Cambridge South started brightly, but were undone by a couple of early soft goals by Alford. This gave the home team confidence to exploit their fast forward line, which spelt trouble for the reshaped South defence. Alford snatched one more before the break, although South continued to have good possession and made good use of the attacking options and width. Finn Johnson and Matt Kern in the centre were constantly turning defence into attack but, as all too often happens, moves broke down in the danger area.

After half time South raised their game and were quicker to the tackle. Pressure told and a goal arrived from a short corner, as Wilco Dijkstra's bobbler came to John Greaves lurking by the near post, who gratefully slotted the ball into the net giving the keeper no chance.

Alford managed to hold out to the end, and probably deserved the win. The unlucky Andy Bleach, always aggressive in defence, did not deserve the bloody nose he suffered in the cause. This was a day when commitment was not enough. The better composure, team play, and pace (the younger ones) and skill (most of them) of Alford won the day.

South need to translate the attitude of today's second half into points in the remaining four games to achieve the mid-table safety their general play warrants.