Cambridge South 2nds, sponsored by PwC, recorded their fourth straight league win, and seventh from nine outings in matches since Christmas, at the Ernulf School on Saturday.

The day had begun with skipper Kev emphasising the importance of the three points. Apparently they could well mean the difference between 5th and 6th place come the publication of the final table. Certainly, the teams could hardly have been closer in league position at the start, with South ahead by the narrowest possible margin, a +1 better goal difference.

The least said about the opening half the better; it was almost a complete non-event. Midfield stalemate meant that the St. Neots ‘keeper hadn’t touched the ball in anger, whilst the sum total of Shahbaz Ali’s opening 35 minutes between the sticks for the 2nds was to kick away one dangerous ball into the circle, and a dive to save a shot heading into the corner that wouldn’t have counted anyway as the whistle had already gone.

Things were a bit livelier in the second period, fortunately. It was South who got the opening goal, a crucial score in a match as tight as this one was proving to be, via a neat variation on the short corner routine. The ball was slipped left to Colin Singleton, who struck cleanly at goal. The Saints ‘keeper may or may not have had it covered, but he was rendered helpless by Tim Clapp adding a deflection to the shot a couple of yards in front of him, the ball zipping beautifully into the top corner of the net.

Having found the goal, South then more or less put the game to bed a minute later. From the push-back the Saints pressed forward into the South circle. However, the move broke down with a free-hit conceded to South, and when Jan Brynjolffssen took this rapidly, the Saints were caught with their defence napping, the simple pass having set Gareth Hebbron and Ron Oren away two-on-one. Gareth drew the last man and slipped it to Ron, powering down the left wing with no-one between him and the byline. All of this had taken place inside South’s half, so the first issue for Ron was getting all the way to the circle without collapsing exhausted. Having achieved this, he pulled the ball inside the Saints left-back, who sprinted back in an attempt to cover, and then slapped a shot just inside the exposed ‘keepers near post.

South’s league form this season has been built on a solid defensive platform. Only champions Horncastle have conceded fewer goals, so with a two-goal cushion things were looking rosy for the visitors. But with time ebbing away, the defence unaccountably switched off. Saints winger Mel Emery made his way to stand next to the post when a free-hit was awarded. South, bizarrely, chose to completely ignore him. The free-hit taker didn’t, picking Emery out cleanly, from where a simple deflection saw South’s lead halved.

Saints tried to come again in the remaining time, but with a couple of minutes left on the clock, South again exploited more hesitancy in the home defence to put a seal on the points. A clear foul on a South player on halfway saw the Saints pause, expecting a whistle. However, with the ball in Rob Barton's possession, the Umpires saw no need to stop the match, and when Rob made a simple pass to Tim in the right channel, once again a South player was clean through despite being a whole half away from the St. Neots goal. Tim covered the yards, drew the ‘keeper and fired it over him into the far corner.

Skipper Kevin Rowland was especially happy with the second half performance, saying “After and an even first period we raised our standard in the second half which showed the difference between the teams and got a deserved 3 points. Working toward a very respectable points and league finish is a great payoff for the hard work everyone continues to fully put in.”