South dominated from the start against an enthusiastic Ely team who belied their lowly league position with good defending, closing down and harrassing the home team on the ball, giving us no space. Ely were helped by the cunning tactic of playing eleven outfield players and no goalie. This led us to focus on the "welly the ball upfield from the back at every opportunity" approach, expertly deployed by the Siddorns/Monck duo.

The outcome was a few sharp chances which John Greaves in particular was unlucky not to convert. All too rarely South exploited our greater skills with passing moves — Tom Rosselli and Rupert Espley were prominent on the right — but the final killer ball eluded us. 

The deadlock was broken by a straightforward short corner just after half time: Marshman to Monck — thwack — goal. Dave M had had a couple of sighters before this and the opener was no surprise.

Ely stuck to their plan and continued to swarm around without ever troubling keeper Shahzad Ali. Credit to the Rosselli/Siddorns/Monck/Ho defensive unit who dealt uncompromisingly with all attacks, swatting the ball away effectively towards the sides or up the pitch.

In spite of good possession with neat moves through midfield, South were never quite composed or imaginative enough to penetrate the Ely defence, with few chances allowed, and the away skipper played a blinder to create numerous breakaway attacks in response.

The game was only finally settled with another Monck blaster from a short corner. 

A solid and deserved victory to keep the 4ths in the promotion hunt.