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!