After a very disappointing result in the first week of play, South lined up against the national indoor Under 18 champions. This side had thumped us nine-nil in last years competition, so the players were expecting it to be tough from the get go.

The team started better and weathered the storm, as the half court press allowed the Perse to knock the ball around the back. Attritionally, every two minutes they were winning short corners and scoring them. Two of them were the fault of Captain Nev Warren. The post he was guarding was scored with hard, low, but stoppable strikes. His face-mask slipped for the first goal and he slipped for the second. This coupled with a wonder dribble by the Perse centre-mid put South three-nil down in ten minutes. Shades of the first game? Maybe not.

Tijs went to play at left back and freed up the rest of the team to push harder when in possession. South battled back and won some short corners and debutant Harry Lewis scored two great goals to edge the green team back into the match.

Half-time mean that Tijs got the clipboard out and stated in no uncertain terms the failings of the side. This seemed to work wonders as we held out for seventeen second half minutes before conceding a goal. This was the longest passage of play that the resurrected indoor side had lasted against any team without conceding. Before this, a dazzling run from Ali Edge tore open the Perse defence and his rifled shot cannoned back off the bar to Tijs, who ruthlessly dispatched the rebound into an unguarded net. South defended well and in numbers and almost took the lead on a couple of occasions, with chances for Oli Lamming and Harry Lewis just falling short.

Perse retook the lead with three minutes to go and it was a sucker punch. George Toynton (who had been immaculate in goal all night) had been harshly adjudged to have fouled when playing the ball and losing his helmet. The resulting short corner brought a goal for the youngsters and winded the South team completely. One minute later, they scored a quick break away that gave the score-line a misleading edge to it.

Well done everybody! Best indoor game played by Cambridge South since our return! Good luck to Tijs for the future and we will welcome him back with open arms any time he is visiting!