Reports 15th October 2011
Men's 2nds lose to Wisbech Town 2
Men's 3rds beat City of Peterborough 8
Men's 4ths drew with St Ives 5
Ladies' 2nds narrowly lose to Huntingdon Ladies 1
Cambridge South Men's I 3 - 0 Spalding I
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: John Hawkes, Russell Johnson, Graham McCulloch
MoM: Finn Johnson (Full time goalkeeping beckons!)
LoM: Dave Aston (Just because ....), Ron Oren (Fastest whistle in the west)
Cheered on by vocal supporters Cambridge South overcame a talented Spalding side in a tight and vigorously contested match at the Abbey.
Spalding came closest to scoring in the opening exchanges. A quick break coupled with slick passing created a sharp chance for a man unmarked beyond the left-hand post. Fortunately for South he could only hit the side netting with the goal at his mercy. This served as a wake-up call and, after some surprising angry shouts at each other, South started to get a grip on the game.
Bhavdeep Virdi, John Hawkes and Mark Williams began breaking up neat Spalding triangles, relieving the pressure. The deadlock was finally broken midway through the first half. Noticing that the Spalding defence was high, Tom Watson slipped the ball into the space behind for Russell Johnson to run onto. Out-pacing the recovering defenders, Russell flicked the ball passed the keeper’s left foot.
This set back only seemed to spur Spalding on. South’s tackling became more desperate as Spalding pressed harder seeking an equaliser. After the match Jack Chalk owned up to being “one member of a 4 man stick-tacking effort!” (I think you mean well timed and clean tacking - Ed.) With the pressure building a Spalding equaliser might have been deserved. In fact it seemed inevitable when Spalding finally managed to flick a shot passed Steve Parker - only to see Finn Johnson nonchalantly pluck the ball out of the air and clear to safety. The pressure and tense atmosphere clearly started to get to South with more bitter words exchanged between South players as the home side struggled to preserve their lead.
After the interval, South reorganised with Chris Graveling bringing experience and a calming influence to South’s play. The defence of George Wych, Dave Aston, Eliot Read and Finn Johnson was seeming more secure allowing South’ s midfield to press forward. On the right Jack combined well South’s forwards and, on his South debut, Tom Howell was linking well with South’s regulars.
South started to take a grip on the match as the half wore on. Tom Watson was unlucky not to increase the lead after a quick hit outside the D finished with Tom’s deflected shot looping into the goal - milliseconds after the umpire’s whistle was blown. This only seemed to spur Jon on. He opened up his box of tricks to produce a glorious ariel to release Graham McCulloch, a move that could have put South further ahead. Next out of Jon’s box was the reverse stick shot from the top of the D which cannoned into the backboard. 2-0! Not to be outdone Graham latched onto a probing pass, ghosted passed his marker, and sweetly nestled his shot inside the left hand post. With the points secure South rode out the last couple of minutes without drama.
After the match South’s Captain applauded the team’s commitment and passing which was visibly shaper then recent games.
A special thank you to all those that gave up their Saturday afternoon to support us for this vital game. It was really appreciated!
Team played: Steve Parker, George Wych, Dave Aston, Chris Graveling, Eliot Read, Mark Williams, Jack Chalk, Bhavdeep Virdi, Tom Watson, Tom Howell, Finn Johnson, John Hawkes, Russell Johnson, Graham McCulloch
Cambridge South Men's II 1 - 8 Wisbech Town II
H/T: 0 - 5
Scorers: Ali Ward
MoM: Shahbaz Ali (For numerous excellent saves that kept the scoreline within single figures at least; including one penalty-flick (again))
LoM: Andy Passmore (For taking a very alternative “scenic” route to the pitch)
The less said about this horrid morning, the better. Although South had a strong team out, a somewhat fickle Wisbech side proved in form and far too strong. Admittedly, we made life easier on the home side, not switching on the hockey brain until the second half, by which time we faced an insurmountable five-goal deficit.
On the positive side, we showed the spirit and kept up a fight, even when the points were clearly out of reach. Finally finding our feet in the second half, we were unlucky to get only one goal.
A 8-1 loss not being very conducive to positive thoughts, we’d like to leave it at this...
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Dave Monck, Ian Glover, Andy Passmore, Tom Anns, Ron Oren, Will Oldham, Colin Troll, Paresh Parsot, Richard Claes, Nick Venner, Rob Barton, Ali Ward
Cambridge South Men's III 2 - 1 City of Peterborough VIII
H/T: 1 - 0
Scorers: David Doupe, John Greaves
MoM: Stu Creed (A great work rate, getting back to defend even when playing wide up front and always threatening in attack too)
LoM: Jason Riseborough (Once again Paul was let off the hook despite extreme lemony behaviour (turning up just before push back devoid of appropriate footwear); the award goes to Jason for emailing his apologies for short notice absence after I had left for the game (rather than texting or calling) so I only knew when I got back home)
A frustrating game all in all. Although Peterborough are a dangerous opposition, well organised and capable going forward, during the first quarter South showed that we could contain them well. During the first half South carved out a hatful of chances and the forwards were being consistent with their shooting - every strike seemed to go just wide of the posts or else straight at the Peterborough keeper! With numerous attempts at goal but nothing to show for it, it came with some relief to hear the satisfying sound of John’s goal-a-game effort hitting the back board to put South ahead.
Pinpoint passes distributed by Nick from the back kept a supply of balls coming but the Peterborough defence held strong at the edge of the D. The ferocity of the South attack was then torn apart by a number of dangerous counter offensives from Peterborough. With the midfield caught napping more than once, Stu Creed did excellent service helping defend over the full length of the right side. Stu then coupled well to a great birthday cake fuelled performance from Jan to offer an escape channel for the ball which at times was struggling to leave our 25. Peterborough eventually got the ball in the back of the net but fortunately a foot had played the ball into the D to disallow the shot. The narrow escape brought home quite how precarious our 1-0 lead was in the lead-up to half time.
At the start of the second half, South came out with tenacity. Peterborough, now playing into the sun, were finding it harder to penetrate. South were moving the ball better producing a couple more chances, including one magnificent double save from their keeper, but no rewards. The match was becoming a stalemate with both sides struggling to get dangerous balls into the opposition’s D. A push from South’s attack finally broke through with Tim taking a shot only for the ball to find its way to David, in his first game back for South after a year in Singapore, arriving at the left post who calmly put it away.
Peterborough, faced with the 2-0 score line, regrouped and pressed forwards, troubling the South defence. With the tiring midfield struggling to subdue charge after charge, Peterborough found their way to South’s D winning short corners and looking dangerous. It was only a matter of time before they found the net and after a powerful top-D strike found a slight deflection from skipper Simon’s stick to wrong-foot Josh in the South goal, Peterborough had broken South’s clean sheet for the season.
With only three minutes to go South tried to play the possessional game to disarm their opponents but with tired legs and tired heads, the ball found ever more dangerous territory until a last minute short was awarded to Peterborough. Only the fearsome sight of James Lee charging the striker at top-D could save South… and it did, as South were let off with a failed stop letting the ball slip out to midfield.
The final whistle blew with the 3s glad they came away with three points in a game where they perhaps should have been looking to come away three goals up. Credit also goes to a young and skilful Peterborough side who competed all over the pitch and kept pressing until the final minute.
Team played: Josh Blanchard Lewis, Neil Sneade, Jan Brynjolffssen, James Lee, Nick Bristowe, Paul South, Simon Jelley, Tim Clapp, Stu Creed, Tom South, David Doupe, John Greaves, Rupert Espley
Cambridge South Men's IV 3 - 3 St Ives V
H/T: 2 - 1
Scorers: Jake Davis (2), Rob Barton
MoM: Owen Vaughan (Great performance in goal ), Jonathan Hall (First ever hockey match, looks like he has played it for years)
This a great team performance and lots of individuals playing very well today. Lead 2:1 at half time with goals from Jake and Rob, both have played for St Ives before, went 3:1 ahead early in the 2nd half and then lost the midfield for a while and St Ives scored twice to draw level. At the end both teams went for the win and made it a good competitive match played with excellent spirits.
Team played: Shahbaz Ali, Shahzad Ali, Ky Ho, Owen Vaughan, Alasdair Edge, Ian Marshman, Jonathan Hall, Wilco Dijkstra, Andrew Fraser, Jake Davis, Rob Barton, Simon Frampton
Cambridge South Ladies' II 2 - 4 Huntingdon Ladies I
H/T: 0 - 3
Scorers: Birgit Bekkers (2)
MoM: Claire Sherwood, Anne Horan, Ash Price
Talk about a game of two halves… well to be accurate the first half was a game of two halves. Huntingdon raced out of the blocks with a period of sustained pressure. Despite some valiant defending and some great saves from Ali G in goal Huntingdon’s pressure paid off and we were 3-0 down within 10 minutes. Then we came back in it with some great breaks from our forwards particularly Ash Price. Anne Horan and Claire Sherwood in the centre also made some telling tackles and some good passing led to pressure on the Huntingdon goal. Half time arrived and some tactical changes were made and this time it was our turn to come out of the blocks quicker. Again Ash made some telling breaks and a shot on goal was tapped in by Birgit Bekkers who was in the right place at the right time. More sustained pressure on Huntingdon led to a second goal by Birgit - who has scored in both games she has played so far….. Then Huntingdon came charging forward and a good one-two between the forwards led to a short corner which unfortunately they converted.
This was a great game to be part of and certainly could have led to a draw (against top of the league Huntingdon). Well done to everyone who played, looking forward to part 2 of this game…….
Team played: Ali Graham, Lyn Wood, Louise Gutteridge, Nicki Gallaway, Claire Sherwood, Ami Chaplin, Birgit Bekkers, Catherine Anthony, Anne Horan, Liz Harte, Leonie O'Donnell, Ash Price, Bex Baker
