A battling but ultimately unsuccessful performance saw the 4ths go down by a single goal to newly-promoted Deeping 5ths.

The new 1-6-6-3 formation meant that Deeping attacks rarely reached the danger area. We were hampered by the quaint rule about only having eleven on the pitch at any one time. When Deeping did threaten, the massed home defence of Ho/Bridge/Siddorns/Steed/Boggins/Sipthorp (sounds like a sophisticated chess move, eh?) were up to the job. Keeper Lino Di Lorenzo was only called upon to make a couple of saves, one of which was a superb top corner leap. Respect.

The Deeping goal came from their skipper, who happened to be in the right place when the ball rebounded off the defence and he was able to send it straight back from a narrow angle.

Cambridge South didn't have many clear cut chances although the younger players, including the brothers Ho, Ed and man of the match Tom, did their best to disrupt the opposition and make many breaks of our own. Whenever we showed pace and were able to pass the ball early we looked dangerous, but the final killer ball proved elusive…although some rasping crosses and long passes from messrs Creed and Greaves showed what might have been.

The attitude and commitment of the home team was exemplified by the battling Georgiadis (must be that rugby-playing heritage), Thomas and Dijkstra, who never gave up, but in the end even the presence of an encouragingly numerous squad was not enough to squeeze a result.

The sun shone; the pizzas were tasty. Next week…March Town away.