CSHC 1st XI suffered a disappointing setback, losing to Rutland 2nd XI by 2 goals to 1. South fielded a strong team, albeit lacking erstwhile skipper Rob Garrett who has callously dumped his team and gone to America but including a return from superstar Al Sinclair.

The match was evenly contested, with South matching Rutland’s pace and skill throughout and probably creating more chances overall but just lacking in that final pass / shot to score an open play goal.

Rutland scored first when, after a passage of dominance, one of their forwards found half a yard of space to turn and shoot from the penalty spot and the Away team went into the second half 1-0 up. South rallied at half time and came back with a goal of their own for a superb short corner routine played back to the injector (new skipper Graham McCulloch) who deftly applied the finish. However, hopes of a recovery and victory were dashed when Rutland scored from a short corner themselves, the ball was slipped left and then a powerful strike (which looked suspiciously high when it crossed the line) put South 2-1 down.

South redoubled their efforts in the last 10 minutes but could not force an equaliser. Result elsewhere mean that promotion hopes are still high as we remain 2nd in the Division but on the day the better team won.