There is a Taoist saying that “the journey is the reward” and Cambridge South 2nd XI can, I am sure, take great comfort from this after a 4 hour round trip yielded only a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of a well-drilled Horncastle side.

South were forced to field a much weakened team as holiday, requirements from the 1s and a general lack of Taoist spirit meant that they had available only 6 of their regular squad and just 11 men in total. That they could play at all was down to the selfless commitment of Shahbaz Ali, Andy Passmore, Ian Glover and Simon Jelley all of whom stepped up from their regular teams to make it happen - thanks guys. Thanks also are due to Lino who, although unfit to play and with a train to catch, drove all that way just to umpire.

Horncastle are top of the Division, having a 100% record this season with 64 goals scored in 9 matches so South knew that they would have to play their very best just to stay in the game and unfortunately in the first half this did not happen. Understandably, given the weakened team, South were under the cosh right from the start as the home team pressed forward confidently. With only about 5 minutes on the clock they won a short corner and a great routine (clearly well practised) saw a fast and accurate push out, a fast and accurate flick to the far post and a fast and accurate runner on hand to lift the ball over Shahbaz and into the goal.

To their credit, South did not let this setback upset their discipline and the defence were managing creditably against the best attack in the League. George Wych marked the opposition's top scorer out of the game whilst Andy Passmore and Ian Glover broke down anything coming down the wings. Jack Chalk, playing out of position in a sweeper's role, was dominant and always on hand to mop up anything else that got through. However South were on the back foot and further goals were inevitable. Three more came in quick succession - one from another very good short corner - and it looked at this point as if a cricket score might be on the cards.

The team needed to stem the flow of attacks and in the second quarter this did begin to happen. Dave Aston and Kev Rowland in central midfield positions covered some impressive yardage to help out in defence but still Horncastle remained on top and thought they had scored a fifth goal when a wicked lifting shot from an acute angle appeared to have beaten Shahbaz. However, closer inspection revealed a small hole in the side netting and South disputed the goal. The umpires consulted and, much to the disgust of the Home side, awarded a 16 yard hit. This was certainly the correct decision from the umpires as both were unsighted and not able to say for sure that it was a goal.

So 4-0 down at half time and South were into damage limitation. Skipper Dave Aston ordered a tactical re-jig in midfield, switching to a 4-4-1-1 formation to bolster the defence and following this the second period was more even. Horncastle scored a 5th from another short corner but apart from that there were few scares and South's midfield saw a lot more of the ball - in particular Simon Jelley stepped up to play some great linking play up the left with Rob Barton and Bhav Virdi was competitive as ever. One such move led to Bhav accidentally injuring a Horncastle player when the ball flicked up off his stick into the player's face. Not content with simply injuring the man, Bhav started to remonstrate with him as well only to get an earful from the player's mother from the sideline with the immortal words “Leave him alone, he's not a violent boy, he's my little boy” (her “little boy” was a grown man and, if there is any justice in the world, will take some stick for this for the rest of his playing career).

South continued to press forward manfully in search of a goal and there were several occasions where Rob Barton and John Hawkes forced half chances but in truth it is a measure of the balance of the game that South did not have a single shot on goal all match.

All in all perhaps a day to forget. If only that were possible. Those of us privileged enough to travel to the game with Dave Aston are still having flashbacks to the moment when Dave, perhaps having in mind the quotation from Virginibus Puerisque that “to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”, pulled out to overtake a beet lorry right into the face of an oncoming juggernaught. Kev, uttering a cry like a man passing a kidney stone saw his whole life (and that's a long time) flash before his eyes; George and John closed their eyes and hoped for the best. Time seemed to stand still as the Rover, engine screaming in an unfeasibly low gear, used all of its 1,200ccs to reach safety by a hair's breadth. NEVER doubt the Rover!

How Dave saw the manoeuvre		How it really looked

The last word must, however, go to Rob Barton, that enlightened philosopher of our time who, following his thoughts on the workings of old treacle at the Rutland match, brings us this: “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” (And if you are stuck for Christmas present ideas then don't forget that “The Collected Thoughts of Rob Barton” is out now in all good bookshops for just £8.99).