Saturday 6th September 2008: a warm day, plenty of sunshine, a slight breeze, perfect for hockey. These were the conditions South kicked off their 2008/9 campaign in looking for something that has escaped their grasp for many seasons, an opening day victory. It did not start well with South, for some inexplicable reason, finding themselves 3-0 down at half time, before coming back to snatch victory out from under a hard working Harlow team's nose.

Cambridge South pushed back with a strong team, led in their regular captains absence by VC Rupert Webb. South got off to a slow start and Harlow dominated the early exchanges. As soon as South pushed forward, Harlow countered and scored when a Harlow shot which was heading wide was accidentally turned into his own net by a South defender under pressure.

South responded well to this initial set back with debutant Keith Hewitt's shot narrowly missing the post and moments later a diving shot by guest star Jorge. South were dominating with pressure being applied from all directions resulting in further opportunities for Chris Massey and Mike Thorogood and a self made opportunity by Jorge who, having teed himself up, struck a shot through a mass of legs only to see his shot stopped by a very good Harlow keeper.

Despite all the pressure, South found themselves further behind when a rapid counter attack resulted in the ball being poked into the net past out-rushing keeper Shabhaz Ali, South's third debutant, who by the end of the match had made several hi quality saves.

South struck back again winning a short corner, but moments later Harlow had their third goal from their own short, with only 30 mins having been played.

South pushed forward again and were unlucky not to pull one back when South hit the post and Eliot Read's rebound went just wide.

Harlow then nearly rounded the game off in the first half when a shot on goal took a deflection off a South foot resulted in a penalty flick been given. A combination of keeper and post managed to keep South alive.

Half time: South 0 v 3 Harlow.

After a quick rejigging of the formation South came out fighting and completely dominated the second half from beginning to end. An all round masterful performance saw Keith Hewitt pull one back ten minutes in, which opened the floodgates for South. Jorge scored a second with a reverse stick shot, before Keith bagged his second and South's third from a short corner at point blank range.

As the game moved into the last 10 minutes South took the lead from a trademark Chris Graveling short corner. The game then opened up into end to end stuff with opportunities created at both ends as both teams exchanged shots and shorts but no more goals.

South should be proud of a strong performance for the whole game, not deserving to be 3 down at half time but certainly deserving their victory over a strong Harlow team who took their opportunities well.