After the long summer break the Ladies 1s returned to a triumphant 4-0 win in their first friendly against Bury L2s.

New skippers Georgie and Kim were frankly just relieved to have everyone turn up on time and to discover that everyone was hangover free.

However, the pressure was on with the introduction of the new 5-3-2 formation (Rutland infiltration truly underway) but with some excellent delegation from Georgie and succinct direction from VC Cooil, the girls stepped onto the pitch with a confident air.

This clearly showed as South quickly began to dominate against a strong Bury side. It wasn't long before a cross from Georgie on the right lead to a decisive hit by Alice into the back of the net. This was followed by another strike on goal by debutant Ellie Knott (who should be on our team list) with Jess smacking the ball home.

Bury were not without their chances and South were solid in defence with some superb tackling by Ellie Raffan and Diane. Despite apprehension with the introduction of zonal marking, everyone coped well and Serin and Julie appeared to relish the space in their new right and left half positions.

The friendly was divided into three twenty-minute sections, very much appreciated in the balmy 20 degree heat. More great tackles from Kim and some lovely passing in triangles from newbies Laura and Sophie lead to Alice scoring another goal from a reverse stick strike. Jess cemented the South victory with a fourth goal following a scrabble over the line. South even managed to defend some last minute pressure with some unflappable keeping from Loopy (who must be commended for her appearance for all three South ladies sides in one day...)

So an excellent first performance and pretty much drama free. South greatly benefited from the additions of new players Laura, Sophie and Ellie and although Ellie's off to uni, we're hoping they'll stick around. The details of the last third may be a little hazy as someone may have collapsed with cramp and been dragged off the pitch...her defence was running 10 miles the night before (seemed like a good idea at the time). There was also some confusion about whether the final goal was disallowed...but unless we hear different we're claiming it!

Player of the game went to Serin (she's still trying to make a case for the Aussie best and fairest) after some excellent runs down the right and well timed tackles. Lemon should have gone to Lou C after she deserted us to go to a little place called Yale??? Instead it went to Georgie...who is looking forward to the return of the lemonsie: has anyone seen it?