Reports 12th November 2011

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Ladies' 1sts lose to City of Peterborough Ladies 3

Ladies' 2nds narrowly beat Bourne-Deeping Ladies 2

Cambridge South Men's I 4 - 0 St Neots I

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers: Mark Williams, Chris Pearson, Graham McCulloch (2)
MoM: Chris Graveling (Better than average.)
LoM: Lino di Lorenzo (The pitch booking cock-up was a complete accident and no one was to blame, however there has to be a fall guy!)

The pre match preparation was less than perfect, a long wait for the previous match to finish was followed by the lights going out 2 minutes into the warm up and another frustrating wait. Captain McCulloch showed a superb turn of pace to catch the grounds man just before he left the car park and then used his leadership skills to talk him into sacrificing another two hours of his evening for the team.

With the lights back on, South showed their professionalism by emerging from the darkness in fine form and dominating the opening exchanges. Playing at Wilberforce road as the sun went down gave the match a distinctly ‘summer hockey’ feel and South players were enjoying themselves accordingly. The midfield held firm defensively and moved the ball swiftly and sensibly once possession had been won. At the back, South looked completely in control throughout the first half with last week’s lapses in concentration a distant memory. Wing backs Eliot Read and Man of the Match, Chris Graveling in particular managed to dominate their opponents and still find time to make a significant contribution going forwards. With plenty of service to feed on, South’s 3 starting forwards saw lots of the ball, with Rich Claes on the left making numerous penetrating runs and McCulloch and Russell Johnson causing a sense of trepidation in the opposition’s defenders and they jinked and swerved past them.

Despite a decent start, South didn’t create a definite chance until the first planned substitutions were made, Chris Pearson getting off a snap shot with his first touch. This proved to be the catalyst for a purple patch for South in which they won a succession of short corners. Noticing a significant space on one side of the D, South chose to exploit the perceived weakness, Graveling nearly broke the deadlock on two occasions before Mark Williams finally gave South the lead they had deserved with a trademark ‘firm push’ that caressed a defenders stick en-route to finding the backboard between the keeper’s ankles.

The last few minutes of the half descended into an unsightly shouting match between some of the St Neots players and one or two equally fired up South players. The banter was fairly unimaginative and all players involved should probably work on their material before the return fixture.

The half time break gave South a chance to regroup and calm things down, generally they had been playing well but 1-0 is such a precarious score line the next 35 minutes could easily have turned sour had South not come out as focused as they did. The general theme of the second half involved South defending solidly and passing the ball well but somehow failing to really test the St Neots keeper. The fate of the game rested on the next goal and before South managed to snuffle it, there were one or two scary moments as St Neots pushed forwards. Steve Parker showed his class by making a couple of smart saves and tidying up a few loose balls in the D, despite having had little to do for much of the game. St Neots also had a few short corners that could have caused problems had Bristowe and Wych not closed down so efficiently. When South did manage to double their lead it was a scruffy affair from a misworked short corner. The keeper saved the initial shot and was pounced on by the ever industrious Pearson who managed to prod the ball out from underneath the keeper’s pads and over the line. From that moment on, the game was won and South were able to play with more confidence. Chalk, Virdi and the excellent Tom Watson bossed the midfield as St Neots tired, and the final 10 minutes were played exclusively in the visitor’s half. Chances came thick and fast from all areas of the pitch but it took a well-planned short corner routine to extend South’s Advantage. Graham McCulloch got on the end of a perfect pass to deflect the ball into the bottom corner. The same player scored again minutes later to hot up the race for this season’s golden stick, this time getting on the end of the best move of the game to nudge the ball in from close range.

It was another hard earned 3 points for South, making it an impressive 7 wins out of 8. There is a long way to go but, putting teams like St Neots away by a few goals shows the progress the team has made since last season where points were dropped unnecessarily against such sides. South are also showing the right attitude and working hard for one another which will serve them well as they approach the vital Christmas period!

Team played: Steve Parker, George Wych, Nick Bristowe, Chris Graveling, Eliot Read, Mark Williams, Bhavdeep Virdi, Richard Claes, Tom Watson, Jack Chalk, Chris Pearson, Graham McCulloch, Russell Johnson

Cambridge South Men's II 2 - 2 St Ives II

H/T: 1 - 1

Scorers: Dom Nelson (2)
MoM: Dom Nelson (Good play both in midfield and as sweeper, capped by two goals)
LoM: Ron Oren (For a variety of reasons, but chiefly for crimes against fashion)

A trip to St Ives was greeted by Cambridge South 2s as an opportunity to get their first win of the season: St Ives 2s have been struggling in the league, getting points against the weaker teams only. True to recent form, South arrived at the pitch nice and early, greeted by a strangely empty astro for a midday game. Never ones to complain, the team proceeded to chuck aerials around the pitch, claiming it as a proper warm-up.

Whatever the warm-up, it seemed to work as the visitors were clearly faster out of the blocks than the home side. Within minutes of the starting whistle, South had won a short corner; slickly counting on the defenders inability to clear Tom Howell’s cannonball, injector Dom Nelson guided the ball over the line to give South an early lead. This only served to wake up St Ives, though, who came back at the visitors strongly; capitalising on South’s defence being in array more than organised, the home side used a quickly taken free hit to wander into the D and slot an equaliser past ‘keeper Shahbaz for yards out.

All square at half-time, South decided to strengthen their midfield and pledged to start marking properly. For a while, this resolve paid off, with the visitors the more dangerous team in the early second half. But then St Ives won a short, worked the ball to the far post and took the lead. Tabled turned, it was South that was fired up now, making numerous forays into opposition territory. Chances were created left, right and centre and in the end it was Dom again who put his name on the score sheet, lifting the ball over a prostrate ‘keeper from all of a yard out.

With about 15 minutes to go and the game was open to all takers, it was again South that was pressing harder. One could claim that luck - once again - was not with the visitors: several chances went narrowly wide of the mark, while most lookers-on would’ve agreed that South should’ve been awarded a few shorts (especially when a rampant Nick Venner got upended in the sort of tackle that even rugby referees disagree with). All attempts notwithstanding, the game ended in a rather disappointing draw.

Yet again, South stepped off the pitch feeling that they got a disappointing result out of a decent performance. The search for that elusive first win continues...

Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Ian Glover, Andy Passmore, Ron Oren, Dom Nelson, Neil Sneade, Chris Walsh, Nick Venner, Tom Howell, Tim Clapp, Rob Barton, Alasdair Edge, Ali Ward

Cambridge South Men's IV 1 - 2 St Neots III

H/T: 0 - 1

Scorers: Simon Frampton
MoM: Shahzad Ali, Andrew Fraser

Lost to a goal in the last few seconds. Deserved a draw, but shows we are improving.

Team played: Shahzad Ali, Ky Ho, Dave Monck, James Siddorn, Ian Marshman, John Sharp, Benji Groom, Andrew Fraser, Boris Lossy, Nathan Monck, Simon Frampton

Cambridge South Ladies' I 4 - 2 City of Peterborough Ladies III

H/T: 3 - 0

Scorers: Laura Jarvis, Bex Baker (2), Kate Nustedt
MoM: Lou Cantwell

Awaiting Report. also awaiting another goal scorer.

Team played: Louise Tonkin, Ellie Raffan, Lindsey Berends, Julie Sadler, Lou Cantwell, Laura Jarvis, Birgit Bekkers, Serin Dabb, Georgie Hurford, Alice Hug, Bex Baker, Kate Nustedt

Cambridge South Ladies' II 1 - 0 Bourne-Deeping Ladies II

H/T: 1 - 0

Scorers:
MoM: Lydia

Awaiting Report. Also awaiting goal scorer.

Team played: Ali Graham, Lyn Wood, Emma South, Lydia , Gemma Young, Ami Chaplin, Vicky Lavis, Kylie Beasley, Jo Read, Ash Price, Leonie O'Donnell