Reports 12th September 2009
Men's 1sts beat Bishops Stortford 5-2
Men's 3rds lose 2-0 away at Bishop's Stortford
Men's 4ths steal a 1-1 draw at Bishops Stortford
Ladies' 2nd XI win 3-0 on a walkover after Wisbech fail to raise a team.
Cambridge South Men's I 5 - 1 Bishops Stortford III
H/T: 3 - 0
Scorers: Al Sinclair, Tristen Knight, Rob Garrett, James Cobbe, Keith Hewitt
Cambridge South beat Bishops Stortford 3's 5-1 on another hot and sunny September morning. The heat had a tiring effect on both teams, especially as the game wore on, but at the start it was the home side that was sharper as South moved into a 3-0 lead before the break. Vice Captain Hewitt was back in the starting line-up following an ankle injury but it didn't seem to have affected his shooting as he gave the home side the lead with a sharply struck short-corner. Soon after the same trick worked again, though this time Garrett got a stick to it on the way to deflect it past the defender on the line. And with the away side posing little desire of wanting to trouble the score-board, South scored a third just before half-time when a break down the right was pulled across goal for Tristen (?) to score.
It was a comfortable half for Cambridge South with Bishops Stortford trying to play high, keeping players deep in the South half, but struggling to cause the South back line any serious problems. Readman was back in fine form (after missing the mid-week friendly against Royston), mashalling his troops in front of him and picking off the loose balls with ease. The imperious Thorpe took no nonsense from the opposition forward, while Eliot took up an unfamiliar role at left-back and yet made it look like he'd played there all his life. And on the right, Leo was a constant threat going forward with some excellent passing from dead-balls in the final third of the pitch.
In the second half the away side started to get back into the game, as South rotated the midfield and started to succomb to the heat of the day. They continued to look the better side, though, and increased their lead again when Cobbe pounced on a loose ball in the D to snaffle it past the keeper. Bishops Stortford scored a consolation goal when they managed to catch the home defence on the hop, an overlap on their left creating space for a free striker to fire past the 'keeper. But South had the final say when another short corner gave a goal, this time Sinclair clipping a fine finish past the keeper when the push-out didn't go quite where it was intended.
Pears was a continual threat to the opposition back-line throughout, and was unlucky not to finish the game with a goal. And on the left Cobbe and Knight linked up well, giving the side width going forward and solid defensive cover when Stortford had the ball. On the right, Baker and Sinclair moved the ball well and opened up the opposition defence on a regular basis, keeping the Stortford defence on the back-foot.
In the end the score line was a fair reflection of the game, though it was disappointing to concede a goal after looking so comfortable in the first half. Nonetheless, given the hot conditions and personnel changes from the previous game (again!) it was a decent result and the pre-season preparations continue well.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Leo Tomita, Jim Thorpe, Chris Baker, Al Sinclair, Tristen Knight, Rob Garrett, Matt Readman, Eliot Read, Mark Pears, James Cobbe, Keith Hewitt
Cambridge South Men's II 2 - 1 Bishops Stortford IV
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: Bhavdeep Virdi, Rob Barton
MoM: Jack Chalk, Bhavdeep Virdi
LOM: Kev Rowland (Missing the Spurs match ...... and missing a gift of a goal!)
Cambridge South 2s held off some late pressure to record a 2-1 victory against Bishop Stortford 4s.
In a disjointed first half, all of the pace, passing and movement which had undone the 1sts earlier in the pre-season, and was on show again against Royston was missing. This was epitomised by the Stortford keeper spending much of the half sunbathing on the backboard and their sub pointing out to acting Kaptain Kev on one move which involved possibly the longest dribble outside a nursing home that "your right wing wanted that pass about half an hour ago".
Thankfully, Stortford weren't able to capitalise. A bit of last ditch defending, one sharp Shahbaz save from a snap shot and some loose short corners kept the score at 0-0.
Eventually South did manage to string more that two passes together, but only twice. The first resulted in the outside of the post being struck after Jack Chalk's good work around the back. The second ended in Bav striking the ball into the right side of an empty goal after the keeper and defenders had all been drawn left to give South a bit of an undeserved lead at the interval.
A half time barracking from Kaptain Kev paid dividends and a more fluid South woke up in the second half looking like the better side. A hustling Bav caught out the defence when he quickly fired a free hit into the path of an unmarked Rob Barton to make it 2-0. That should have put the game safe but the flood of goals didn't come.
A golden opportunity to make it 3-0 was spurned, and several other good chances became half chances when play dropped back to walking pace, and one short corner was reversed for time wasting. Whilst there was little to suggest they would get back into the game, that gave Stortford the incentive to up their game and eventually one of numerous short corners was slotted in at the near post to leave the score at 2 - 1. The last 5 minutes were an unnecessary frantic scramble.
If the win over the 1sts was champagne hockey, this was more like grape juice. Not vintage Cambridge South 2s, more brutish than Brut.
After the game acting Kaptain Kev revealed he had in fact sacrificed his Spurs v Man Utd ticket to captain the game, a decision which rather than earn rapturous applause from his comrades was deemed lemon worthy, despite Sanjay declaring to all and sundry that he had broken his hair band...
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ian Bishop, Ron Oren, George Wych, Jim Thorpe, Rob Garrett, Jack Chalk, Tristen Knight, Tim Clapp, Kev Rowland, Bhavdeep Virdi, Sanjay Agarwala, Rob Barton
Bishops Stortford V 2 - 0 Cambridge South Men's III
H/T: 0 - 0
Scorers: None
MoM: Sam Lansdell (returning after 4 yrs to fit in seamlessly at left back. Many telling tackles and never gave anything up as a lost cause.)
LOM: John Greaves (For being directionally challenged.)
A battling performance against a superior Bishops Stortford team including some suspiciously familiar faces from earlier matches against higher teams. The visitors from CSouth ensured that Bishops Stortford did not gain the upper hand until late in the game, when the confidence from a 2 goal cushion enabled them to pass the ball round too swiftly for the tiring CSouth to get much possession.
Although some were playing in unfamiliar positions, and the team is still in summer "mode", there were highlights. Midfield and attack linked well with some great moves with Messrs Hodge, Lewis, and Nelson standing out. The makeshift defence stuck to the task, leaving Bishops Stortford with few chances and keeping out the numerous short corners. John Benedikz mopped things up in his usual commanding fashion, and Shabhaz Ali flung himself around to keep the ball out of the net with a series of great saves. The goals came from a short corner, and an overlap. Both were unlucky, but in the end the scoreline reflected the balance of play.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ian Evans, Dom Nelson, Ian Glover, John Benedikz, James Hodge, Andy Lewis, Wilco Dijkstra, Jack Chalk, Sam Lansdell, John Greaves
Bishops Stortford VI 1 - 1 Cambridge South Men's IV
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: Andy Lewis
MoM: Manish Verma
A steal of a score line considering we defended for at least 90% of the game. We had a couple of chances from breakaways and scored one of them. It was a good early season workout for all who played. A warm welcome to Boris who played his first game for us. Thanks to all those who doubled up to allow a game to take place
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, John Benedikz, Ian Glover, Ian Evans, David Bridge, Ky Ho, Andy Lewis, James Greaves, Dan Lam, Manish Verma, Boris Lossy, Shahzad Ali, James Raikes
St Ives III 0 - 1 Cambridge South Ladies' I
H/T: 0 - 0
Scorers: Alice Hug
Awaiting Report
Team played: Lizzy Day, Rhiannan Williams, Julie Sadler, Caroline Dent, Anne-Isabelle Richard-Picchi, Vicky Lavis, Georgie Hurford, Liles Dee, Hayley Sharpe, Carla Fitzachary, Alice Hug, Tash Cox
Cambridge South Ladies' II 3 - 0 Wisbech III
H/T: ? - ?
Scorers:
Ladies' 2nd XI win 3-0 on a walkover after Wisbech fail to raise a team.
Team played: TBA
