"Remind me why we play on artificial pitches in winter again?", yours truly was asked on the damp walk out to the Peterborough pitch by one member of the opposition. Good question, but unfortunately not one that involved an answer that would avoid a cold, drizzly evening's game in late November. Still, the 4s were feeling chipper and after watching Nathan H warm himself up enthusiastically in the goalies pads for the first time and yet another full squad to choose from, the odds on continuing the current run of form (unbeaten in 2) looked good.

Or so we thought. Barely a minute had elapsed before COP Vets showed their collective experience to leave South woefully exposed. Some confusion over a free hit saw possession conceded cheaply to the opposition and while everyone tried to work out what was going on, the COP forward was bearing down on poor Nathan who had been bellowing for someone to wake up and watch the free man. Indeed, everyone watched said free man coolly slot the ball past Nathan to open the scoring.

It was the wake up call we required despite the wet weather. Minds focused, South set about trying to win their battles in all areas of the park. To a man, everyone put in a shift to ensure that the opposition weren't able to get a stranglehold on the game. Ian, Joe and Phil were tenacious in midfield, Nathan M, Tom R, Wilco and Jason applied pressure on the flanks and tracked back whenever we were defending and provided the width to get attacks going when we turned the ball over. John, Boris and Simon were chasing balls around the 25 as Peterborough attempted to find a way through by switching play across the flanks and causing a few hairy moments for the opposition as Simon was a hair's breadth from intercepting one ball across the D. The defence were solid after the early abberation with Ky, David and debutant Tom working hard in the full back positions, with John and Dave mopping up through the middle. Nathan H in goal generally had very little to do, but was more than up to the task when called upon to make a save or two.

As a result of the great effort put in by the team, Peterborough never really got into a settled rhythm and the pressure told. Several times the play broke down with South winning free hits that Dave used as an opportunity to pepper the Peterborough D with shots that when they weren't deflected wide or mopped up by the opposition, were going just wide of target from the strikers. However, the pressure was starting to tell as the chances were coming thick and fast.

Halfway through the first half, parity was restored. The midfield retrieved the ball and the ball was sent out to the right where Wilco and John G had been finding a lot of space. A series of passes were interchanged between them before John played a ball back from the baseline to Joe who had come steaming towards the top of the D. His snapshot was partially deflected away from a defender but straight to the captain who made no mistake and slammed the ball into the bottom left corner. 1-1

A South breakaway saw Nathan M and Simon peeling away to take on the Peterborough defence. As the captain tried to drag the last man away to give Nathan room to carry the ball into the D for a shot on goal, the defender wasn't fooled and snuffed out the chance as Nathan shaped to shoot. The chance was gone and the rest of the half passed without further incident as neither side was able to carve out any clear opportunities.

Half time came and went and despite Dave attempting to exchange some witty banter with certain members of the opposition and umpires through the second half, there wasn't really many more clear opportunities for either team. Several snapshots from South players whistled the wrong side of the post and a couple of short corner opportunities went begging, but the real excitement was saved for the final few moments of the half.

The resolute defence was put under strain in the final 5 minutes as a series of short corners were conceded. Stout defending ensured that Peterborough struggled to get a shot away from consecutive corners as they desperately looked for the winner that would maintain their push at the top of the league. Bellowing like a demented cow, the captain snuggly wrapped in coat and gesticulating wildly tried to "help" organise the defence for one last effort as a final short was awarded as the final whistle sounded. "NO SHOT SOUTH! EVERYONE RUN LIKE HELL AND GET THAT BALL TO SAFETY! DONT CON...". Whether I helped the South defence gird their loins sufficiently for the final corner, or I simply irritated and distracted the Peterborough attack, the injector managed to scuff the ball into the D, allowing John S to collect and shepherd the ball to safety and increase that unbeaten streak to 3 games for the 4s.

A draw has never felt so good! Considering the awful start, the team stood firm and didn't allow their heads to drop. Everyone gave their all for the cause and produced a magnificent game to hold the team currently

3 in the league to a draw. Now, we just need to keep this going and extend that run and start to climb the table. Tom P had an excellent game at the back and Nathan H deservedly swept the nominations for man of the match firstly for his willingness to pad up and then for the great, authoritive game between the sticks. As was pointed out, he's probably now painted himself into a corner and made it harder to avoid taking another turn while Shahzad recuperates!