Men's 4ths lose to Spalding 4

Cambridge South 4ths, sponsored by PwC, started the brighter of the two sides and dominated possessions for the first 15 minutes, although it was obvious that that Spalding 4th had a strong team. Spalding quickly spotted that CSHC's defence was able to support the attacking play and put one of their young attackers deep to push the defence back. In one of their rare attacks up to that point, Spalding went 1-0 up via a deflected shot. They quickly got a second from counter attacking play. As the half wore on Spalding had more and more possessions, but CSHC also had their fair share of chances, but a combination of good goal keeping and 'missing the open goal' meant that at the break the score was 2-0.

From the start of the 2nd half, again CSHC started by having more of the possession and even more missed chances, but after about 15 minutes half James Raikes finally put away his 50th chance and scored. As CSHC was looking for an equaliser, Spalding's right winger smashed in a shot that not only surprised CSHC, but also their own players and CSHC was now up against it at 3-1. CSHC kept pressing forward and at times in their enthusiasm, played with 2 right wingers and no left wingers to confuse the opposition. With about 3 minutes to go, the lone striker from Spalding found he had to beat one defender and the keeper and he controlled the ball neatly, twisted and turned and got the 4th goal. CSHC got a late late consolation through a scrambled short corner, finished by Rob Barton. Final result 4-2.

It was a match that didn't feel like a defeat that may well have gone the other way, but on balance, Spalding played more collectively as a team and deserved to edge the result.

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James Hodge
Player of the Match

For a solid debut for the club. He was run close by Shahbaz who again made many saves to keep the score at a sensible level.

James Hodge
Lemon of the Match

For walking off the pitch when the umpire only wanted to speak to him. Again a close run thing, with John Somerville coming close for playing as a second right winger.