Reports 14th November 2009

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Men's 1sts are disappointed to lose 3-0 at St Ives 2

Men's 2nds play well and take all 3 points against Bourne

Men's 3rds claim an honourable draw away at league leaders St Ives

Men's 4ths lose to Wisbech Town 5

Ladies' 1sts trounce Cambridge City by 9 goals to nil.

Ladies' 2nds beat Bourne 3-0

St Ives II 3 - 0 Cambridge South Men's I

H/T: 3 - 0

Scorers: None
MoM: Ron Oren, Russell Johnson

A South side without Jim Thorpe, Eliot Read and Al Sinclair from last week's complement and also missing Leo Tomita and Nick Young from the defensive corps struggled to keep a determined St. Ives second team at bay in appalling weather conditions. The first half was played largely in torrential rain and the second in a howling gale which froze rather than dried and there were plenty of numb hands and legs throughout.

The game was really won and lost with only 20 minutes on the clock although the first half of this period gave no particular hint of the setbacks in store. Lukas Snetler forced a good left-foot save from the home keeper after a cross from an in-form Russell Johnson and, while Steve Parker also had to glance a shot clear, South won two early shorts and both Chris Graveling and Keith Hewitt, the latter in an unaccustomed right-back position, made assured tackles.

The match turned decisively after just 10 minutes, however, when what looked to be a mishit from a St. Ives player just inside the South D freakishly wrong-footed or unsighted four players and rolled leeringly into the back of the goal. Then two minutes later, a strike from the opposite side of the circle, which appeared to be covered all the way, unluckily deflected from a South stick and shot into the roof of the net to double the hosts' lead.

Both Johnson and Mark Pears made convincing runs round the left and right corners respectively and Hewitt again tackled well in a crisis but St. Ives, with a mixture of keen youngsters and some experienced older heads, competed fiercely for every ball. Bulldozing their way round the by-line, they won a penalty corner, from which they hit the post and gained a rebound that fell kindly with the South defence stranded and the goal conveniently exposed.

South won another brace of short corners before the half was over, with Hewitt's slip to the far post cannily intercepted and Snetler's crisp strike deflected away from danger, and both Hewitt and Johnson had good shots saved. In addition, the St. Ives keeper was rescued by his left-back when rounded by a Pears-Johnson combination, but the home side remained generally in control for the remainder of the half and showed plenty of fluent passing movements despite the wet going underfoot.

Appreciating the need to attack, Rob Garrett had already returned Hewitt to his normal marauding position up front, with James Cobbe filling in very capably at right back in his stead. Ron Oren displayed his usual solidity under fire on the left and, with Graveling and Matt Readman also working hard and Parker out and across smartly to thwart St. Ives' one real breakaway, South steadied the ship in the second stanza. They also created chances for, in the first few minutes, both Graveling and Hewitt had tested the keeper, while Snetler later created space for a well-hit reverse but again could only find the pads.

Johnson's pace was always a threat up the right wing yet the home defence was unshakeable and, though South explored all avenues, led by Garrett's endless endeavour, there was no way through to goal. A couple of notable surges from Readman and some well-orchestrated triangles involving Chris Baker, Snetler and a hard-running but luckless Pears showed promise but St. Ives, who used the self-pass rule to good effect to continually harass the South midfield and defence, pressed hard to the end, urged on by a vociferous crowd. The award of their fourth short corner with five minutes to go was celebrated with a roar of triumph, from both players and onlookers, that betokened a certain ambition. Although newly promoted and not currently in the top six, even after this victory, St. Ives look to be a well organised side and will prove difficult to overcome if they continue in this vein.

South afterwards had no complaints about the result, although there was some justified speculation as to whether things might have turned out differently had that first peculiar goal not been conceded.

In a group of teams jockeying for position behind Spalding at the head of the table, South have now dropped to fourth and need to regain their momentum if they are to continue their challenge for a promotion spot. Next Saturday sees a home fixture against the eponymous Nomads in the tropical verdure formerly known as Coldham's Common and it will be interesting to see how the two teams try to hack their way through the undergrowth in search of the magical points.

Team played: Steve Parker, Ron Oren, Chris Graveling, Matt Readman, Russell Johnson, Rob Garrett, Chris Baker, Lukas Snetler, Mark Pears, Keith Hewitt, James Cobbe

Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 0 Bourne II

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Jack Chalk, John Hawkes, Ali Ward
MoM: John Hawkes (Great commitment and the first goal of many for South.)
LOM: Ben Buckley (Contributed nothing to the team performance!)

After a rude defeat by Wisbech last week, Cambridge South were eager to get back to winning ways against Bourne 2s knowing that if other results went their way, a win could push them up to 2nd.

And in fairly blustery conditions, South duly obliged by brushing aside a Bourne side and playing some excellent hockey all round from front to back.

With Ron "Chopper" Oren on 1st team duty, and the Monckosaurus unavailable, concerns had been raised at the possible lack of "bulk" and "aggression" in the defence. Those were dispelled within minutes when a Wicked Wych clearance thundered into a Bourne shinpad, forcing them down to 10 men for several minutes, and Kaptain Kev put in a crunching tackle to cut down a Bourne move in its prime.

Having signalled these signs of intent, South turned rear domination into expansive midfield dynamism and forward play throughout the first half. The Bourne keeper was forced into several saves, including a palm save from a Rob Barton reverse stick shot (would we expect anything else) after George Wych did a Shergar and disappeared from Right Back only to appear galloping up the right wing and dispatching a majestic ball into the D. Another direct strike from a Bristowe at a short corner was dispatched over the bar by the keeper's toe. Moments later South finally did beat the keeper after Bav had hurried and hassled down the right and had played the ball into a crowded D only to find that a short corner had been awarded in the melee for the goalkeeper sitting on the ball.

However South stuck to the task and eventually the Bourne backline was breached when a superb through ball found John Harkes clear in the 25 who then marched into the D to slot home for a cool finish, his first for South.

A 1-0 scoreline hardly reflected the domination south enjoyed in the first 35 minutes.

Bourne showed more enthusiasm and ambition in the second half to press forward, but were met with Leo Tomita and Nick Bristowe in fine form, and Captain Dave Aston holding his own at left back. This more than snuffed out any threats on the South D by the canny Bourne midfielders who clearly knew how to wield a stick. Jack Chalk kept one of them well and truly occupied.

However it didn't take long for South to open up more opportunities. The midfield duo of Harkes and Clapp found were continually hassling and completely overran their counterparts. A superb flowing move, the best of the game, involving the entire midfield combination of Clapp/Chalk/Virdee/Harkes presented a golden opportunity at the right post which went begging. Former Kaptain Kev's view of the situation that Mary Poppins herself would have scored with her umbrella.

Thankfully at the other end, South were not being so generous. The only clear cut opportunity came as rain threatened and a short was awarded in the gloom when a defender had trod on the ball. The ensuing shot failed to trouble Ben Buckley who admitted after the game that he in fact fell over as the shot was taken and ended the game having failed to touch the ball at all.

However, after that little indiscretion, it wasn't long before South were back in business and with 10 minutes remaining, Ali Ward raced onto a pin point ball to slot in number two, with Bav chasing on in the hope he might snaffle the goal himself. At 2-0, South looked far more composed on the ball and soon afterwards a flick was duly converted by Jack Chalk to round of proceedings with a third. Had the game continued in that vein, the scoreline would have expanded. Although having said that, had Jack informed the rest of the team that he had in fact missed this last three flicks, he perhaps would not have found himself clothed with the honour of taking one.

As usual, South commitment to the cause was more than displayed through its fair share of bravery in the face of the enemy with Ali Ward (ankle) and Kev (shin) gracefully plummeting to the ground, and John Harkes impressively bleeding over the Leys pitch from various limbs. Certain others who shall remain nameless, fell to the earth with much less dignity when faced with the autumn leaves.

So with Rutland defeating Ely 3-2, South leapfrogged Ely into 3rd place in 4NW, their highest position since records began, or at least electronically anyhow, a position occupied by the 1st team four seasons ago, and a position well befitting a side dominant against a side relegated from 3NW last year.

On a day when South kept their second clean sheet of the campaign, goalkeeper Ben Buckley (who was responsible for the last clean sheet against March) went from hero to zero and was deemed lemonesque. Presumably on the basis that he could and probably should have put his feet up at home instead of getting himself, and the goalkeeping kit, soaking wet. Probably the most ridiculous decision since Lino was awarded man of the match last season in an 11-0 win...

Team played: Ben Buckley, Leo Tomita, George Wych, Nick Bristowe, Tim Clapp, Jack Chalk, Dave Aston, Bhavdeep Virdi, Kev Rowland, John Hawkes, Ali Ward, Rob Barton

St Ives III 1 - 1 Cambridge South Men's III

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorers: Paul South
MoM: James Hodge (..pressed into service at right back. It was as if he was born to it...and he followed the example of the master marauding wing back, Ian G, to make some telling runs up the wing to contribute to the attack)

An even game between teams battling for the lead positions in 5NW saw the points shared. St Ives took the lead through a scrambled effort that the brilliant-as -always Shabhaz Ali in goal was unlucky to see coming back past him having saved well from the initial effort.

CSouth immediately equalised with a classy Paul South flick just inside the far post directly from a short corner. CSouth's short corner routine worked well with shots on goal on each occasion, but sadly no more scores. The away team had numerous efforts throughout the game, with Tristan Knight, Dom Nelson and John Greaves all going close. The multitude of opportunities arose from great attacking play, using the wings, early passing to split the opposition defence, movement off the ball, and many good crosses into the danger area

Rupert Espley and Wiclo Dijkstra both went further than the call of duty, incurring injuries to wrist and head respectively. . It wasnt a dirty game, although there did appear to be 12 umpires on the pitch at times. CSouth managed to stay calm in spite of this, and finished the game still pressing for the win

The thirds must have made considerable progress if we come off the pitch disappointed to only draw against the Div 5NW league leaders on their pitch

Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Dom Nelson, John Benedikz, Neil Sneade, Andy Passmore, James Lee, Ian Glover, Stu Creed, James Hodge, Paul South, Tristen Knight, Rupert Espley, John Greaves

Wisbech Town V 6 - 2 Cambridge South Men's IV

H/T: 4 - 1

Scorers: Ian Evans, David Doupe
MoM: David Bridge (Volunteered to go in goal and had a great 2nd half), David Doupe (Good goal and good all round team play)

We were lucky to have arrived with the weather being dry and it lasted for the duration of the match. David Bridge heroically volunteered to be in goal this week. It was a rather sluggish start for South and we didn't seem to be able to get the ball out of our own half. Before we knew it we were one nil done from a little shot that appeared to come off the post.

Despite going one-nil down South's play was still treacle like, until a quickly taken 16 hit caught Wisbech on the break, JJ picked the ball and found the tireless David Doupe who took the ball inside the D and duly made it 1:1 with a shot into the corner of the goal. Wisbech was still having more of the midfield and South dound themselves 2:1 were down after a well taken shot corner. That was then followed by a forced shuffle of the team as Ky Ho dislocated a finger and swapped with JJ Clark, who started to play in defence and Ky played upfront for the 1st time in 20 years. Where are those subs when you need them ? Then that followed a strange period where Wisbech got 2 more goals with South appearing to do much to stop them. The last 7 minutes or so of the half ended with South finally finding their touch and started to string some attacks together with David Doupe at his threatening best and John Parker somehow finding himself supporting the forwards.

The second half was better for South and despite Wisbech having more possessions, they could not get the ball past David Bridge who has grown in confidence and even started to harass the forwards. South always threatened to score and eventually Ian Evans managed to scramble one in, so we were now winning the second half!

South had further chances through Ian Evans and John Parker interspersed between David Bridge's saves, but 2 very late goals by Wisbech have them a flattering score line.

The positives are that the team is gelling well with JJ a welcome addition to the side, David Doupe showing what we suspected he was able to do.

Team played: John Clark, Ian Evans, Ky Ho, David Bridge, Boris Lossy, Simon Jelley, John Parker, John Sharp, John Somerville, David Doupe, James Raikes

Cambridge South Ladies' I 9 - 0 Cambridge City IV

H/T: 3 - 0

Scorers: Liles Dee, Anne-Isabelle Richard-Picchi, Georgie Hurford, Hayley Sharpe (2), Alice Hug, Tash Cox (2)

Awaiting Report

Team played: Lizzy Day, Becca Graveling, Rhiannan Williams, Julie Sadler, Liles Dee, Anne-Isabelle Richard-Picchi, Georgie Hurford, Breeshey Harkin, Hayley Sharpe, Alice Hug, Tash Cox

Cambridge South Ladies' II 3 - 0 Bourne III

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers:
MoM: Louise Gutteridge