Despite the apparent plethora of players earlier in the week and the rash promise of the skipper to help out the opposition should they be short on the day, it turned out that the more immediate problem would be a lack of umpires (see Lemon award). Once Shahbaz and Joe were organised with whistles and David B and Simon J had donned black tops to round out the sides to 11 a-side, everyone decided to get stuck in to ward off the chill and a frenetic opening ensued with both teams attacking with gusto.

It wasn't long before South started to exert control over the game and began to play their customary passing game, pinging the ball about to players in space and working the channels well. It wasn't long before the first openings were forged as first John, then Simon failed to gather through balls and then Boris was narrowly off-target as South set about testing the strength of the Shefford defence. We weren't getting it all our own way though as the younger members of the opposition were proving to be both nimble and skillful in working their own opportunities to test us.

South werent to be denied though and the first goal came from a most unexpected source. Breaking up one such attack, Charlie went on a barm-storming run from the right back position and flew past several players as he bombed forward. Ignoring Boris's call for a ball into the corner, he feinted inside of David B as he approached the 25 and slipped a ball through a crowd of players into the skipper's path at the top of the D where it was squeezed between the post and the keeper's outstretched kicker to open the scoring. 1-0 South.

Sensing more goals, South went searching for more but owing to a combination of wayward passing and shooting, miscommunication between players as to where the runner/pass was going, a goalie and defence determined to thwart South at every opportunity, nothing seeme to be quite going right. The Leys also appeared to be having something of a hoo-doo on short-corners for South too as several went awry with the normally straight-forward routine reminscient of the 3s vs 4s derby at the end of last season when the 3s appeared to prefer to stop their routines somewhere near the halfway line. We weren't at that stage, but we certainly made life hard for ourselves by failing to get many decent shots away, although Boris was inches away from a connection on one Monckasaurus bullet that whistled past the post.

Shefford were creating chances though as they contained several useful players who were able to patiently craft opportunities to pull players out of position and play in the younger players to run at Charlie and Ky in the full back positions while dragging Tom and Dave left, right and centre to try and create space. With these attacks looking more and more ominous, coupled with our inability to convert the many chances we created ourselves, we suddenly found ourselves pegged back as Shefford scored an equaliser which seemed to come from somewhere on the left following a crafty through ball from Simon J.

Without taking our foot of the gas, South immediately went searching for a second to regain control. Good distribution from Charlie and Ky at the back kept releasing Boris and Tom R on the wings to run at and behind the opposition and work the ball forwards. Ian and Wilco started to dominate the midfield again and the passing game was restored. All that was required was for John and Simon to create the spaces required to open up the Shefford defence again. Several opportunities came and went before the breakthrough came, right on the stroke of half time. A break down South's left saw Ky brong the ball forward before releasing Tom R who found a cross that was cut back to Wilco. An exchange of passes with Ian, saw the good doctor break into the D and show some fancy foot and stick work to create enough space to fire a shot past the keeper to regain the lead. 2-1 South.

A slight rejig of the line up at half time saw the arriving Andy T arrive to take over duties on the right to keep Simon J quiet, while Boris switched to the left and Tom R dropped into the right back position. Charlie moved alongside Dave M in the centre of defence while Tom P was summoned to something essential in Royston. The skipper ordered more of the same from the first half (with less of the wayward passing/finishing) and politely declined Boris' offer to help bolster the midfield. There were goals in this game and the skipper was determined to help himself to as many as possible (all in the cause of another resounding win for the team of course!)

The rejigged formation at the back proved something of a revelation. Tom R in particular earned himself a couple of MoM nominations for his uncanny abiliity to spot and cut out dangerous attacks from the right back spot and as Shefford went searching for a second equaliser, both Dave and Charlie were finding themselves heading further and further up the pitch. In fact, Dave's booming passes were in danger of becoming booming shots as he got ever closer to the opposition 25 and it was only due to some unfortunate miscalculations that at least one wasn't deflected into the goal as the Shefford goal came under aerial bombardment. That aerial bombardment was aided more literally by Boris as on at least two occasions he swept forward from the left wing towards the D before smashing some interesting (and unfortunately illegal) shot-cum-crosses across the D. Once more, he enquired if the skipper would like to try his hand at it and was again politely declined. Shefford are a good side though and were still in the game. A series of short corners was won, but without being able to convert any it was becoming clearer that the next goal scored would be key. The only question would be, who'd get it?

It turned out to be the home side and from the customary source. After fluffing his lines on several earlier opportunities to collect and gather the meaty through balls from the back, Simon F finally found himself i enough time and space to trap one on the edge of the 25 that the last defender failed to cut out. Turning and driving into the D, a truly unique event happened for this season. As the onrushing keeper came out to close the angles and hurry the skipper up, Simon calmly stepped to the right and hit (yes, hit - if you've seen him in training or at pay and play you'll understand that a hit is never used when a simple push will do) an absolute thunderbolt across the keeper and into the left hand corner. 3-1 South.

Flushed with success and confidence, the skipper went sniffing around for his (first for South) hat-trick and came remarkably close. Another ball was fired through towards the right hand corner and collected by the skipper who this time tried to turn provider, crossing the ball into the D for the onrushing John G. A despairing lunge from the covering defender span the ball away from the South man but still spinning ever goalwards, the post rattled, the goalie dived backwards to reach the ball before the follow up from Greaves could be tucked away and the whistle sounded. After much confusion and discussion it transpired that Shahbaz had whistled before the ball had crossed the line thinking that the inside of the post had been struck rather than the front of the post and so the ball was declared dead and a free hit given to the opposition.

South were not to be denied a further goal for long though and following a series of short corners that were a definite improvement on the first half, the final game came through an intriguing set play that will need to be remembered for the future. After a miserable effort at the previous corner had failed to yield the hat-trick goal, the skipper informed the Monckasaurus: "Don't worry about getting it to me, if you have a shot, take it.". Unbeknownst to him, Messrs Greaves and Lossy were concocting their own plan. Switching to let John take over as injector, Boris trotted back to the left of the D with an exchange of winks. As the party at the top of the D settled to receive the ball, the ball was slipped short to Boris who fired a cracking shot behind the defenders and across the startled keepers boughs into the far corner of the net. 4-1 South

And that was how it stayed. 4-1 was adjudged to be a harsh result on Shefford who in truth were dangerous throughout and created many opportunities. The teams were very evenly matched and the game was a very enjoyable affair played in good spirits throughout. Always a pleasure to play and we'd look forward to further matches next season, if they can be arranged.