The ladies firsts travelled on Saturday to St Ives, hoping to beat them twice in as many weeks following a 1-0 cup win the previous weekend.

With captain and vice-captain returned from holidays, the South ladies started in a positive mood and with an attacking 3-4-3 diamond formation. The experienced back line of Ellie, Becca and Rhiannon provided a solid base behind the midfield diamond of Caroline (defensive holding mid), Georgie (attacking centre), Hayley (left mid) and Liles (right mid) who channelled effectively into the strong attacking trio of Tash, Alice and Kelly up front. This formation was quickly effective, with the middle third of the pitch being dominated by South players harrying for the ball, and often being able to steal passes at will to launch swift attacking moves into the opposition D. Within the first 2 minutes South had drawn a short corner, and taken another shot quickly after. This pattern continued throughout the first half, with South players rattling shots at the St Ives keeper, and then smothering any break-outs from the opposition team in response only to return to the St Ives D for more of the same. Half way through the first period, with South clearly on top (though still goalless) a left mid substitution allowed Ley to get a taste of first-team ladies hockey, and by the time the half-time whistle was blown South had notched up 9 shots on goal, and 4 further short corners - but were still at 0-0. St Ives, meanwhile, had yet to take a single shot, having only reached the South D twice in the entire half.

With Hayley back on for the start of the second period, South once again laid siege to the St Ives goal. With the new self-pass rules in mind, the forward players began to truly harrass the opposition defence, resulting in even more possession and attacking chances. The left side of the pitch was proving bountiful hunting-ground for South, with Hayley and Alice firing shots at the impressive (in skill and stature) St Ives keeper, and the attack drawing 5 more short corners as a result of their fluid ground play in the D and hitting the target 5 more times from open play. However the ladies left it late in the game to break the deadlocked scores, with Tash eventually putting them ahead on 67 minutes with a simple and effective strike in open play, and then Alice tapping home to make the final score 2-0 to the visitors.

Overall South played excellent hockey across the entire pitch, disrupting the St Ives possession, and as a result taking the ball early and high up the pitch. The statistics of 15 shots on goal, 9 short corners and only 2 goals give a reasonable indication of the ladies' primary areas for improvement, namely effective shooting and short-corner practice - but the general picture is encouraging and bodes well for the season. Special mention must go to Lou "Loopy" Tonkin for a performance in goal that was so impressively intimidating that the opposition declined to take a single shot at her goal, and to Georgie Harford for a "Man of the Match" performance in which she showed an exceptional work-rate, intelligent overlapping with her central midfield partner and steely dedication to her team - some evidence for which might be found in the St-Ives players' bruises following her tackles.

The ladies will approach the next match at home against Hunts 1 in an optimistic mood.