March was the last away fixture for a Cambridge South 3rds side keen to wrap up promotion and the division title ahead of the final weekend of the league season.

Assembling at Milton Park & Ride on a cold and slightly hazy spring morning, the day got off to an inauspicious start when a call to laggard Tristen Knight elicited a mumbled confession that he hadn’t realised he was in the squad and was still in bed in Saffron Walden.

Undaunted, the remaining thirteen headed off in convoy into the fenland mists. The journey was enlivened only by Stu Creed’s attempt to overtake a lorry, pulling out into the offside lane and going precisely nowhere as he proved that a fully-laden Skoda Fabia doesn’t accelerate well in top gear. While the rest of the team following behind looked on at this impromptu game of chicken, Stu finally changed down and floored the throttle to slowly creep past the juggernaut.

All players having made it safely to the pitch, the contrast from the Ley’s surface the day before could hardly have been greater. The March surface was covered in more sand than a Costa Blanca beach. As balls help up or dropped dead on the mini-dunes covering the pitch, it was apparent that this would not be a day for long cross-pitch passes.

Ready and raring to go, from the push back South were straight on the attack, forcing March on to the back foot as the home side struggled to get over the half way line. The rewards weren’t long in coming as Rupert Espley worked an opening in a crowded D to open the scoring with barely five minutes on the clock. From the restart, South immediately had their opponents backpedalling again, this time David Doupé latching on to a loose ball to rapidly bring up the second goal.

As if to reflect South’s mood, the cool morning mist that had shaded the pitch finally burnt away to bathe the game in sunshine. South continued to dominate the play, Matt Kern, Ali Edge and Stu controlling possession in midfield with Rupert and David playing crosses towards John Greaves in the centre, requiring numerous saving tackles and interceptions from the March defence to preserve their goal.

March were threatening only rarely, principally on the break, but the South defence were seldom troubled. John Benedikz sweeping and Neil Sneade at centre back were able to take it in turns to step up and support the attack. Out wide, captain Jelley was doing a solid job containing March’s most able players down South’s left flank while his opposite number Nick Greaves was making great overlapping runs forward from right back.

The match then settled into a pattern, with South controlling the play and creating numerous chances but, after their early success, frustratingly unable to build on their lead. Credit went to the March keeper who made numerous determined saves, while Steve Parker down the opposite end was looking decidedly more relaxed. Half time was reached with no change to the score.

The second period resumed much as the first had left off, with the ball stubbornly refusing to go into the March goal as a combination of blocks, saves and misses frustrated the visitors. Particular noteworthy was Rupert’s spectacular attempt at a reverse stick strike on the run, the ball skewing off in completely the opposite direction and posing more of a threat to passing seagulls than the March goal as it soared towards the corner flag.

After 40 minutes of frustration, the dam finally broke when David nipped in front of another goalmouth melee to flick the ball over the prone keeper with his reverse stick. The third goal and the warm weather seemed to finally crack March’s resolve as South’s game came together. The fourth goal followed swiftly from an end to end move. March’s left winger chased a long ball and just succeeding in keeping it from going over South’s backline only for Neil to promptly take it off him, carrying it towards the halfway line before releasing Nick beyond the March covering midfielder. His surge down the wing ended with a rapidly-taken corner which was played into the D where Goal-a-Game hit an early first time strike to beat the keeper before he had time to set himself.

A fifth goal soon came from a South short corner routine, JB opting for a straight strike from right to left across the keeper through a gap in the outrushing defence. The half-dozen was a well worked move, a corner on the right being shipped back by Matt to Neil, arriving at the top of the 25, who promptly switched it across to JB on the left of the D, he in turn slipping the ball to Tom running in from near the left byline who jinked past a defender before placing his shot home.

The goal glut was topped off with a final late strike for David, completing a well-deserved hat-trick with a few minutes left on the clock. The whistle went to confirm South’s division championship in fine style. The final weekend’s derby match with South 4s will be a celebratory affair for South’s first men’s league title on record.