A South side still awaiting their first win of the season journeyed the hour northwards, past the Fenland Yellow Arrows - March’s tractor answer to the fleet of RAF show planes - to the Capital of the Fens. Wisbech is amusingly described as “A fine, historical Georgian market town (established in 1996)”.

Arriving slightly too early to use the pitch was a good sign. There was a general sense of preparedness and focus for the first time this season. Once the pitch was available the team took to a good warm-up, clearly focussing on the task at hand.

Captain Ron Oren’s announcement that South will be lining-up with 4-4-2 was met with cheers of jubilation, mostly because this formation has proven itself as the best fit for the M2s on more than one occasion in recent times.

South started the game the more energised, testing the home side’s defences a couple to times in the opening exchanges. It was on eight minutes that one of these forays paid off: Dom won the ball in midfield and squared left to Nick who made a penetrating run into the circle to earn a short corner. Ron pushed the ball out for Colin to strike only for the skipper to touch an unstoppable deflection into the net. One-nil South. Game on! Will that change everything now there is something to play for?

Traditionally taking the lead this season has meant uncertainty, nervousness and a deep, mousy retreat into the 25 metre area. But this time was different. Things were looking up and everyone was buoyed by the breakthrough. Genuine belief that there was more gold in them there hills was clear for all to see.

South were using both flanks well to attack. A good interchange between Tom and Ally - the Movember-moustached “Mario Brothers” of the side - saw a further threat up the left channel. And then another clear chance, this time forged by Ron and Ian on the right, found Jimmy who squared for Rob for a tap-in in front of goal. Unfortunately, the umpire had already blown for another short.

By this point the match had opened considerably and there was an ebb and flow to the contest. Whilst South were looking the more ominous, Wisbech were finding a lot of space on their right side.

Half time. The narrowest of leads and plenty of work still to do.

At the break, skipper Ron decided to rest the ever-ready Jimmy for a few minutes at the start of the second half. A couple of frailties in the defensive tactics were also identified and looked to be closed. But the general message was to keep going and keep believing. Wise words.

With the second half underway, it was the hosts who took the game by the horns and managed to concentrate play in and around the visitors’ 25. This was the toughest period of the game for South along with the biggest test for the back line. Further up the field, Nick was involved in some mild argy-bargy with an opponent which could have seen them both green carded. There were a few other bumps elsewhere - the match was becoming a physical affair.

So it was somewhat against the run of play when Dom fired a low, cross-field strike to Ally at the back post. Ally did everything right to deflect the ball into the goal with a low, reverse stick but somehow - implausibly - the Wisbech keeper managed to smother it. Nonetheless, good play all round.

At the other end, the home side sensed that time was ticking away and pressed ever more liberally. One of their strikes blazoned over the bar. The others were resiliently foiled, mostly by brave challenges from Ian and Ron in particular. In one tackle, Ian injured himself - taking a blow to that ankle again - and South were briefly down to ten men before Ally realised that he needed to get on the pitch. (A lemon-worthy neglect in its own right, if it were not for Nick’s fracas.)

With Colin, Tom and Andy too, the whole defence was still looking pretty impenetrable and safely mopping any leaks. Indeed, goalkeeper Steve was well protected and saw little action. The home side was getting very frustrated and at one point a player in red saw the red mist and was lucky not to get carded for dissent.

The last few embers of the game saw South keep possession of the ball well and even manage a last ditch attack from a free hit close to the D. In the end, the travellers had done enough. Time was up and South had held on for the first win of the 2011-12 campaign. Finally!

The closing whistle was met with a sense of relief, and possibly a slight twist of disbelief. This wasn’t the best performance - and indeed the game could best be described as a mostly even yet scrappy affair - but realistically it has always been a matter of time before South reaped the rewards of their plenty-good-enough recent form to clinch all three points on a Saturday.

South can, and should, regain much confidence from this result. After all, it’s a result which proves that they are playing well enough to win fixtures in this division. There’s no reason why South can’t get used to successful trends again if the current level of hockey is maintained, continuing next week when they host Rutland M2s at St Catz.

After the game, a relieved skipper Ron Oren was heard uttering: “Yay!”