Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, edged a victory out of a scrappy game at The Leys on Saturday.

With South 2nds once again having started the league programme with a blank weekend (Bourne’s floodlights are broken, so last Saturday’s game was called off), it perhaps wasn’t surprising that the side didn’t begin with the sort of passing hockey that vice-captain Gareth Hebbron had called for. However, that this malaise lasted longer than the opening few minutes, all match in fact, was disappointing. Fortunately for South, visitors St. Ives seemed just as far from piecing together their game.

With the match relying on individual skill and dribbles, South generally had the upper hand, and went on to force the better chances throughout. In fact, this reporter doesn’t recall South ‘keeper Lino Di Lorenzo having to deal with a single shot on target, a testimony to the efficiency of the South rearguard.

South came close to opening the scoring with their first short corner of the match, when Tim Clapp’s shot pinged back off the St. Ives post, and it was from a set-piece routine that South got the decisive score. Gareth received the injection and slipped right to Rob Barton. Rob’s shot wasn’t the cleanest contact of his career, but sometimes these are the hardest for goalkeepers to save, as the ball went up over the legs of the ‘keeper and then dipped back down again to find the backboard. Samin Ishtiaq made an attempt to steal the goal, swiping at the ball as it went past him by the near post, but missed it totally, meaning the strike stays credited to Rob. Somehow the goal summed up the game!

The second half continued in similar vein, with South players trying to dribble through on their own, usually to be stopped around the 25 yard line, and St. Ives employing similar moves ending in similar ways. South were having trouble clearing their lines from 16 yard hits, with the ball being shifted around in ever tightening spaces and no-one seemingly willing to put a stick through the ball to get it upfield and away. Again, this pattern was repeated at the other end, with South often breaking up St. Ives 16’s. One such interception created South’s best second half chance. From the steal and a quick ball into the circle, Rob got a shot off that was saved, but with the ball still in play under the ‘keeper. Samin had to drag it away before trying to lift it over the prone stopper, but couldn’t quite get enough elevation allowing the ‘keeper and a defender on the line to smuggle the ball to safety.

The value of a victory to South was summed up by the green card given to South captain Gareth midway through the half. The card wasn’t specifically for Gareth, it was in his role as skipper of the side, and was therefore for the entire team, who had been appealing excessively to the match officials. We were on all notice to keep a bit quieter... The last ten minutes of the game were frantic, with the scores so close. However, the quality was no higher in this period than it had been in the previous 60 minutes, neither ‘keeper being tested, and so the match ended with South still in front. A win, but not a game that will live long in anyone’s memories.

In many ways this game was all about South 2nds, as it clearly demonstrated both the strengths and weaknesses of the side. On the positive side of the ledger, the marking was decent and everyone worked their socks off to harry the St. Ives players and stop them creating chances. On the negative side, there were few passing options for the player in possession, with little movement off the ball and calling, and as a result once again a cutting edge was noticeable by it’s absence. As Gareth had pointed out before the match, we have the 2nd best defensive record in the division, but also are the 2nd lowest scorers!

Skipper Gareth’s post-match comment was, “As always our defence did an excellent job, ensuring that St. Ives never really threatened our goal mouth. However our performance outside the 25 really highlighted where we need to improve our game. St Ives did a good job at keeping us on the back foot, but we didn't do much to prevent them forcing us back. Fortunately we took advantage of the chances we created on the break, generating short corners, which we were then able to capitalise on.”