal as he stooped to palm the ball wide. Up front, South's best outlets were being limited to Big Joe's Herculean hits into the wide channels for forwards Rob "Moriarty" Barton and Mark "Cowboy" Pears to chase down.
As the half wore on, South began to get to grips with Bourne's mobile play and establish a platform for their own attacks. The introduction of Chris G's cool skills in midfield helped South consolidate possession and Babra on the left and Stocky on the right started to make inroads down the wings to turn the Bourne defence. A free hit outside the opposition's D was frustratingly wasted when a communication breakdown between Chris and Oddball resulted in the ball being knocked straight over the back line. South made better use of a short corner as a smooth injection from Cowboy and a clean strike from Big Joe forced the Bourne keeper to save smartly with his left foot.
So, all-square at half time but South knew with a big push, some positive waves and a bit of fortune, the prize was there for the taking. Galvanised, South upped their game in the second period. Aided by Kelly's superb job of blocking the midfield runners who had caused so many problems in the first half, South were looking more dangerous. The contest remained close all over the pitch however, with vice-captain George "Crapgame" Wych and the rest of the defence having to work hard to screen Lino's goal from Bourne's attacks, including Little Joe finding himself hurtling bodily backwards through the air as he was flattened by a full-body check from Bourne's solidly built centre forward.
As the game entered the last quarter, South's increasingly penetrating wide play earned a series of short corners. With ten minutes left on the clock, one of the shorts was slipped quickly by Cowboy to Babra on the left of the D. His strike caught the outrushing defenders off guard and, as it arrowed towards the goal, the inrushing Cowboy added the slightest of deflections to ensure it beat the keeper, leaving the home team stunned.
A goal to the good, South refocused and the final ten minutes were played out in the same closely contested, up-tempo manner as the rest of the match. Despite Bourne's efforts to grab the equaliser, South kept their heads and saw out the time to depart with the prized three points from their smash-and-grab raid, all the sweeter for being so hard-won. After the match, captain Kev said "We were a different team in the second half and need to start matches like that to avoid such close contests. And if anyone calls me 'Kelly' Rowland, I'll deck them."
Team played: Lino Di Lorenzo, Ron Oren, George Wych, Neil Sneade, Dave Monck, Dave Aston, Nick Bristowe, Kevin Rowland (c), Chris Graveling, Dave Stock, Mark Pears, Rob Barton
Cambridge South Men's III 1 - 7 Rutland Men's II
H/T: 0 - 3
Scorers: Rupert Espley
MoM: Rupert Espley - strong in defence and attack; good opportunist goal; never say die attitude
We tried, and tried, and tried
They scored, and scored, and……
Cambridge South never gave up and actually had a fair share of the play against Div 5NW leaders Rutland 2nds, but the confident away team were always on top. South had their moments and attacking moves usually prompted by Stu Creed and Andy Lewis provided some promise, but the final ball and/or shot never quite capitalised. Rupert Espley and Andy Lewis got in some great crosses, and the home team did use the width well, but Espley's goal from a deflection and a reflex effort onto the far post from a narrow angle from Greaves were the sole rewards. Dan Schofield and Dom Nelson kept on running and making space, but didnt get enough of the ball to threaten
The South defence of Bailey, Evans, Glover and Passmore stood up well, except for Passmore who went down with this week's injury with a turned ankle. They were all decisive and rarely shirked their duties, making Rutland work hard for openings.
It was gratifying that South were constantly looking to stay in the game and indeed the best period came near the end, when heads might have dropped.
The current series of games against the top teams in 5NW were always going to be a challenge, but the improving team play and variation, coupled with the constant positive committed approach, will bear us in good stead for the run in to the final games.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ian Evans, Ian Glover, Matt Bailey, John Greaves (c), Wilco Dijkstra, Stuart Creed, Rupert Espley, Andy Lewis, Dom Nelson, Andy Passmore, Dan Schofield
Cambridge South Men's IV 2 - 2 Spalding Men's V
H/T: 1 - 1
Scorers: Shahzad Ali, James Hodge
MoM: Shahzad Ali - for his goal and the vast improvement to his game
LoM: David Bridge - for mistaking two different women in the same week
Spalding arrived over an hour before the 11a.m. push back, meaning they had more time to warm up than South and it showed. They had all the play in the first fifteen minutes and scored from a short corner after four minutes. South were half a yard slower to every ball.
South started to gain more possession after quarter of an hour and actually started to dominate the game. South were rewarded with a well worked goal which involved the ball being played back and then into the D to Shahzad, who finished neatly to level the score. Moments earlier James Raikes had a similar chance but put it narrowly wide.
In the second half, the pattern repeated itself and again Spalding got out of the block a bit quicker and again they went ahead after a mix up in defence. South once more regained their composure and equalised through a high shot from James Hodge. Both teams went for the win but in the end time ran out.
It was good to see that the team is beginning to learn to hold on to possession, passing the ball backwards and playing it square. Maybe one lesson learnt from this game is to have a proper warm up before the game starts so that everyone starts the game at a quicker pace.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ky Ho, David Bridge, Tim Dean, Shahzad Ali, Shyam Sadasivan, James Hodge (c), James Raikes, Dan Lam, Simon Jelley, John Sharp, Phil Le Gouais
Ely City Ladies' I 5 - 0 Cambridge South Ladies' I
H/T: 3 - 0
Scorers:
MoM: Ellie Raffan
We had seen the league table and it was always going to be a tough encounter! We've had some really disappointing results and unfortunately we've had some disappointing performances to match, but with the fewest changes to the side for weeks we were aiming to play as a team today and get stuck in!
Chris G put us through our paces in the warm up so we were ready and raring to go from the off. We started brightly winning a few corners and hassling the Ely defence but eventually Ely proved too strong and too well drilled. Their first goal came from a well executed penalty corner. Sweeping moves outwitted our midfield and they were soon 3-0 up.
At half time we had jelly babies and maybe this was the secret, or maybe it was a sense of pride that hadn't been evident in the previous match, but South once more came out battiling, orchestrated by our lady of the match, Ellie. For a good twenty minutes we kept Ely out. We stuck together, worked as a team (listened to Ellie) and even had a few one on ones with their keeper! Ely's zonal defence had gaps that could be exploited and with a bit more confidence (and if Liles hadn't been taken out so much!) we could have had a few goals.
As legs tired, noses bunged up and recurring injuries recurred(?), Ely made a breakthrough with two more well taken goals. Credit should also go to Sarah M, who made outstanding saves throughout the match.
I would normally be fuming at such a result, but at the end of the day Ely were brilliant and it is to our credit that they only scored five. The whole defence were run ragged but never gave up. With a performance like that there is no way we should be at the bottom of the league. With consistency and more spirited performances we can still lift ourselves from the abyss.
Team played: Sarah Massen, Hayley Sharpe (c), Tash Cox, Liles Dee, Kelly Charman, Ellie Raffan, Julie Sadler, Becca Graveling, Rhiannan Williams, Nicky Bareham, Alice Wall
Cambridge South Ladies' II 1 - 6 St Ives Ladies' III
H/T: 1 - 3
Scorers: Carla Fitzachary
MoM: Carla Fitzachary
The Ladies 2nds assembled at the University astro, Wilberforce Road, for a 10.30am push-back. It was a bright sunny day with a brisk breeze. All were keen to get running around to warm up. The line-up included three new faces: Hannah (substitute goalkeeper), Liz from the Netherlands playing LB, Caoimhe from Ireland playing centre midfield. In the pre-match huddle names were repeated twice for familiarisation.
For the first quarter the two teams were well-matched, play remaining in the midfield with some well-structured interceptions and passes by the South players. St Ives seemed slightly surprised that this match wasn't going to be a walkover. Both sides broke at times with attacking play into the opposition D but efforts were not rewarded with any goals, although mistakes by the South defence gave St Ives a handful of short corners, upping the psychological advantage for the visitors. Hard shots on the goal were repelled, one even knocking the stick out of Pip's hand. South made some fast play up the midfield but oblique shots across the goal were not intercepted. What, no goal-hanger?
Fortunes changed with a technically excellent, clear shot on South's goalmouth by St Ives. There was no disputing this: the ball hit the backboard like an ear-shattering rifle-shot. South's spirits remained high – it was only one goal after all - and the game still felt very even however, St Ives made another strong shot on goal which gave Hannah little time to react. South managed to gain a goal in the second quarter: a scuffle in the D allowed Carla to put the ball past the St Ives keeper. South were ecstatic with this hard-won reward! Unfortunately this was soon followed by another successful shot on goal by St Ives.
In the second half, South put up a fair fight but St Ives increased their control of the game, although South still put in some good breaks of play, much to St Ives's frustration. Their fourth goal was followed by an unfortunate piece of defence by Carla whose foot on the goal-line lead to a penalty flick being awarded to St Ives. Baptism by fire! Pauline (St Ives) took the shot. Hannah managed to get a stick to it but the ball still made its way into the net. There seemed no stopping St Ives now.
At 5–1, South's resolve was starting to sag. In the last few minutes of the game, slow reactions by Pip allowed the St Ives captain, Pauline, the opportunity to intercept a pass across the D. Holding the penalty spot, Pauline made a classic strike on goal, bringing the final score to 1-6. There's no beating experience!
The St Ives team felt that this was a harsh result, not deserved, but all were relieved that the only injury was an astro burn to Carla's knee.
Team played: Hannah Colby, Lou Tonkin, Louise Gutteridge, Carla Fitzachary, Daisy Watts, Caoimhe Houlihan, Pip Noon, Sarah Aves, Lisanne Zonderop, Tracey Hunter, Mel Harrison (c)
