Reports 30th October 2010

Ladies' 2nds beat Peterborough in the Cup

Cambridge South Men's I 2 - 0 Cambridge Nomads II

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Jack Chalk, Graham McCulloch
MoM: Mark Williams (Excellent battling in centre midfield)
LoM: Dave Aston (Girlfriend wouldn't let him come to match teas.)

South set out lacking a few regular players (all with feeble excuses for missing the game), but were hoping to continue their “honeymoon” start to the season, and to improve on their previous showing against their opponents, when they had been Nomadtch for their local rivals.

Nomads had some good moments going forward in the early stages, but the back four of Dave “Under the thumb” Aston, George “Never drinks on Fridays” Wych, Nick “Needs a shave” Bristowe and the Thorpedo stood firm. Wych’s running out from the short corners was once again exemplary. When the South defence was breached, Parker was always in place to snuff out any danger with some solid clearances.

Further forward Mark “not the snooker player” Williams, Tim “if you’re happy and you know it” Clapp, Sanjay and Jack “Fantasy hockey must-have” Chalk were battling fiercely, and Eliot was read-ing the game well on the right (is it time I stopped this?).

The forwards of Simon Ta, the real G Mac and John Hawkes were always causing trouble on the break with their pace, and Nomads soon realised they were in a game. However, it was a rather scrappy game at that, and no real chances were falling to either side. That is, until the aforementioned Chalk picked the ball up in the middle of the pitch, strode forward through a couple of challenges and thundered a shot towards the Nomads goal. The first shot was dealt with by the keeper, but then Chalk (possibly with words of wisdom from Lord Rob Barton ringing in his ears from the pre-match team talk), realised that a much more effective way of beating the keeper would be to plant a slow trickling sweep shot into the middle of the goal. Which he duly obliged to do.

Suddenly South’s tails were up and they went into half time playing the stronger hockey. Nomads came out fighting after the break though, with a thundered cross from the left being deflected just wide by their centre forward. This served as a wake-up call to the defence, which had been tweaked further with the introduction of Eliot at right back.

The second half ebbed and flowed until excellent tenaciousness from the forwards won South their first and only short corner. A fine push out from Graham found Briz at the top of the D, and he “proposed” a fantastic opportunity to Graham with his drilled pass back to the taker. Graham duly said “I do” and deflected the pass into the bottom right corner of the goal, putting South two up midway through the second half.

From this point onwards, South seemed controlled in seeing out victory, although one player helpfully pointed out that they needed to stay professional to the end as there were “fantasy points to play for.” Dave Aston this week decided to cut back on the verbal abuse on his teammates, but replaced it with the physical stuff- drilling a clearance into the right ankle of Mr Clapp, sending him to the sidelines.

The final whistle brought with it another deserved three points. A thoroughly professional (and satisfying) performance from South keeps them in the promotion spots, but perhaps more importantly puts distance between themselves and Nomads, who may well be in the shake up of the top teams come the end of the season.

Team played: Steve Parker, Jim Thorpe, Dave Aston, George Wych, Nick Bristowe, Tim Clapp, Sanjay Agarwala, Mark Williams, Jack Chalk, Eliot Read, John Hawkes, Graham McCulloch, Simon Ta

Cambridge South Men's II 3 - 0 Bourne II

Match won by walkover after Bourne fail to raise a team.

Cambridge South Men's III 1 - 3 Cambridge Nomads III

H/T: 0 - 2

Scorers: Kev Rowland
MoM: Matt Kern (Edging out Neil Sneade in the terrier stakes - with mentions to GK Chris Collinson - increasingly confident - and Kev Rowland. Great goal)

Two evenly matched teams. Two early goals (sadly Nomads got them). home team never got out of third gear. end of.

Nomads early double came from a rasping short corner shot which flew in by the post at speed, followed by a gift from midfield. 2 nil didn't reflect the first half play with the home defence of SneadeBenedikzEvansKern typically fiesty and assertive, and a number of CSouth shots, admittedly mostly half chances, saved or going wide

The second half spoils were shared, with a lucky Nomads deflection at waist height balanced by a reverse stick special from the returning Kev Rowland fired in from distance

CSouth had other chances to get even with Greaves and Espley missing narrowly, the latter from a lovely flick almost in to the top of the net from a short corner. A late rain shower caused the pitch to resemble an ice rink and players began to slip over..perhaps to avoid the rather more painful injuries to various noses, knees, and feet that interrupted the game regularly

CSouth must start to get results from games like this to climb out of the relegation zone, but early lethargy, careless passing, and being too often second best in the tackle, as well as inability to find the opposition net often enough, combined to frustrate

Team played: Chris Collinson, John Benedikz, Ian Evans, Neil Sneade, Kev Rowland, Jonny Deacon, John Parker, Wilco Dijkstra, Paul South, Stu Creed, Matt Kern, John Greaves, Rupert Espley

Cambridge South Ladies' I 4 - 1 Huntingdon Ladies I

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Caroline Dent, Sian Tomlin, Kendra Seed, Tash Cox
MoM: Caroline Dent

Awaiting Report

Team played: Rhiannan Williams, Ellie Raffan, Lindsey Berends, Julie Sadler, Caroline Dent, Breeshey Harkin, Sian Tomlin, Caroline Molony, Liles Dee, Lyn Phillips, Kendra Seed, Alice Hug, Tash Cox

Cambridge South Ladies' II 4 - 1 City of Peterborough Ladies III

H/T: 2 - 0

Scorers: Carla Fitzachary, Charlie Orrock (3)
MoM: Charlie Orrock