With a dark cloud blowing in from the north-west, Long Road was host to City of Peterborough 5s in a game that pitted the league leaders against bottom of the league Peterborough. However South went into it with determination and respect for a team that had already shown that when they do perform, they could beat the best teams in this league.

We started strongly with a determination and commitment to working off the ball that was admirable and reflected our play this season. An early break resulted in a penalty corner for South. Mark Williams's push out was smartly stopped and Chris Pearson drove home a strike, which after bobbling over a stick found the back of the goal. 1-0 South.

More attacking play from South followed but we were unable to find the goal in open play. However a second Penalty corner was quickly conceded by Peterborough and Pearson stepped up again. Another straight strike, this time targeting the keeper's weak spot - between his legs - the ball slipping through a mass of pads and finding the backboard. 2-0 South.

Peterborough regrouped and countered at this point. Piling pressure onto a strong South backline, Tom Rosselli and Colin Troll soaked up every attack and distributed the ball well out of defence, only for Peterborough to regain possession and attack again. While South never looked in danger, it was a wake-up call for the team.

As the first half came to a close, a cracking through ball from Dave Aston at left-half saw captain Jim Hockley free to attack the midfield. He passed down the line to Pearson on the left who, side-stepping his man, returned the ball to the top of the D on to the waiting, and unmarked, stick of Hockley who was ready to strike. Sadly the ball went off for a South long corner. South looked dangerous in the opposition D and eventually were awarded another penalty corner. A Pearson-Hockley-Williams triangle was denied by a defensive foot on the line and a penalty flick awarded.

The team huddled at the half-way line and Mark Williams stepped up to take the flick. Heart pounding with the knowledge that scoring this would take him to joint club top goal scorer with M1s' Craig Spencer, he didn't buckle under the pressure and slotted home South's third goal of the first half. 3-0 South.

After gaining some composure at the half-time team talk (where were the Jelly Babies?), South came out strong in the second half and attacked well. Peterborough channelled us effectively and held us at bay for large sections of the second half. Another team might have given up or lost our focus, but South weathered this and when we did break down the right hand side, Pearson was again instrumental in getting a ball back to the top of the D where Craig Spencer, coming off of a hat-trick last week, took it round one Peterborough defender and scored a great strike past the stationary keeper. Mark's time as Goal King was short lived. 4-0 South.

With time ticking on, a Peterborough attack was quickly turned over, probably by Stuart Rimmer (who apparently never gets mentioned in match reports), and a counterattack ensued. A beautiful through ball evaded both Peterborough full-backs leaving Pearson 1-on-1 with the keeper. Fearing that he'd have to fork out for a hat-trick jug if he scored the third, he made the square ball to Graham McCulloch, who probably suffering from jet-lag put it wide of the empty goal.

Somewhere in there, Jack Chalk, in a physical show of how little teachers actually get paid, managed to break his (budget) stick clean in half by attempting to stop a Peterborough free hit - earning his Lemon of the Match for being too cheap to buy a sensible brand of stick.

The game finished 4-0 and South performed well throughout, showing great work effort and a solid team spirit - long may it continue into the season!