On a fine and, for once, relatively windless day at Wilberforce Road, South were mortified to come away empty-handed from a local derby it always seemed in their power to win.

Though forced to start with ten men, the hosts wasted no time in imposing their presence, with Chris Graveling commanding at the back and Russell Johnson and in particular Rob Garrett and the prolific Keith Hewitt repeatedly motoring forward with intent. Hewitt was stopped in the circle on one occasion and nearly put Eliot Read through for a conversion on another, while skipper Chris Baker showed his spell by the pool had not diluted his solid stickwork when releasing Garrett for a speedy run on the right wing. Matt Readman dealt capably with a teasing aerial under pressure, Jim Thorpe dusted up any loose stuff that came his way and Chris Massey raced nobly from left-back to right-back to strangle a Nomads' breakaway.

Hewitt had a shot blocked following a forthright move through Readman and Baker, then Baker won a short after Graveling had magically filched the ball and laid it off to Hewitt. The short strike was also neutralised and Nomads enjoyed a brief period of good possession, forcing Thorpe to cover up and shell out and Garrett to lend assured support in the home twenty-five. Nomads had a golden chance on twenty minutes when finding a man free in the circle but Steve Parker was swiftly on top of him to snuff out the immediate threat. A crisp penalty corner for the visitors went wide before an even spell ensued, with both sides probing for an advantage. Garrett was in the thick of the action, tackling, intercepting and distributing, and Read and Baker also had an intelligent hand in numerous transition plays.

Thorpe then distinguished himself with a nonchalant interception that initially appeared to be beyond his wingspan before Hewitt, pumping furiously as ever, was unlucky to gain nothing from a blistering run round the right corner. Nomads were fortunate to avoid conceding after a superb run by Readman nearly breached their defences but South got their just deserts when, following busy action round the edge of the D from Lukas Snetler, Hewitt won a second short. The tried-and-tested Read-Baker-Garrett axis did its job with mechanical efficiency, allowing the skipper to slot the ball neatly home under the keeper from close range.

With five minutes to go to the break, though, South let themselves down with two defensive errors, the first leading to a precision cross that left Parker in goal hung out to dry as a Nomads forward had time to pick his spot, the second triggering a short corner that pinballed around before eventually finding its way in despite two point-blank saves from Parker. South had an opportunity to redress the balance almost immediately but Johnson's shot, fuelled by excellent work from Garrett, hit the keeper.

Straight after the restart, it was Garrett again who delivered a pinpoint centre which both Johnson and Snetler did their best to convert, neither locating the necessary wood, but the same trio put in the hard yards again two minutes on, leaving Garrett and, decisively, Hewitt to bulldoze the Nomads' keeper and persuade the ball over the line by sheer force of will.

Then came the match-turning moment as South, like many other teams in similar circumstances, instinctively pulled up in anticipation of a whistle after an incident in the D, leaving a hiatus which Nomads exploited to wade in unopposed when the whistle was not forthcoming. After understandable protests, South buckled down to the task in hand and won three shorts over the next five minutes but they could not make the advantage tell as the away defence efficiently cleared its lines.

Readman wound himself up a few notches, putting in a brilliant reverse stop on a man running through, setting Massey up to burst through a couple of cement-mixer tackles and releasing Garrett, who forced the keeper to clear. Thorpe shillelaghed his way out of a corner in a manner suggestive of Irish ancestry before Snetler again found Garrett up front, while at the other end Graveling and Parker saw off a couple of rebel incursions with equanimity. Graveling then got the team out of further danger with an exquisitely-timed reverse prod before Nomads repeatedly, and rather successfully, took to the air, forcing the defence to retreat hurriedly under pressure.

Garrett and Hewitt continued to prowl menacingly and Hewitt managed to evade the close shadowing to front up for a Baker pass which ended up marginally behind him. He was suffocated again after a good feed from Massey but, in the follow-up to South's seventh penalty corner, he looked to be sending a lobbed flick roofwards until a South stick touched it above shoulder height and the play was blown up.

As the final ten minutes began, South redoubled their efforts, with Readman bringing off a fine poke-check and pulling the trigger for Hewitt to shoot off upfield. Garrett forced the pace on the left, while Massey, Snetler and Baker all moved it on with the necessary controlled urgency. South survived a scare when a rare Nomads counter-attack saw the ball rifled through the D, nearly locating a man well-placed at the far post, but otherwise the last five was all South as Garrett and Hewitt beavered for the breakthrough, Garrett once narrowly failing to connect with an excellent pass from Massey which would have left him with a clear run in. A Baker strike from the hosts' eighth short corner collapsed under a welter of hacking and a ninth was deflected for a long; in between, Massey popped up from nowhere (or somewhere) and nearly got on the end of a great Hewitt cross for what would have been a fantasy goal.

Garrett shot just wide from a Thorpe feed with two minutes on the clock and Readman, with a capital S on his chest, punched a hole through four would-be assailants to win South's tenth short on the whistle. Late redemption beckoned as the slip found Garrett on the right but his pass back yielded only a despairing deflection that evaded the all-important bit between the posts.

South, who in truth had not deserved to lose, were left to rue that unfortunate third goal and their inability to convert more than one of the ten short corners they had fought so hard to win. The firepower was there to overcome the two earlier defensive lapses but credit must be given to the visiting defence who, despite having to withstand some serious pressure, kept a brake on genuine opportunities to the extent that their keeper in the end had surprisingly little to do.

South are off to the seaside next week for a key game against the talented Alford side, whom they nevertheless beat 3-0 in a fluent and convincing display before Christmas. A repeat performance would be most welcome and, if the home defence is as insubstantial as candy floss and the visiting attack as keen as the East Coast breezes, it promises to be - as all the posters will tell you - So Bracing!