Cambridge South 3rds, sponsored by PwC, rounded off their season by playing host to a Market Deeping side who were looking for one more point to secure the East League Division 7NW title.

Deeping started by far the stronger side, keeping South pinned deep in their own half for almost the entire of the first quarter. South keeper Jon Price had to make numerous saves in this period, including one extremely painful one when a driven shot somehow found a gap in his padding to crash at full speed straight onto a kneecap. After a five-minute hiatus, Price was bravely able to carry on and was soon tested on the injured leg when a flick shot towards the corner required a (painful looking but successful) kick save.

Soon after this, left-back Ky Ho was also in the wars, taking a blow when a lifted ball deflected off Matt Kern's body into his own. Once again, following a brief period of wincing in pain, the South player was able to carry on with the match.

Just as South began to get some sort of foothold in the match, and were at least getting somewhere near the, until then redundant, away goalkeeper, Deeping opened the scoring. Matt Kern was somewhat harshly adjudged to have deliberately fouled his opponent near the 25, and a short corner was awarded. The ball was played to a player on the right angle and he let loose a fierce drive across the goal and into the far corner. The sides turned around with Deeping 1-0 up.

South skipper Wilco Dijkstra's half-time team talk seemed to inspire his troops in the opening exchanges of the second half. No longer content to let this all be about the visitors, South were showing very encouraging signs of wanting to end their own season in a positive fashion.

Straight from the centre-pass, a break into Deeping territory forced a first short corner of the match for the hosts. Nothing much came of this, but a second one a few minutes later saw South come agonisingly close to equalising. The inject to James Bridge was maybe a touch slow, and with defenders on top of him he opted to slip the ball right to Tim Waller. Waller rounded a challenge to give himself some space and fired in a shot which beat the keeper, but not the post. James Bridge reacted first to the rebound and flicked in a further shot, which was well saved, and the opportunity broke down when the ball hit a home foot.

South's positive start to the half was rewarded on forty-seven minutes. Tim Waller made a strong tackle inside his own half, near the right touchline, and broke forward. Having drawn a man, he slipped the ball through to youngster Michael Woolley. Woolley repeated the process and his beautifully weighted pass saw James Bridge clean through into the circle, round the visiting keeper and place a reverse stick flick on the goal which the defender scrambling back couldn't prevent crossing the goal line.

With the visitors now well and truly rattled, the next goal was going to prove crucial. It wasn't long in coming, two minutes after the equaliser to be precise, and as it was Deeping regaining the advantage, it went a long way towards settling the outcome. A Deeping attack down the right wing saw the ball worked back to the centre forward. His swept shot was well saved by Price, but the away forwards reacted quicker to the loose ball and comfortably lifted it over the prone and exposed South stopper.

South heads went down and Deeping, visibly relieved, went on to play the best hockey of the match over the next ten minutes. They extended their lead when a left wing cross was deflected by an unmarked player right in front of Price, giving him no chance, and could have had others. One sweeping move ended with a sharply rising deflection that produced possibly the save of the season from Price, using his face mask to get the ball away, and another example of sharp direct passing sprung their centre-forward one-on-one, only for him to fluff his chance (producing a suitable ribbing from his team-mates on the sideline).

In the last ten minutes, aware they had probably done enough, the visitors began to ask players to hold in position. This allowed South to finish the match and season as aggressors, but as has been the story of too many games post-Christmas, pressure and possession wasn't converted into chances. And so the final whistle went with the score 1-3, and out came the champagne for Deeping (literally). A good match, played in an excellent spirit, a credit to Division 7NW.