Saturday 21^st March saw us up against visitors St Ives 2 for the final game of the season. The game started with St Ives pushing back. Some tense moments in both circles meant the defences had to work hard. Diane and Anne both held solid. A strike outside the circle was deflected by us into our goal but fortunately the goal was disallowed, to a sigh of relief all round!!

St Ives increased the pressure and were playing very high in the circle requiring good communication between our defence. Loopy saved the day with some excellent footwork and held the sides at 0-0.

Eventually, St Ives were rewarded with a short corner but it was well defended, Kim putting good pressure on the striker and Caroline playing it well out of the circle. In response, we upped our game resulting in four consecutive short corners. Jess had a great strike in the circle and very narrowly missed, hitting the post. Finally, Alice had a fantastic strike and scored our first goal of the game. 1-0.

We were now nicely settled in and began passing crisply and more confidently around the back. Emma played down the right and passed into Georgie who made one of many solid runs into the circle. Caroline offered a great option down the left and linked well to Kim and Jess at left forward.

Despite all the great play, at half time the score remained at 1-0. Georgie and Kim provided some inspiring words to the rest of the team but no jelly bears! We were fired up for the second half and had the pass back. A quick ball from Jess to Sophie who released Elaine into the circle resulted in the second goal!!! Unbelievable start for us, St Ives were stunned and slowly returned to the halfway line. 2-0.

Hannah, playing at right half, passed well down the right and made crucial interceptions in defence. Following some good pressure on the St Ives defence, Bex was unlucky not to score despite heading the ball towards goal. A quick ball from Kim in the middle of the field released Jess who had a great run into the circle striking the ball over the line. 3-0.

South had really taken control of the match now and St Ives were visibly getting more frustrated. Sophie provided great positioning down the right wing and moving into space when we were going forward. Caroline linked up for a number of passing triangles working up the pitch and providing evidence for her numerous MOM nominations. Bex’s excellent positioning in midfield and our persistence was finally rewarded with Sophie scoring the final goal of the match and the season.

The scoreline, 4-0, reflected a great effort all round and meant that we finished second in the league. Outstanding play in left and defence saw Caroline being awarded MOM and Georgie shockingly got LOM as well as losing a shoe (or maybe because of losing a shoe!). Finally, Anne and Sophie had a double whammy, with Ireland also winning the Six Nations for the second consecutive year. Overall, the final game bodes well for next year, so watch this space!