On a morning of lingering haze when the opposing goalkeepers initially had some difficulty sighting each other, it was Cambridge South who put their sonar equipment to best use in the first fifteen minutes, sprinting from the blocks in a way that suggested their extra pre-season training and full schedule of warm-up games would pay immediate dividends. Wisbech, traditionally awkward opponents but perhaps weakened by the departure of key striker Jody Betts, soon found themselves chasing shadows in midfield as skipper Chris Baker smoothly spread the ball to left and right, making space for league newcomer Duncan Rudge to place a savvy aerial and the feisty Lukas Snetler to attack the D with intent.

There were several excellent chances for South in the opening quarter. First, Rupert Webb, making good ground, had a shot blocked and saw the ball cleared off the line with the keeper grounded; then Rudge's well-weighted cross led to a melee in the goalmouth and a desperate clearance; moments later, Snetler was left free at the top of the circle and wound up with eye-bulging ferocity, only to see the keeper parry a fierce lifting drive. Two South shorts also came and went, sandwiching a good pad save from a Keith Hewitt snapshot which led to another furious bout of hacking around the penalty spot. In this time, Wisbech had only breached the South 25 twice, Jim Thorpe calmly breaking up a dangerous thrust up the right wing and Chris Graveling expertly pickpocketing a man on the breakaway.

At this point, Wisbech, having repeatedly been forced to cede possession, dropped back and got more men behind the ball and, though South continued to play neat triangles on both wings, spurred by Rob Garrett's tireless running and Baker's unfussy distribution, the momentum shifted slightly despite a fine surging counter-attack from the evergreen Mike Thorogood and a near-miss past the left post from Alex Pooles. Wisbech gained their first short after 28 minutes, sending wide a firmly-struck drive at an awkward height, and, after surviving a further game of pinball in their own D, they capitalised on a rare defensive lapse by the away side to knock the ball home marginally before several South defenders ended up in the back of the net with it.

Chris Massey, put through by skilful interpassing from Rudge and Garrett, aimed to redress the balance immediately but was beaten away, after which the South defence, temporarily sicklied o’er by the pale cast of thought, wobbled at the edge of the D, leaving keeper Steve Parker to rescue a tricky situation with a fine diving block to thwart the man suddenly running free. As the first half drew to a close, South got delayed reward for their earlier domination when Hewitt, showing admirable persistence up the middle, rounded two Wisbech defenders, as well as appearing to tackle himself twice, and created a handy rebound which Alex Pooles was on hand to put away.

Four minutes into the second half, however, South again found themselves behind when they failed to clear after Parker had made a good save from a stinging Wisbech short. Further disaster was narrowly avoided, firstly when a giveaway which left the South goal exposed went unpunished and then again a minute later when Parker twice blanked a Wisbech forward who had burst clear on goal. The home side turned up the volume control at this stage and, with their two young strikers using their pace to worrying effect down the right, South continued to be in danger despite some promising link-ups between Alex Pooles and the much-travelled Matt Readman, a welcome returnee after spells at Walden and Nomads. Wisbech's fourth short, on 47 minutes, was charged down by the defence and then Snetler bravely dived to counter a hit just outside the D. Though Wisbech were growing in confidence, South still tried to use width to make inroads, with Thorogood and Massey combining well to release Massey for a quick shot which was intercepted by the keeper. A key moment came on 54 minutes, when Parker glanced away a well-angled Wisbech short through deft use of stick, gloves and an increasingly influential helmet.

South continued to work grimly for possession, seeing a glimmer of hope when Hewitt rounded the right-back and the determined Rudge had a shot saved, and it was Hewitt who finally got South back on track in the 63rd minute when, with the keeper down, he made the most of a pass artfully funnelled through from the left by Snetler. Spurred on by this success and some forthright "advice" from captain Baker, South harried the Wisbech defence and the tireless Hewitt, forcing a turnover, worked a superb give-and-go with Readman, who returned the favour so that Hewitt was able to coolly slot the ball under the despairing keeper with three minutes to go.

There was still time for Webb and Snetler to put together another attack up the right and for Thorogood to put the ball in suspended animation with a neat aerial, and still time, too, for a moment of near-madness when a harmless-looking back pass nearly ended up on the grateful stick of a Wisbech sniper, but - to the audible relief of the assembled travelling support (est. 3) - the whistle eventually blew to confirm the desired start to the League campaign.

Despite failing to convert early dominance into goals and all but going 3-1 down, South held their nerve well and, by scoring twice in the last 10 minutes to come from behind, demonstrated the character and persistence which will be important in the coming months. Excellent two-way performances from, in particular, Hewitt, Garrett and Thorogood, exemplified the hard work that will be needed in both halves of the field if South are to build on the solid progress made in the last two years. If they can combine the fluency of the first fifteen minutes with the urgency of the last fifteen and sustain both for the full seventy, there is room for optimism.