On a dank morning that was all mist and no mellow fruitfulness, a heavily depleted South side put up a brave performance which, with some luck at a couple of crucial moments, might have gained them at least a point from this crucial fixture. As it was, however, Rutland ruthlessly exploited tir­ing legs and put away three neat goals in the final fifteen minutes to secure a victory that seemed as though it might elude them for much of the game.

Acting skipper Keith Hewitt, after a convincing pre-match team talk, duly led by example and alm­ost opened South's account in the first minute when a long flick clanged off the post. Play continu­ed pretty evenly from that point, with South's defence equal to the attacking threat and Mark Pears, in an unaccustomed midfield role, and Hewitt running hard to create space up front. Jim Thorpe, Matt Readman and a composed Paul South all made timely interceptions and Manu Bhardwaj im­pressed at right back with unflustered tackling and some penetrative distribution. South (C) survi­ved a hairy spell when a misplaced square pass at the back put a home striker in the clear but Steve Parker was on hand to put in a crunching tackle and block the follow-up. Ron Oren distingui­shed himself with a fine save as Rutland swarmed to the edge of the circle before South reversed the flow, first winning a short corner and then, following a Bhardwaj slap upfield and a deflection off the keeper, taking a 1-0 lead when debutant Ali Ward dived in from a strategic distance to bury the rebound on 24 minutes.

The remainder of the half was to-and-fro, with Oren winning a green card to match his lovely new shirt and Readman killing several attacks both aerial and ground-based. South, however, had the better chances and, three minutes before the interval, the Rutland keeper made a trio of saves from Ward, Hewitt and Readman that kept his side in the game. Ward, lurking potently in the D, also went close with a first-timer from a Hewitt feed and a second goal for South at this stage would have seen them strongly placed for the second period. It was not to be, however, and South were ultimately grateful for Thorpe's nifty three-point turn to get them out of a nasty hole shortly before the whistle.

The opening exchanges after the break were dominated by the hosts, and poor marking saw South under the cosh for the first five minutes. Some semblance of control was recovered as Hewitt charged up the middle and James Cobbe dodged three defenders as he made a determined weaving run up the left. South (P) reverse-tackled effortlessly and Hewitt brought off a couple of steals with his customary persistence but Rutland eventually bullied their way into the D, only being brought up short when Parker formed an impassable obstacle at the near post for Readman to put away to safety. Two shorts came and went for South (C) as South (P)'s flick was saved by the keeper and a Hewitt slip overran the target, but the chances still came. Hewitt, putting himself about angularly in the opposition 25, manufactured a good opportunity but failed to get enough wood on a flick and then Ward, who had once more got free in the circle, received an astute through pass from the skipper and first-timed it towards the far corner. The shot glanced off the keeper as he advanced hopefully and this piece of good fortune was in retrospect the turning point of the match.

Rutland, swapping their wingers frequently and spreading the play out to stretch the defence, now started to look more threatening, running through or banging the ball hard in to the middle, and Parker twice alertly kicked out of danger. A series of short corners ensued, with Parker again in brilliant form as he batted away a wicked deflection from an awkward height and then made a su­perb double save, following a diving effort to his right with an even better blocker save from a prone position. Another short saw him take one just below the euphemisms and clear to safety before Oren and Cobbe won temporary respite. But the omens were not good and, following on from a seventh short corner, Rutland pulled it back from the line into the centre, where no-one could clear effectively, and punched in the equaliser after 55 minutes.

A further penalty corner was wasted but the home strikers surged in again as Parker spectacularly gloved a rising shot over the back fence. South fought grimly to wrest back the initiative, with Readman and Bhardwaj steely in defence, Thorpe relieving the pressure by a surprise aerial and Cobbe, Pears and Hewitt striving to escape the shackles in midfield, but Rutland continued to burst through. A ninth penalty corner won on an unlucky foot just inside the circle led to a low diagonal flick which was expertly tipped in by an unmarked man on the far post. With five minutes to go, South bravely summoned their remaining reserves and managed despite everything to create two more chances, Paul South benefiting from good tackling and distribution by Oren and Bhardwaj to get forward and test the keeper. Russell Johnson, too, kept running committedly to the last without an iota of luck.

Rutland had the last word, however, putting the final nail in the coffin with two minutes to go as they again got round the by-line, pulling it back for a textbook tap-in and a two-goal lead. Even then, Parker still had to make a fine outstretched stick save to prevent a fourth strike. There was no opportunity to hit back and South had to admit defeat despite a very hard-working effort.

With their victory, Rutland leapfrog South into fifth place (although they have played a game more) and, with all the other top teams winning over the weekend, South are now somewhat off the pace. Availability problems probably had their effect on this occasion but all credit is due to the bare eleven who played and who, if they had gone 2-0 up with 20 minutes to go, could well have pulled off a famous win against traditionally difficult opponents.