In a tight and nerve-racking game whose result could have been reversed without any undue breach of natural justice, South were unlucky to come away empty-handed after a committed and resilient performance that saw them go agonisingly close to an equaliser in the last five minutes.

A delay in locating appropriate umpiring resources allowed South to shake off their road legs after a wearisome series of roadworks but it was still Wisbech who were quicker out of the traps, draw­ing a series of fine low blocks from Steve Parker as they pounded into the D from the left. A very crisp short strike then drew a magnificent diving stick save from the South keeper, who has now played hockey in five decades, and this encouraged a period of stabilisation as the back line gained control and passed with swift composure. Chris Graveling, together with James Cobbe and debutant Nick Bristowe, made light of the absence of three senior defenders and, though Parker twice had to kick away firmly in the first 15 minutes, firm resolve and equally firm tackling in the South half meant that Wisbech had to work hard to make ground. Much hilarity ensued when a home midfielder tried the aerial route and landed the ball rather nearer the clubhouse than the pitch but otherwise the batt­le was tense. Bristowe and the nippy Graham McCulloch winkled their way neatly out of a maze in the left corner, while skipper Rob Garrett, covering his usual acreage, was back to rescue things on the one occasion the defence was bypassed.

There was little time to be had on the ball and Chris Baker, appreciating the penalties for lingering, put in several quick and subtle through passes. Strikers Mark Taylor and Mark Pears rammed the accelerator at the appropriate juncture but the parsimonious Wisbech defence allowed them few sniffs and all South really had to show by way of chances in the first stanza was a dangerous cross from Russell Johnson that just squirrelled off Taylor's stick in the D. Other centring passes were intercepted despite good anticipatory positioning from the forward line and South finished the half in defensive mode as Cobbe reverse-tackled confidently, Al Sinclair combined intelligence with force in comprehensively grounding a Wisbech attacker and Bristowe stepped forward punctually to take a man who hesitated too long when his colleagues were well marked.

Graveling set the tone for the second half with a trademark laser-guided reverse tackle and there were further stout efforts in South's zone from Sinclair and the hard-working Lukas Snetler, whose great positional sense allowed him to largely quell a tricky left-winger. A twin-barrelled run from Garrett and Pears gave Taylor a micro-opportunity for a shot which hit the keeper but South then wasted a rare short which broke down and led to Baker kissing the turf while trying to muscle back possession. Snetler cleared from a nasty-looking melee near the front of the D but Wisbech soon won their second short, deservedly scoring when a low flick to a man near the right post was first-timed in as Parker almost got something in the way with a full-length dive.

South were nothing daunted, however, and nearly levelled the scores a minute or so later when a brilliantly mazy run from Garrett ended with a pass which Baker just failed to land in the bullseye. The hosts were duly warned and, now adding decibels to their solid and forthright approach, re-armed themselves after Johnson delivered a stinging cross that evaded everyone. There was a flood forward in numbers for a few minutes at this stage but Graveling and Bristowe in particular manned the pumps to stop any breaches in South's defensive wall. Up front, the killer pass still eluded South despite Garrett's extensive efforts to surge to the fore and, though Taylor did well to fashion a powerful cross after marked thrusts from Pears, Johnson and Snetler, the home keeper interposed himself firmly. This was after the big striker, making good strides forward, had himself missed connecting with a Johnson centre at the top of the D.

Wisbech continued to attack, however, and Graveling, Bristowe and Cobbe all made key intercept­ions, whilst Parker dived out hard to intercept a cross bound for the far post. With five minutes to go, Garrett and Pears manufactured another lung-burster up the left and McCulloch, raking swiftly across the top of the D, was dismayed to see his nicely-timed shot go just wide of goal. Wisbech's third and final penalty corner, another low flick, was well stopped, whereupon Snetler, McCulloch and Pears worked wonders to get the ball to the other end and win a short. A great two-way slip via Taylor gave Pears a chance of glory on the injector's post but the ball bounced obstinately off the stick as Wisbech breathed again. Bristowe, Graveling and the ubiquitous Garrett then turned a late Wisbech raid into a counter-attack, which resulted in Baker committing life and limb to two des­perate efforts a couple of yards from goal. The hosts' keeper came up trumps, though, and was subsequently grateful to see Pears bury a slipped pass from South's third short into the side netting. The pace be­came increasingly frantic as the seconds ticked away and, in a late, late bid, Snetler found space to release Sinclair in the D. The latter's snap shot bounced off the keeper, however, and rolled out of harm's way to condemn South to what on the overall balance of play could reasonably be described as an undeserved defeat.

The two teams, with virtually identical records before the game and having fought out a closely-contested draw earlier in the sea­son, pitted similar strengths against each other again and the result was always going to involve the narrowest of margins. It could have gone either way but the final bit of luck just escaped South, who nevertheless impressed with strong defence, pacy midfield work and a keen work ethic. There is still much jockeying for position in the top five or six and possibly not even Spalding are immune from a dogfight. Next week sees the return fixture against the Univ­ersity in another key encounter, and it would be a great boon for South if they could fashion a repeat of their superb smash-and-grab victory at Wilberforce Rd in October.