Cambridge South (4s) had some great games against Bourne Deeping last season and they were both fairly even so a friendly would provide some good practise a week before the actual season starts. A team was only just scrapped together with double ups from Shazhad, Charlie and Jacob at very late notice (He only just sat down to enjoy his beer before being called up).  With no substitutes it looked like South might have some problems with fatigue, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

Play started and South pressured Bourne's half straight away. Simon and Jacob were positioned upfront with Doug and Nigel on the wings. James and Tom were in the centre of midfield, Charlie and Owen were holding the centre of defence with Rob and Howard to the left and right. The defence wasn't as optimal as South would've liked but they managed to fend off the first few attacks from Bourne’s younger players. Everything looked and felt positive with some good passing and running between the midfield and attackers created a few early probing attacks into the opponents D. One such attack saw Jacob dodge past two tackles and swing to the left side of the goal before hitting a cracking reverse side hit that sailed up to the top right hand corner, giving South an early lead.

Bourne started to apply some pressure of their own, their captain looked to be the key link to the majority of their attacks. They managed to get rather close on a few occasions, but fortunately their finishing was not as dangerous as their runs and Shazhad easily saved a few shots. Bourne were attacking down their right side which meant Rob saw a lot of action, at one point he tackled a player and tumbled over them shouting apologies mid-air, but he and Howard managed to channel most of the wide attacks towards supporting South players.

South continued to attack and the next 10 minutes were both teams counter attacking each other, but South were tracking back really well each time. Bourne were getting a few short corners, but were struggling to get good contact with the ball, eventually they managed to get a clean shot off which found the bottom corner, but they hadn't taken the ball out of the D so the goal was dis-allowed. South quickly made sure their lead was more comfortable and a nice link-up between Jacob and Simon in the opponents D saw Simon bury South’s second goal.

The second half Tom switched with Owen in defence to give the midfield some fresher legs for the second half. Space started to open up for Doug and Nigel, who after a cautious first half were really testing Bourne’s wingers. I’m pretty sure Nigel was nutmegging players for fun at one point. South were controlling the game for the first few minutes, but gradually Bourne started to press forward, especially at our 16’s which meant it took a while to get up field. Charlie was defending excellently, intercepting balls and starting counter attacks. But the Bourne pressure was starting to show as they were getting closer and closer to South’s goal, couple of last ditch tackles by Tom and Charlie managed to hold off a few attacks and Shazhad saved a few close shots.

They managed to get a short corner that was deflected by Tom but South sensed that their luck would eventually run out. Another short saw Bourne hit a big shot directly into Shazhad’s chest which dropped to his feet and blind spot before a Bourne player tapped it into the goal. Slightly unfair given the height of the ball, but South didn't complain and kept playing aiming to increase their lead for a more comfortable finish to the game. However, Bourne had other ideas and they saw an opportunity to unravel the seemingly fatigued South and claim an equaliser, and so they attacked with increased tenacity. Doug swapped with Jacob upfront after a bout of cramp (which he recovered from remarkably quickly afterwards earning him LoM). James found a second wind and was making good runs into the enemy half with Owen supporting at the top of the D, but South could not put the match away for good. Bourne had a few chances in the last nerve-racking 10 minutes with a short corner that smacked Charlie in the arm (apparently this was fair according to Bourne's captain) and a couple of 2 on 1s that saw Shazhad and Tom defending the goal mouth. With only a few minutes left the game slowed down as a Bourne player took a ball to the neck from Charlie (He was too close on a free-hit and had his stick at the perfect angle to deflect it straight up) an unfortunate incident but with no blame attached at all. The final whistle went and South finished their pre-season friendlies with a positive 3 for 1.

After the previous week’s match it was good to see the 5s back at their best, keeping a strong resolve into the last moments of the match and securing a well deserved win.