Cambridge South Ladies 1sts, sponsored by PWC, bounced back from a poor showing in their last match with an emphatic win against Huntingdon.

After a rousing teamtalk from co-captain Hayley Sharpe, South came out with serious intent. Hayley seemed to be everywhere and got her hat-trick within 20 minutes, courtesy of a strike from the top of the D and a couple of neat flicks that she picked up from rebounds. Being 3-0 up so early settled any residual nerves and South prepared to enjoy the game from then on.

It soon became clear that they either need a bit of target practice or else should petition for the goals to be made a bit wider. It’s impossible to say how many balls went inches wide but the build up to each of them was great, with the passing working well right through from defence to attack. Before half time it was 4-0, with Gemma putting one in off a defender’s foot. Gemma also had a couple of other chances, including a brilliant strike that ricocheted off the post.

After half time, South expected Huntingdon to regroup, which they did, with more man to man marking. However, it did not stop South going 5-0 up, with Hayley getting her four timer from a pass by Emma. After that, South did manage to let an unlucky goal through, but the rest of the half was characterized by loads more near misses. Liles and Helen produced some great stuff on the right and Ellie Herbert played all three forward positions and did well in each. She deserved a goal for her efforts and for a while thought she had one, only for one of the South forwards to own up that it had hit her foot beforehand.

So the final score was 5-1. South felt they should have had a few more but were justifiably pleased with a great performance that sets them up for the final few games of the season. Hayley deservedly got man of the match for her all round effort, which was topped off by four well-worked goals.