A close-fought contest ended with honours even, with both teams having periods of dominance but neither able to capitalise sufficiently.

Cambridge South started the more brightly and skipper John Greaves was unlucky to see his well struck effort from long range, after a quick move to the top of the D, palmed away en route to the top corner of the net. It was St Ives who opened the scoring with an unstoppable thump which the otherwise impregnable defence, led by the twin peaks a.k.a. JSidd and Rock Radford, could do little about.

The home team responded well with excellent passing moves, with midfielders Stu Creed, Wilco Dijkstra, and James Matthews particularly cutting through time after time. It was only that final ball which eluded the South team, until Laurie Ho managed to weave into a scoring position and get his shot away, only for that man Greaves to touch the ball away with his foot, close to the far post as it appeared through scrabbling defenders.

South got their reward early in the second half as Laurie Ho found the perfect pass for Simon Frampton to thread it confidently under the keeper for the equaliser.

With both teams then searching for the winner, defences had to be firm. St Ives hit the bar and Cambridge South could have had more goals, with Stu Creed, purposeful and effective as ever, not quite managing to get a Barton-esque reverse stick effort on target, and Greaves producing a lemon-worthy air shot from six inches out as the ball arrived at the far post. It was “off the ground and tough to control.” Apparently. Not that anyone noticed any attempt at controlling it. Must have been due to the bang on the head he had received, courtesy of a St Ives defenders head, earlier in the game.

The match ended with St Ives in the ascendancy, winning numerous short corners, but the defence stood firm.

Votes for Man of the match were spread across most of the team, an indication of the solid effort made by all, but James Matthews won the accolade for his boundless energy and skills throughout.