Cambridge South, proudly sponsored by PwC, dug deep to defeat a battling Rutland side on Saturday.

Adopting an aggressive formation, Rutland forced the visitors onto the backfoot right from the start. With plenty of running and an organised midfield, they stifled space and prevented Cambridge from playing their usual style of free-flowing hockey. They were unable to create any clear-cut chances, however, and the away side comfortably held them at arm's length before hitting two goals in the space of ten minutes. The first came from Mark Taylor after Robert Garret raced through and crossed. The second was a trademark Chris Graveling deflection off a short corner.

Rutland grabbed a slightly fortuitous goal on the stroke of half-time which gave them hope for the second half but a disciplined defensive performance from Cambridge stifled the home side's attacks. In the end Rutland didn't look like scoring and it was a valuable and hard-fought 3 points for Cambridge South.

Captain Chris Baker said "my guys showed strong resolve to hang on for 3 well deserved points".