In an even contest against a Peterborough side who had scored only twice and con­ceded 18 in their last four games but certainly didn't live down to it, South held their nerve to run out winners by the odd goal in five.

It was clear from the start that South, 8-1 victors over the same side in the first game of the season, were going to find things much tougher this time round. Missing sever­al regulars themselves and faced with an opposition comprising a committed (and vo­cal) blend of youth and experience, they were under pressure for much of the first ten minutes. An early short corner was successfully charged down but most of the dang­er came from a nippy right winger who was unafraid to take his man on and made good use of the self-pass rule at free hits. Ron Oren had to be at his very best to nullify this threat and his sterling efforts at this early stage were critical in preventing Peterbor­ough getti­ng away to a flyer. South eventually prised themselves free, however, and their first real chance came on the ten-minute mark when Rob Garrett, always a hand­ful for the home defen­ce, scooted up the left and found Mark Pears, whose attempt at rounding the keeper was foiled by a late diving stick. Pears then hounded down a long ball into the corner and squared to Garrett, but the latter's shot was slightly mis­cued and even a tip-on from Russell Johnson failed to redirect it to the target.

Richard Morgan and Chris Graveling were being kept busy at the back as Peterborou­gh persistently played a man high but it was Oren who started the deadlock-breaking move when he passed hard upfield to Pears, who worked a swift and unselfish inter­play with the advancing Garrett to draw the defence out of position. The captain took full advantage and slotted the ball home neatly to snap a seven-game goalless streak with his second of the league season on 13 minutes.

Peterborough quickly got a slap hit into the South D and a reversed shot from the pe­nalty spot looked as though it might spell danger but Steve Parker stayed cool, faced the striker down and kicked out to safety. Despite a lack of concerted possession, South always had the pace to threaten and Tristen Knight's pass to Chris Baker was soon whipped on to Pears, who set Johnson free at close range. The South winger, with his customary bravery, took the keeper on man-to-man but ended up on the deck as a sliding clearance took his legs and the ball from under him. Graveling and Leo Tomita, a welcome addition, triggered another attack into the D but Peterborough slowly shifted the balance despite Garrett's hard work and some thoughtful interven­tions by Knight. Morgan, who had one of his best games in South colours, handled a tricky situation in the bottom corner with studied coolness, reversing upfield under pressure, while Oren, the doughty Jim Thorpe and Graveling all had to be on their mettle, Thorpe twice halting Peterborough surges and returning the ball with interest and Graveling doing one of his speciality postage-stamp escape manoeuvres while surrounded by a gaggle of attackers.

The home side then took advantage of a controversial free hit resulting from an aerial and forged a way through to the circle, where an unmarked man got in a good position to reverse. Parker covered impressively, however, blocking the shot in an advanced position and diving back to his post as the ball was shepherded to safety. He was quickly out again to kick clear as a deflection was tipped in and, after Knight had just missed the target following a swift build-up involving Garrett and the terrier-like Pears, the action foc­used once more on the South back line as Morgan, Oren and Thorpe all worked over­time to keep things in hand. Peterborough were justifiably awarded their second short corner after a tackle from the wrong side and their spe­cialist striker, for some reason not occupying his usual slot two teams and a division higher, crashed the ball in hard, Parker doing well to get a piece of it. The umpires awarded the goal after consul­ting but, to this correspondent at least, the ball always appeared to be appreciably above backboa­rd height and should therefore have been ruled out.

A clumsy tackle under pressure gave the home side their third short just before the break but, this time, the injection was substandard and Thorpe seized on the aftermath to clear with confidence. Knight's fine pass to Pears nearly resulted in a South reply but, after a late fast break up the right involving Johnson, Baker and Garrett, the half ended all square.

On the resumption, Garrett carried on where he had left off, stealing the ball in midfi­eld and laying it off to Baker, whose speedy and uncomplicated distribution served South well throughout the game. But Peterborough attacked with renewed vigour, and Morgan twice had to put in superbly-timed tackles to keep them at bay. Garrett also lent much-needed assistance as Baker was pounced on by footpads and Graveling required all his skill to extricate himself single-handedly from the mob. Garrett's pace relieved the pressure momentarily, though his long run with men in support was terminated by a missed pass, and further progress was made when Johnson latched on to Thorpe's through ball and beat four men before channelling on to Baker and Pears. Tomita made a big win in midfield before Peterborough sliced across the face of goal and were awarded a short after South were harshly penalised for lifting the ball when no other players were in the vicinity. Fortunately, Parker read the slip and flick and was in just the right position to make a left pad save which was then neatly cleared. Thorpe, reacting to the tight marking at sixteens, summoned up the heavy artillery to good effect but Baker also made himself intelligently available for a shorter route. South had to work extremely hard out of defence at this point, with Garrett neding to beat four men on his own 25 just to hang on to possession, and even Thorpe made a late pitch for Strictly with some deft footwork to round three opponents moments after delivering a blockbuster tackle. Knight also displayed a stiff upper lip when contest­ing several 50-50 balls up front, while Morgan continued his fine performance with a re­sounding challenge in the left corner.

There were occasional chances at the other end, however, and Baker and Knight in­terpassed smoothly to give Pears an opportunity but time ran out on him and the ball was whisked upfield, where a deflection off a defensive stick released a home attacker into the circle. Thankfully, Parker rapidly closed him down, blocking the shot on the ground and then driving play wide to stop any follow-up. There was little respite, though, as Peterborough were awarded a fifth penalty corner, from which they over­came a fudged stop to return the ball to the D, move it right and then shoot at an angle towards the far corner. But, in a vital passage, Parker dived full-length to his right to make a great stick save and, as the ball hovered for what seemed like hours in front of an attacking stick, he knocked it out of reach at the key moment and South breathed again. The home side soon bore down again inexorably on the penalty spot and, this time, Morgan and Thorpe were on hand to funnel it out with measured sang froid.

After Pears, Garrett and Baker had combined to get a shot on the Peterborough goal (saved at the left post), South won their first and only short after 55 minutes. A strike from Baker after a slip by Garrett was deflected for a long and, in the ensuing push goalwards, Garrett raked across the D, drew the keeper to his left and rattled home into the far corner to put South back into the lead. South consolidated at this stage, with exemplary tackling from Graveling and Thorpe, neat control from Baker and sensible distribution from Tomita. Knight got stuck in on the left wing, too, and an­other chance was manufactured via the Baker-Johnson-Pears axis, this time a reverse from Pears which may just have skimmed the keeper's left post but which neverthe­less drew a good stretch save. With the momentum in their favour, South pressed hard and, after nuggety work from Pears in the D, Knight did well to get in front of the keeper and stick the ball home from what was for him uncharacteristically close range.

Though this goal, scored after 60 minutes, gave South a welcome cushion, Peterbor­ough were nothing daunted and won a sixth short when Garrett prostrated himself on the byline in stopping a dangerous attack near the post. The resulting strike, which had both weight and dip as expected, was confidently blocked by Parker, who then sticked it out of harm's way himself. A counter-attack featuring Thorpe, Oren and Baker nearly succeeded in getting Johnson into the thick of the home D but Peterbor­ough were soon back, Morgan composedly tackling in the right corner, Tomita resc­uing Baker from a further mugging and Thorpe and Garrett struggling to break the shackles on the left. With four minutes to go, Peterborough won their seventh short as South were forced to hit out under pressure and, although Parker again saved a rocket of a direct strike, an attacker was on hand to lift the rebound into the net; even then, it grazed the helmet on the way in. To their credit, South did not become sick­lied o'er and, in spite of a nervy moment which was smoothed over by Tomita's con­trolled reverse out under strife, it was the visitors who finished marginally stronger. Peterborough were lucky not to concede a short when Johnson was upended in the home 25 and late shots from Baker and Pears had to be beaten out. Thankfully, the final minutes played out quickly and, with Knight beavering away in safe territory, the welcome whistle sounded.

Though skipper Garrett, who led by example throughout, felt that this was far from being South's best performance of the season, this game was a potential banana skin which the team, through commitment and perseverance, did well to avoid slipping up on. The home side, very much belying their league position and looking better than their sole victory over Nomads would suggest, were organised, had skilful younger players with a leavening of experienced veterans and possessed serious scoring pot­ential from the set piece.

With the three points from this match, South complete the pre-Christmas schedule in third place, three points behind Wisbech, who have an almost identical record in terms of goals for and against and boast, along with South, the meanest defence in the league. This third position would in fact have been fourth but a recent League review of an umpiring irregularity in the game between Peterborough V and the University resulted in the Light Blues' victory being overturned and the points awarded to Peter­borough. This circumstance, unfortunate in itself for the side affected, benefits South in some measure and it is important to capitalise on this in the New Year. After a trip to Deeping on 16 January, South have consecutive games against Wisbech, the Univ­ersity and bogey team Rutland and it is the results of these three key encounters which will ultimately determine the direction of their season.