Late withdrawals from the South side and the opposition's characteristically forthright approach meant that this game was never going to be a cakewalk, especially as March had fired a warning shot across South's bows in holding them to a hard-fought 0-0 draw in the first half of the season. With Jim Thorpe a scratch and Chris Graveling absent courtesy of a bout of projectile vomiting (I mean, do they actually measure the distance?), it fell to Ron Oren and that hardy perennial Sanjay Agarwala to bolster the defence and they both did a fine job under demanding circumstances.

Following Matt Readman's early injunction to "take ownership of a man", Alex Pooles immediately eschewed the implicit legal niceties to dispossess said man near the opposition twenty-five and burst through a defensive tackle and the keeper to set up the predatory Keith Hewitt for an easy tap-in into the unguarded net with just two minutes on the clock. Readman himself then took ownership of the ball with a pair of very classy reverse interceptions before Agarwala and Russell Johnson gritted their way through a series of heavy challenges and Nick Young relieved the pressure with a deceptively angled pass upfield.

South looked slippy on the attack, with Rob Garrett and Hewitt taking the lead, but March's direct, uncomplicated style and their determination to squeeze the defence made the visitors sweat and it was hard to gain control for more than brief passages. There was an escape after ten minutes when a cross from the right just bypassed a March forward's stick but South knuckled down, with Garrett forming an impassable barrier thanks to his hyperextensive reach and Young and Oren clearing sensibly when the chance arose. March won a short after crashing through four increasingly desperate tackles but the strike was deflected away and then skipper Chris Baker, swiftly reacquainting himself with his land legs after a protracted spell of floating on a Lilo trying not to spill his piña colada, acted as the pivot for several spells of promising activity in which Hewitt was thwarted by the keeper and also shot wide to the left. Readman, Young and Oren worked hard to create a little oasis of calm on the right while Agarwala showed a sure touch and confident stick-handling in some narrow straits. Just as it seemed South had weathered most of the storm, however, March bulldozed their way to a free hit outside the circle, caught everyone on the hop by taking it quickly and fashioned a déjà vu goal based on a perpendicular cross and a two-yard stab-in.

Steve Parker in goal had to kick clear under pressure almost immediately afterwards when March bustled into the circle yet again and the defence necessarily reverted to the utilitarian as Johnson banged the ball unceremoniously into touch. A bad back-pass from March gave Garrett and Eliot Read, always available and using space intelligently, the advantage and Baker skilfully won South's first short after twenty-two minutes. Hewitt made the most of a failed routine, but to no avail, before March suddenly split open the midfield and found themselves in a giant phalanx bearing down on Readman, who would have neutralised the play (allegedly) but for being unbalanced by a lack of control from the ball-carrier. The offending foot, not quite excused by a sheepish grin, earned him a five-minute yellow and March a second short, which they struck crisply but thankfully off-target.

Garrett came up with another fine tackle and interception, while Read, Pooles and Baker and then Young, Agarwala and Hewitt showed what South are capable of going forward when they put together some authoritative cross-field moves. March were in no mood to be cowed, though, and after Young had coolly burgled a winger who had charged for a narrow gap down the line, the hosts cranked up the action, whacking the ball hard into the D at every opportunity and penning the defence in a corner. From their third short, Parker rebuffed a blistering shot, only for the rebound to be clanged against a post. The ball hovered awhile in front of the goal before finding an escape route but was soon returned with interest as it was flicked in following a fourth penalty corner. Mercifully, the goal was ruled out for reasons that no South player could divine (of course we never argue with the umpire) and March again passed up a chance to take the lead when a fifth short was superbly charged down by Garrett, whose brave stickwork saw the glanced strike soar over the bar.

But, as Readman so succinctly put it, March were still queuing up and a rapid thrust from the left saw the defence prised apart as Parker raced out and the striker sliced uppishly into the net – luckily the one belonging to the reserve goal a few feet to the side of South's. Parker cleared safely to the wing a moment later and, just as the half-time whistle was about to go, March unaccountably dropped their guard, serving up a second bad back-pass which Hewitt and Garrett gleefully jumped on, with Garrett making the moves and Hewitt getting into the right position for a carbon copy of his first effort.

Buoyed by playing downhill with the wind behind them, as well by as some straight-talking advice at half-time, South set off at a lick right from the whistle. Garrett pounced on a March midfielder and whizzed off goalwards, unluckily turning his shot just wide as the keeper advanced. Young cracked the ball convincingly from sixteens and Read, again brilliantly disguising his cross by feigning an air shot, fed Garrett for another twisty effort. Baker then did well to manoeuvre a stubbed short across to Hewitt, whose first-time shot drew an excellent glove save. Oren neatly engineered an attacking breakdown, Agarwala coolly exploited what little space he was allowed to trigger a four-man move and then, after a welter of stick collisions, South brought off a key interception for the third time in the game as Garrett stole the ball and released Hewitt, whose all-action, heads-up style got him from A to B in the fastest possible time for a one-on-one with the keeper. Feinting to the left, the Tassie Terror wrong-footed his adversary before taking it smartly to the right and firing home for his third straight hat-trick, a just reward for his non-stop effort and passion for the backboard.

The momentum was with South at this point as Hewitt competed in defence as well, challenging with a vigour that brought a pained expression to the umpire's whistle, and Read, Oren and Readman all tackled back with intent. But March refused to lie down and won a succession of short corners as they threw men forward. Despite moments of considerable hairiness, South survived, Oren finally clearing the D with admirable pragmatism and Young reliably providing some breathing space with a long shell out. Neat touches from Read, assured distribution from Agarwala and committed running from Pooles, who narrowly failed to convert from a lovely build-up involving Oren, Garrett and Baker all helped to maintain South's advantage and Readman, too, would have had a golden opportunity if only he had been able to manage 100 metres in 6.5 seconds to latch on to a slightly optimistic through ball from Baker. Pooles and Read then combined to set up Baker, who saw his shot kicked away, before March got two front men through the net with ten minutes to go. Parker, prowling inactively for the previous half an hour, timed the challenge at the edge of the D to perfection, however, and diverted the ball at full stretch to allow the defensive cover to get shut sharpish.

South controlled matters for the next five minutes, with Pooles again nearly on the end of a Garrett run and Read to the fore with several interceptions and a shot. Baker had goal attempts saved or deflected as well while Hewitt was also involved, either directly or vocally, in most of the moves upfield. Oren and Readman, too, had time to display their attacking urges before Young skilfully broke up a dangerous break with a textbook "forward defensive" tackle. Hewitt's quest for a fourth goal was denied by the onrushing keeper, who got a piece of a flick, before March mounted a last challenge, surging into the South twenty-five and circle in an effort to steal a point. But Parker stood firm, halting a zigzagging home forward dead in his tracks with a long barrier, rushing a flick from the bye-line to draw a misdirection and then kicking out long to clear the lines.

South saved their best till last, however, as Johnson, who had had a relatively quiet afternoon for him, received the ball from Baker and scorched through the midfield from left to right, racing unopposed into the circle and finishing with a spectacular lifted shot just inside the right-hand post which had even the home supporters applauding in appreciation.

Skipper Baker praised his side for a good, gutsy win in a game that could have gone either way and the approbation was well-merited as March, despite their lowly position, are invariably tough to beat and always give 100%. South perhaps just had a little too much pace and class in attack on this occasion, scoring three times from turnovers, and, despite the odd wobble, they also put in a wholehearted all-round defensive performance, gelling quickly despite personnel changes and not conceding on any of March's nine penalty corners.

In a constantly shifting Div 3NW hierarchy, South are now back up to fourth following a loss for Wisbech and a draw for Nomads but the middle of the table is densely packed and the dice are still rolling. The final three games are all serious challenges and South will be hoping for continued good scoring punch and a rock-solid defence to optimise their standing.