No report from the ladies so, as one of the match umpires, I'm going to take the liberty on this one.

After the unrelenting rain and wind endured for much of this season, conditions were almost spring-like for the 2pm push back. Sunshine, a light breeze, perfect hockey weather. The only dark cloud on the horizon was the lightweight feel to the South squad, with just nine players present at push-back while Royston had a full compliment.

Captain Cath won the toss and, with the sun in neither team's eyes and no wind to speak off, decided that switching ends would nonetheless give South a crucial advantage. Maybe it was so that South would be attacking downhill in the first half?

Undaunted by the numerical deficit, South started off firmly on the front foot, pinning Royston back near their 25 and maintaining a high press at 16s, showing absolute confidence that Pip and Saskia at the back would be more than a match for the entire Royston midfield and attack. As it turned out, they were, with great anticipation and interceptions shutting down any Royston forays!

The early pressure eventually paid off, with Lyn, who had already made several promising runs into the D, stabbing home from close range to open the scoring. From the restart, play continued in much the same vein and further South pressure eventually bought a second goal from Lyn, this time getting ahead of her defender to meet a cross sent in from the right touchline and knock home.

Two players down, two goals up and totally in control, South's early dominance was curiously interrupted by the arrival of their tenth player, Shannon. Oddly, this seemed to encourage a more conventional approach rather than the initial "keep them on their 25 and well away from our defence" tactic that the L3s' had started with.

Although South were still having the majority of the most promising opportunities, Royston were finding their feet and the game was moving more into midfield. Lou G, a spectator in goal for the first fifteen minutes, was called on to make several vital kicks and blocks as Royston began to create chances of their own.

2-0 up at half time, South added a third almost immediately from the restart. A surging attack finished with Ania, who had been consistently harrying the Royston defence, slotting home to pretty much secure the win.

After that early set back, Royston recovered well to make the second half a good contest, with chances at both ends to score. The match never really threatened to come back into the balance, although South were missing the dynamic midfield play of Emma, who had swapped pads with Louise to spend the second half in goal (once she had located it). Coral was doing a good job of compensating with excellent, strong running and tackling of her own, with Cath and Pippa also chasing and harrying to get balls into the D.

All in all, an excellent win for the L3s on a great afternoon to be out on a hockey pitch.