Cambridge South Ladies 1sts, sponsored by PWC, took on old rivals Newmarket on Saturday, hoping for a continuation of their great form from the previous week. Unfortunately, it was back down to earth with a bit of a bump.

Right from the start, in what was a bad-tempered and frustrating match, Newmarket were always stronger, and their first goal came inside 10 minutes, when a neat move saw one of their players unmarked in the D. Newmarket scored twice more before half time, once from a short corner that was forced home from close range, and then from another breakaway.

Some reorganization at half time saw South go back to a sweeper system from the 3-4-3 they had started with. This more defensive attitude paid off for most of the half, with MOM Louisa Richmond-Coggan making some great tackles at the back and GK Sarah Massen putting together a series of skilful saves. However, South did let slip another goal, again from a short corner that was deflected home.

On the attacking front, there was some good work, with the midfield working tirelessly to get the ball up to the forwards. However, South were too often caught in possession and Newmarket won many more of the 50-50 balls than South did. It must be said that they wanted it more than we did on this occasion. South will need to regroup and rethink their strategy before next week.