Men's 1sts beat local rivals Cambridge City 4

After a 2 week layoff due to inclement weather, South took on local rivals Cambridge City on a breezy but sunny day at the Uni pitch. Fortunately the traffic was light and so Jack managed to make it in time for the game and we took to the pitch with a full complement of players.

The skipper’s pre-match talk reminded us that in the corresponding fixture of the first half of the season we had conceded 2 quick goals and had to fight back to equalise. We weren’t going to do that again ….. so instead we scored 2 quick goals and let City fight back to equalise.

The first 15 minutes of the match were all South, with Johnson (F) at the heart of most of the attacks. Maybe this was something to do with him having expectorated half his body-weight out onto the pitch in the team talk. In any event he was inspired throughout the match so we are now looking for Neil to provide CSHC-branded spittoons to save Mark having to use his astros to rub it into the pitch.

The first goal came from strong play in midfield from Finn who nicked the ball off his City opponent and fired a powerful cross to the back post that Graham got a sweet deflection onto to dink it over the floundering City keeper. Shortly after this South went 2-0 up when Finn (again) sent a lovely through ball to Rich Claes putting him one-on-one with the keeper who had a moment of madness and raced out of his area, thus allowing Claes to do what he does best - turn on the gas, get round him and place the ball in the net from an acute angle.

Two goals to the good with a quarter of the match gone - it was like taking candy from a baby. And it should really have been 3-0 only when Hawkes managed to take a massive air shot right in front of goal when it seemed easier to score. However City were not beaten yet and to their immense credit they were not falling apart, shouting and swearing as one would usually have expected them to do; instead they built up some pressure of their own, particularly through their pacey centre forward, and came back strongly firstly with a short corner strike placed perfectly between Chris Graveling and goalie Steve Parker and then robbing the ball from South’s midfield after a long clearance and surging into the D to equalise.

So all square again but South remained upbeat; we knew that we were in a tough game but we also knew also that we were the better team and that confidence paid off as South moved up a gear as half time beckoned and forced a short corner which was played to a well-worked routine - injection to Jack who stopped perfectly, allowing Finn plenty of time to set up John Hawkes just to the right of the penalty spot. The South forward made no mistake this time, delicately placing the ball into the roof of the net.

The message at half time was to keep pressing, be patient and remain positive and this approach worked well. South’s defence neutralised much of the City threat by stepping up to take the ball in front of their attackers which allowed the midfield and forward line to make use of space further up the pitch to pressure the opposition.

At just one goal to the good South could not relax as City were still showing good resolve and creating the odd chance of their own. However, the game was put to bed with a 4th goal from South when Jack confused the City defence initially by pirouetting 4 or 5 times round in the D and then by firing off his classic spinny-drag-sweepy thing that he always tries in Summer Hockey. Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day and much to everyone’s surprise it actually came off - delivering a perfect ball to Rich Claes who tapped in from a few feet out of the goal.

All in all an enjoyable game played out in good spirit between both teams. And there was still time for one final surprise after the whistle - Hawkes actually paid his match fees!

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Finn Johnson
Player of the Match

Played a crucial part in at leat 5 of the goals. I was so proud of him not to get a yellow card.

84
Richard Claes
Player of the Match

Good goals. Calm finish from a tight angle.

1
Jack Chalk
Lemon of the Match

For his spin-around drag sweep thing, and in the absence of any stupidity this week the Spalding "stuck in traffic" affair is not forgotten.

Finn Johnson
Lemon of the Match

Unnecessary contribution to the pre-match team talk.