Still feeling slightly stuffed from Christmas, and with only a bare eleven, the M2s knew we had to be at the top of our game for the visit to Bourne Deeping, a proverbial six-pointer with both teams in the tight chasing pack, just behind the top three.

South started well (once Anns was ready), enjoying the lion’s share of possession. The new centre-back pairing of Nightingale and Anns were afforded plenty of time on the ball to distribute, and Engine and McCree were able to bomb forwards enthusiastically on the flanks. Bourne Deeping rarely threatened, except for a couple of misplaced cross-field passes from South which allowed them to counter attack.

The breakthrough came when Mann found Nelson near the edge of the circle, who guided the ball into the bottom corner with the deftest of late cuts. Who knew ‘the big man up top’ had that much finesse, but he proved it wasn’t a fluke adding a second classy finish, this time a leg glance off the pads for four.

South were in control now and produced some excellent hockey. Dom could have made it a hat-trick of cricket shots when the ball bobbled up to him inside the D, but his pull cleared the goal by about six feet and almost the fence behind it (perhaps more the sort of shot we are accustomed to). At some point he also decided that a swan dive was appropriate, painfully injuring his ribs and ensuring that he secured both the Lemon and Man of the Match awards. Bourne Deeping won a flurry of short corners at the end of the first half but Captain Coops showed that he is more than half-decent as a stand-in keeper and kept them at bay.

The second half did not bring quite the same flowing hockey but it was a professional team performance and South saw out the game competently, with only one moment of mild panic when Coops got a bit lost. Harry had an excellent debut for the 2s, linking play in the middle of the park, and Lamming and Loy had the beating of their opposite numbers down the wings all day. Loy made it 3-0, finishing off a slick passing move after a period of possession around the opposition D.

As Bourne Deeping became increasingly frustrated, they resorted to shelling the ball straight off the pitch from 16s and shouting at their team mates. Engine added insult to injury in the final minutes, winding them up into a frenzied tantrum by cleverly making the most of the five metre rule.

The team headed for a celebratory second tea at McDonalds in high spirits. It looks as though we will be without top scorer Oven for a while due to a knee injury, although as Kerny pointed out he can still come along and offer support as our very own ‘Fan Oven’.

An excellent start to 2016, and the M2s will definitely be looking up the table towards the top teams in the second half of the season.