Cambridge South 4ths put up a stiff second half challenge but were ultimately undone by top of the league St Neots 5ths.

South fielded several unfamiliar faces and for the first half, perhaps unsurprisingly, play was disjointed and the St Neots midfield dominated (not helped by the South team having three Johns and a Dom!). Forays into the St Neots D were rare. Only some pugnacious work in midfield limited clear opportunities at the back. Unfortunately, St Neots made their domination count, firstly after captialising on a missed tackle and some slack marking to cut through the backline and then again on the stroke of half time when several St Neots troops found they had conquered the D without any resistance from the South infantry.

A completely different side (figuratively if not literally) appeared in the second half and a much improved performance meant South probed into St Neots territory - but only after the outside of the post had prevented St Neots going 3-0 up. Eventually South were rewarded when a combination of John Sharp and Kev Rowland galloping up the pitch dispatched the ball up the right wing. The cross was met by Shahbaz Ali, in a rare outfield appearance, who swept a superb finish into the corner more worthy of a forward than a keeper, let alone the left half position he was officially playing! South had several other good opportunities but St Neots crowded the D sufficiently to cut out the options.

At the other end John Benedikz and Ky Ho put in several critical tackles. Ky showed he had added a new dimension to his game with some excellent footwork outside the D to completely out fox his opponent (kicking the ball away from a St Neots attacker right in front of the umpire). The ensuing stinging short corner was turned over the bar by the keeper's stick. With time running out St Neots camped out in the South half to leave the scoreline at 2-1 as the light faded.

Despite being instrumental in South's goal, Kev Rowland deserves a special dishonourable mention - after being warned for his "physical tackle" (and presumably not the fishing type) he then tried to convince the umpire that it would be a great idea to play in the fading light with an orange ball, blisfully unaware that his midfield compatriot was red and green colourblind…