South concluded the first half of the season's league campaign at the Perse on Saturday with a very tough fixture against league leaders Bourne 2nds, who were two divisions higher than South last year and who have only dropped one point so far this time round.

The result - a 5-1 defeat - was a fair reflection of the current standing of the two sides and, for most of the game, South were hard pressed to keep their keen, well-organised visitors at bay. Rob Hay made a goal line save in the second minute, keeper Steve Parker had to pull out all the stops after the defence got itself into trouble in the third minute and, overall, South found great difficulty in putting any really joined-up moves together, although the long-striding Rob Garrett was twice able to round the Bourne goalie before running out of time and space.

Occasional flashes of inspiration, such as when Veejay Agarwala took on and beat five men with the ball glued to his stick or when Chris Graveling made a superb jinking run from defence, were not enough to break down concerted spells of pressure from the confident Bourne attack, who thrived on sustained periods of possession.

The visitors were 2-0 up at half-time and, seeking to reinforce their advantage over nearest rivals Ely and Horncastle, looked to step on the jugular after the break. South had to absorb relentless pressure at the back, with Graveling and Keith Simpson doing their best to stem the bleeding after Bourne had gone 3-0 ahead on thirty-seven minutes, but there was little respite as two further open-play goals were swept past the beleaguered defence with fifteen minutes still to play. South's scoring threat hitherto had been limited to a Jim Thorpe short corner and another Garrett special - hit just wide after he had evaded a full-on challenge from the keeper - but some consolation was at hand when Chris Baker raced through and slotted home a good hard drive into the bottom left-hand corner after fifty-nine minutes.

The game finished without further addition on either side, leaving Bourne top of the pile and South mustering their collective will for the second half of the season, which starts next weekend with an away trip to Long Sutton, the mercurial Lincolnshire side with whom South drew in the opening fixture back in September.