A weary South turned up at the beach-like pitch on a cold Saturday afternoon having driven what felt like days to the far north. A solid warm up ensued and Williams reminded the team to do the simple things right, pass the ball early and mark your man closely. South started promisingly but were quickly pushed back by a fighting Long Sutton who were up for the game.

South broke quickly from the back a couple of times with Chalk, Ta and Cosford making the opposition's defence work hard to keep South out. Solid marking from Colin and Rimmer at the back kept the ball alive under pressure from Sutton and South struck soon after. A good outlet from Pearson (who ran hard throughout the game) allowed Simon Ta to turn his man and get into the D. After a quick flurry of shots and defending from Sutton the ball spilt out to Cosford. Getting the ball promptly out of his feet he put a quick knee-high flick to the far corner which hit the back board with conviction. 1-0.

South had their tails up and as the game opened up with both teams having opportunities, it was South who struck again just before half time. With the midfield pressing hard a quick shot was taken by the forwards with Simon making the most of a back post roll in. South continued to work hard until half time taking the 2-0 lead in.

The second half was more of the same with some flourishes of ‘brilliance’ from Graveling who managed to flick the ball out for an opposition sideline hit when working round the back. So much for the ‘one-touch practise I’ve been doing at training’! South worked hard for the rest of the game and perhaps could have scored again when Williams put a deflected shot onto the crossbar.

All in all a solid performance by the team who worked hard for the win. Rimmer takes man of the match for solid defensive work and a couple of good runs forwards, Graveling scoops the lemon award for some novel stick skills. Will the current run of form continue? City to come next week…