Men's 1sts beat St Neots

South took to the field on a bleak midwinter’s day against St Neots, hoping to continue their fine start to the season.

Despite the returning centre back George Wych helping to add some much needed “discipline” to the defence, it was St Neots who started the brighter, spraying passes around the back from left to right, and winning an early short. However, the returning Wych was out like a flash, and snuffed out the danger.

As the half wore on, South grew in stature (and number too- Chalk arrived to replace the injured Bhardwaj), and started to string together a number of good attacks. The team were also winning a number of short corners through some last ditch defending from Neots in the area. After an initial effort from Bristowe was charged down, a small bout of hockey pinball ensued. However, McCulloch was well placed to reverse slap the ball home into the net to put South one up.

This gave South the confidence boost they needed, and they started to string together the hockey we all know they are capable of. Mark Williams and Rob Garrett were running the show in the midfield- Garrett’s reverse stick tackling being particularly worthy of mention. Down the flanks, McCulloch and Johnson were ably supported by Chalk and Wych and South’s pace was clearly causing Neots some problems. Simon Ta up front was always causing problems with his pace and harrying. Further short corners followed before half time, which were expertly diverted away by the opposition defence.

However, South were not to be denied the second goal before the break that their play merited. After an initial shot from Bristowe was saved on the line (when will that man score?), Johnson was first to react, and lifted the ball over the line at the second attempt.

At half time, captain Garrett was keen to stress that while the first half had gone well, the game wasn’t over, and South would have to work hard to maintain their advantage.

The second half began in much the same vein as the first had ended; hard work from the attack and midfield leaving the defence with little to do. Manu returned to the field of play and had a fine display at right back, showing great composure on the ball and starting a wave of attacks. Wych was sharp as ever in the middle, and Bristowe mopped up anything that came through. Parker was alert for any shots that had to be clawed away - a fine palm off his far post being a good demonstration of this.

As the half wore on Neots began to pour more and more forward (and more or more into the umpires with various expletives and descent), but despite two or three short corners, no further shots ensued. Whilst South were slightly wasteful on the breakaway, with a number of promising openings going to waste, they never really looked like letting Neots back into the game, and they professionally closed out victory.

Next week sees South make the trip to pace setters Rutland, which will surely be their toughest test yet. However, no teams should be feared by South, and if they play to their best, they will definitely cause the leaders problems.

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Rob Garrett
Player of the Match

Great tackling in midfield.

1
Jack Chalk
Lemon of the Match

45 minutes late for the meet.